SnapTrack Inc. last week announced a strategic partnership with Motorola Inc. under which it will license its personal location system to Motorola’s Semiconductor Products Sector.
Motorola will use SnapTrack’s technology through a royalty-bearing license agreement to offer personal location services as a part of its wireless chipsets for mobile devices. Motorola said it will license SnapTrack’s technology to complement its DigitalDNA solution for wireless platforms.
In addition to the broad licensing agreement, Motorola has made an equity investment in SnapTrack.
Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
SnapTrack has a similar arrangement with Texas Instruments, which is the largest manufacturer of digital signal processors for wireless phones. When combined with the Motorola agreement, SnapTrack believes its technology eventually could be included in nearly 75 percent of all handsets manufactured worldwide, according to Ellen Kirk, vice president of marketing and strategic planning at SnapTrack.
Kirk said the company continues to work on potential deals with carriers, but in the interim, the company is trying to strike deals with chip manufacturers to make the technology a standard feature in every handset. When carriers finally select a location technology, some of the fundamental pieces already will be in place to make deployment of SnapTrack’s technology that much easier, she said.
SnapTrack’s location system is designed to help wireless carriers comply with the Federal Communications Commission’s Phase II enhanced 911 mandate that requires carriers to be able to locate wireless 911 callers to within 125 meters by Oct. 1, 2001. It also can be used by carriers to provide commercial services such as emergency roadside assistance and location-sensitive billing.
The company’s handset-based solution uses Global Positioning System signals in conjunction with the wireless network to quickly and accurately locate callers in a variety of environments. The system also preserves power consumption by taking a snapshot location of a caller rather than tracking the position of that caller, said the company.
“We are impressed with SnapTrack’s concept, and recent (Code Division Multiple Access) tests in Tampa, Fla., have provided real data that demonstrates the capability of the technology,” said Mario Rivas, corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola’s Wireless Subscriber Systems Group. “By integrating high-performance GPS technology in the chipsets we sell for mobile communications, Motorola has the ability to offer value-added services to our customers.”
The system allows wireless phone manufacturers to add GPS receiving functionality to handsets for less than $10 each, said the company.
SnapTrack said it expects commercial silicon solutions using its technology to be available in the first half of next year, with handsets hitting the market during the second half of 2000.
The company began testing its system with CDMA networks beginning in April 1998. Its most recent trial in Tampa, Fla., located more than 8,000 calls on Sprint PCS’ and GTE Wireless’ networks.
Kirk said the company has tested the system at 800 MHz and 1900 MHz. A second wave of alpha tests on CDMA networks is planned for May. SnapTrack earlier this year also formed a test group to trial the system with Global System for Mobile communications networks with more than a dozen domestic and international carriers. GSM alpha trials are scheduled to begin during the third quarter.
