Chronos Technology Ltd., a GPS and RF/microwave components specialist for designers and products in the professional communications and electronics industry, announced the release of the CW85 GPS ‘Broadcaster’ from Illinois, US-based NavSync, which incorporates NavSync’s unique high sensitivity GPS receiver with an 802.11b transmitter to provide location information when in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot.
Initially developed for military applications, the CW85 can be embedded or packaged in any device that needs to broadcast its location to tracking units equipped with 802.11b receivers. Due to NavSync’s high sensitivity capabilities, the unit does not have to have a clear view of the sky to attain GPS lock and hence accurate position information. The CW85 is available to designers as an open board or embedded solution or to system integrators in an enclosure. Options such as geo-fencing, polling and sleep mode are available. Typical applications might include tracking of assets or people in a WiFi enabled environment which, if there is an increasing roll out of pervasive WiFi, will become a very useful location tool. A key feature is the ability to use a local available and potentially free WiFi connection to communicate instead of using GSM. This product could potentially save its cost in the first year of operation by not having to have a contract with a mobile phone operator.