Skyhook positioning system makes Alps Alpine MonoTra more accurate in obtaining location

Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Alps Alpine") has developed the MonoTra™ cloud service to improve the accuracy of Wi-Fi® access point location information and simplify the construction and operation of client systems. Accurate location information can be obtained even for mobile objects in environments with unstable communication conditions, such as traveling between indoors and outdoors. To improve the accuracy of location information, Skyhook Wireless, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as "Skyhook")'s precision positioning system and Precision Location Solution※1 are used. Accurate location information can be obtained in various environments, such as indoors and in densely populated urban areas. This service is used for logistics trackers and will be available for sale from March 2021.

Alps Alpine views location information as an element that can be applied to IoT and DX, and is collaborating with companies around the world to develop technologies for a wide range of markets.

The newly developed MonoTra™ is a cloud service that can accurately obtain location information of mobile objects in unstable communication environments such as indoor and outdoor environments. It will be sold from March 2021 and used in our logistics trackers. By introducing this service, the accuracy of location information of logistics trackers can be improved and system construction and operation can be simplified, providing customers with better and more convenient logistics material management solutions.

Logistics trackers use the MAC addresses of Wi-Fi® access points※2※3 to track the location of logistics materials (Figure 1). MonoTra™ uses Skyhook's Precision Location solution to improve the accuracy of location information by using the company's global data of more than 5.4 billion Wi-Fi® access points. In addition, a dedicated database is provided to allow customers to register the location information of Wi-Fi® access points themselves, making it possible to further improve location accuracy.

In the past, using logistics trackers required customers to sign communication contracts, register equipment, and build data acquisition systems. However, using MonoTra™ can eliminate these tedious operations and make system construction simple. In addition, in order to facilitate customers to observe logistics tracker information, we also have a unique API※4 to provide pre-processed data to improve the efficiency of system development.

Logistics trackers have been adopted by many overseas companies such as large European logistics companies and AGC Corporation in Japan for glass transport pallets, with a cumulative market performance of more than 250,000 units. By introducing this service, logistics trackers will be upgraded to a solution that is more convenient for customers to operate, which is expected to further expand the market and help solve logistics issues. In addition to using it for logistics trackers, we will also study how to develop various solutions using the high-precision location information achieved by Wi-Fi® access points.

*1 A system that can determine the location of an object in any environment by utilizing three signals: Wi-Fi®, GNSS, and mobile phone signals (MonoTra™ only uses Wi-Fi® signals)

※2 The device that is connected when the Wi-Fi® terminal is connected to the network

※3 Unique identification number assigned to network devices

※4 Abbreviation for Application Programming Interface. An interface specification for sharing functions between software

 How to use MonoTra™ logistics tracker

① Install logistics trackers on logistics materials

② Sense the specific movement patterns of logistics materials through the acceleration sensor and timer in the logistics tracker

③ Obtain two MAC addresses of Wi-Fi® access points around the logistics tracker

④ Send the obtained MAC address to the Sigfox cloud through the Sigfox base station

⑤ Calculate the location of the logistics tracker based on the Sigfox base station information

⑥ Receive data and location estimation results from logistics trackers and send them to Alps Alpine’s cloud

⑦ Effectively utilize Skyhook’s Precision Location solution to calculate the more detailed location of the logistics tracker based on the MAC address obtained in ③

⑧ Connect to Alps Alpine's cloud and obtain information (latitude, longitude, time, etc.)

　　※Data visualization and analysis by the customer (display on a map in chronological order, retention analysis, etc.)