Navizon
Encyclopedia
Navizon is a hybrid positioning system
combining GPS, Wi-Fi and Cellular triangulation
techniques. It calculates the geographic location of a wireless device by analyzing the signals from nearby Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers
and comparing it against a database of known data points. Moreover, Navizon has the ability to run in the background, allowing the user to open other applications on his device at the same time. The software can be installed on several platforms such as Windows Mobile
, BlackBerry
, iPhone
, Symbian S60
and some Java ME
phones. Navizon was the first virtual GPS available for a jailbroken iPhone and the most downloaded through Installer.app
The software uses a unique technology to improve the coverage and accuracy of the system and covers the U.S., Europe and urban areas worldwide.
by switching to Wi-Fi or Cellular positioning modes when GPS signals are weak or unavailable such as in an indoors environment. It can also be used as an alternative to GPS on devices that don't have a GPS chip but have a Wi-Fi or Cellular radio.
It can also be used to improve the time of acquisition of a position fix which can take up to 5 minutes with a standard GPS and less than one second with Wi-Fi or Cellular triangulation.
Mexens Technology Inc has received a Patent
for its “System and Method for Enabling Continuous Geographic Location Estimation for Wireless Computing Devices” (US Patent No. 7397424).
(SDK) allows developers to include the Navizon positioning system into their own application. The application runs in the background of the device allowing the location to be updated while other applications are running.
Hybrid positioning system
Hybrid positioning systems are systems for finding the location of a mobile device using several different positioning technologies. Usually GPS is one major component of such systems, combined with cell tower signals, wireless internet signals, Bluetooth sensors or other local Positioning...
combining GPS, Wi-Fi and Cellular triangulation
Triangulation
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly...
techniques. It calculates the geographic location of a wireless device by analyzing the signals from nearby Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers
Cell site
A cell site is a term used to describe a site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed, usually on a radio mast, tower or other high place, to create a cell in a cellular network...
and comparing it against a database of known data points. Moreover, Navizon has the ability to run in the background, allowing the user to open other applications on his device at the same time. The software can be installed on several platforms such as Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, Symbian S60
S60 platform
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
and some Java ME
Java Platform, Micro Edition
Java Platform, Micro Edition, or Java ME, is a Java platform designed for embedded systems . Target devices range from industrial controls to mobile phones and set-top boxes...
phones. Navizon was the first virtual GPS available for a jailbroken iPhone and the most downloaded through Installer.app
Installer.app
Installer.app was a free software installer for the iPhone created by the development team RipDev, first released in summer 2007 and maintained until summer 2009. Installer allowed users to install third-party applications into the iPhone's Applications directory where native applications are kept...
The software uses a unique technology to improve the coverage and accuracy of the system and covers the U.S., Europe and urban areas worldwide.
Applications
Navizon includes some built-in features such as the Buddy Finder, the Alert System (also known as Geofencing), trail logging capability and MobiFindr that lets a user get a device's location just by sending a text message to it.Technology
Navizon is an open system with a collaborative approach: it uses the data collected by users with a GPS device to improve the coverage and accuracy of the system when used in Wi-Fi or Cellular positioning modes. It can be used as an Assisted GPSAssisted GPS
Assisted GPS, generally abbreviated as A-GPS or aGPS, is a system which can, under certain conditions, improve the startup performance, or time-to-first-fix of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. It is used extensively with GPS-capable cellular phones as its development was accelerated by...
by switching to Wi-Fi or Cellular positioning modes when GPS signals are weak or unavailable such as in an indoors environment. It can also be used as an alternative to GPS on devices that don't have a GPS chip but have a Wi-Fi or Cellular radio.
It can also be used to improve the time of acquisition of a position fix which can take up to 5 minutes with a standard GPS and less than one second with Wi-Fi or Cellular triangulation.
Mexens Technology Inc has received a Patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for its “System and Method for Enabling Continuous Geographic Location Estimation for Wireless Computing Devices” (US Patent No. 7397424).
Community
Navizon's strong growing community is unique by its diversity of cross-platforms and cross-carriers users. 700,000 people are registered worldwide thus improving every day the precision of the navigation system. Contributors are rewarded when they discover new Wi-Fi access points or new cell towers. This is one of the key factor of the community growth.Development
The Navizon Software Development KitSoftware development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
(SDK) allows developers to include the Navizon positioning system into their own application. The application runs in the background of the device allowing the location to be updated while other applications are running.