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Apple patents citywide iBeacon-based navigation infrastructure to augment, replace GPS

“In a patent awarded to Apple on Tuesday, the company imagines entire cities outfitted with low-power wireless transmitters capable of sending pinpoint-accurate location data, as well as dynamic environmental alerts, to iPhones and in-car navigation systems,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.

“As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 9,344,989 for a ‘System with wireless messages to enhance location accuracy'” continues the company’s investigation into beacon-based navigation, but on a grand scale,” Campbell reports. “Instead of helping iPhone owners find their parked car in an underground lot, or triangulate their position using advanced geofencing algorithms, Apple’s latest invention seeks to address weaknesses inherent in all GPS-based navigation systems. Specifically, today’s patent attempts to solve signal reception issues that crop up in densely populated cities.”

“The bold plan calls for a multitude of stationary transmitters to be installed at strategic locations next to or near a city’s roads, such as adjacent buildings, within preexisting traffic lights, roadside signs, guard rails and other structures,” Campbell reports. “Applied to navigation, the system can be configured to track vehicle movement with a high degree of accuracy.”

Read more in the full article here.

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