Technology Allows First Responders to Determine Vertical Location of an Emergency Caller Indoors
NextNav has partnered with Qualcomm Technologies [QCOM] to integrate the company’s Pinnacle 911 z-axis software and network-based services. Pinnacle 911 z-axis software will be used in the Qualcomm Location Suite to allow device and OEM vendors to integrate z-axis capabilities into existing carrier infrastructure, the company said.
“The collaboration is currently underway and will involve NextNav working with Qualcomm to implement a low-friction implementation of our two z-axis contributions for OEM customers,” said Dan Hight, NextNav’s vice president of business development and partnerships. “We expect implementations based on this collaboration to support devices by 2022, driven by the chipset and software availability.”
The agreement covers multiple mobile platforms not served by iOS and Android operating systems to include feature phones based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), KaiOS, and other Linux-based devices such as wearables or 5G Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) hotspots that require voice capability, the company said.
Compliance with E911 requirements is a carrier responsibility—and all the major US carriers have been requiring barometric sensor-equipped devices starting in 2022, Hight said. “Devices equipped with high-quality barometric sensors and NextNav software can deliver a z-axis location that exceeds E911 requirements.”
Qualcomm, which has shipped more than 10 billion devices using its positioning systems, said the deal with NextNav is a “significant step” for emergency responders to find callers indoors and multi-story buildings, said Francesco Grilli, Qualcomm Technologies’ vice president, product management, in a statement.
As Location Business News reported in June, NextNav and Spartacus Acquisition Corp. [TMTS] entered into a merger agreement that will all the location company to be listed on the Nasdaq. The deal, expected to close late in the fourth quarter, would take the 3D GPS company public at a $1.2 billion valuation.
In other company news, NextNav and TRX Systems, developer of NEON 3D location solutions, announced the integration of the Pinnacle service to enhance the calculated elevation of its NEON Personnel Tracking solution, the company said.
Contact: Chelsea Hoedl, LaunchSquad for NextNav, NextNav@launchsquad.com.
