Radisys Adds Geolocation Product for Indoors

The speed at which GPS largely took the navigation job from paper maps for so many shows how useful people find being told nicely where to go.

But GPS has significant limitations. Not only is it sometimes wildly inaccurate (signals can bounce around, giving inaccurate readings), but it’s not useful inside a building. The satellite signals coming in from geostationary orbit are weak and not effective at penetrating physical structures.

Radisys Corporation has announced Radisys ReachPoint, which a company press release describes as “a smart network-based geolocation platform that allows Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to deliver real-time geolocation service capable of reaching places where GPS may not be available, such as inside tall buildings.”

There are many types of properties that could benefit from navigational aids beyond signage: inside an office skyscraper where new employees are trying to find the copy machine room; shoppers looking for a particular store in a large mall, travelers in an unfamiliar-to-them airport looking for a lounge or loo. Or even to know where some physical asset is in a building for better tracking and efficiency.

Here’s the company’s explanation, followed by a non-techie translation:

“ReachPoint’s Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacon-based technology provides a faster, more accurate indoor navigation tool that can be delivered as a standalone application or embedded as a software development kit (SDK) in existing applications,” the company says. “Radisys’ ReachPoint provides a simple mechanism for mobile network operators (MNOs) to monetize their networks in new ways by offering geolocation services for enterprises. Radisys ReachPoint technology has proven savings of up to 25% for Enterprises by optimizing operations through asset tracking and indoor navigation.”

As for the translation, Bluetooth is the communications and networking technology you’re probably familiar with through mobile devices, allowing different pieces of equipment to communicate and work together. So, for example, Bluetooth earphones letting you privately monitor a conversation or music provided through your mobile phone. The top range is about 100 meters, or 328 feet, though in practice it can be significantly shorter, depending on the environment.

Devices, either from ReachPoint or embedding the technology into other equipment, support a web of Bluetooth communications that mobile devices can tap into. The company’s Navigation application turns those points into a digital map, letting people get to where they need to go through the shortest path.

“Building owners or event organizers can gain value-added insights such as heat maps of visitors, or rank and identify the most visited places to pinpoint new sales kiosks or information booth locations,” the company says. “Additionally, businesses can customize services based on user location, as well as monetize the data insights as a service for building tenants or other vendors.”