HERE Technologies, a global leader in mapping and location services, and Altair Semiconductor to integrate HERE tracking and positioning software into Altair’s ALT1250 dual-mode LTE Cat-M1/NB-IoT chipset.
The synergies between HERE’s software and Altair’s advanced algorithms will enable HERE customers, system integrators and tracking device manufacturers to significantly reduce device time to market and provide hardware-based security. The two companies plan to reduce overall power consumption of an end-to-end tracker application by optimizing the way the device communicates with the cloud. The integration will be demonstrated at this year’s Mobile World Congress Americas.
The combination of HERE location technology for high-accuracy end-to-end tracking of assets and the ALT1250’s comprehensive IoT capabilities, will help customers create broad new enterprise business models as well as drive new efficiencies across their organizations.
The technology’s low cost makes it a good fit for tracking indoors and outdoors in many scenarios. These include the tracking of non-powered factory or construction equipment, warehouse inventory, roll cages and packages moving through a logistics network. The technology enables long battery life, obviating the need to re-charge a device.
The ALT1250 is the market’s most highly integrated dual-mode Cat-M1/NB-IoT chipset. It includes a GNSS receiver, an RF front-end supporting all commercial LTE bands within a single hardware design, a hardware-based security framework and an internal application MCU subsystem. The integration of HERE tracking and positioning software means the chipset will be able to locate itself using the strength of cellular signals, even when it is not possible to obtain a GNSS fix. The chipset can take advantage of the ability of HERE to provide online and offline positioning based on its database of cellular towers.
Erminio di Paola, Head of Tracking, HERE Technologies
The chipset’s blend of high performance tracking, low power consumption and affordability makes tracking a viable option today for a wide variety of uses and scenarios.
Lavi Semel, Director of Product Management, Altair Semiconductor
By integrating HERE software into the ALT1250, customers will benefit from the synergy of both technologies, and reduce their time to market because the HERE software will already be included inside the ALT1250’s SDK.
