FROM
THE EDITOR
This week, Embedded Technology Journal looks at the growing trend of GPS integration in embedded devices. The technical challenges in bringing satellite navigation into a handheld device are formidable, but the vast array of location-based applications and services made possible by the technology are certainly worth the effort… aren’t they?
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Kevin
Morris – Editor
Embedded Technology Journal
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Where am I?
GPS in Embedded Devices
A “computer” used to be a system in and of itself. It was a device whose primary purpose was computing. We are all familiar with the form factors and metaphors of “computers” – mainframe, desktop, laptop, server… We in the embedded computing industry, however, have made careers out of putting computing technology into things that are not computers – airplanes, mobile phones, home appliances, industrial equipment – the list goes on and on. This is a natural, second-generation evolution of the technology. In some way, this is the concept we all think of as “convergence” – but it goes beyond that.
For several years, global positioning technology (GPS) has been primarily in GPS devices. These devices have proliferated in various form factors – designed for a wide variety of uses from aircraft and marine navigation to personal auto use, hiking, cycling, and even GPS-specific activities such as geocaching. Now, GPS is becoming an embeddable technology. Like the process of embedding computing, embedding GPS opens the door to a wide array of applications we wouldn’t consider in a stand-alone device.
The ability to embed GPS into our designs brings up the question: “When does it help to know where I am?” My personal first experience with a location-enabled mobile device was an old-generation Palm connected to an Omni-sky wireless modem. The killer-app for that configuration was the “find the nearest Starbucks” capability – charming, but hardly a feature that would compel customers to rush out and buy the device. Here in the Pacific Northwest United States, at least, we already have a much simpler solution to finding the nearest Starbucks. In any urban area, you simply move your eyes through about a 45 degree arc. You will usually locate at least two. [more] |
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