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NextNav, Inc. is the developer of a 3D geolocation service known as Metropolitan Beacon System (MBS), a wide-area location and timing technology designed to provide services in areas where GPS or other satellite location signals cannot be reliably received. MBS consumes significantly less power than GPS and includes high-precision altitude. In the United States, NextNav operates its MBS network over its spectrum licenses in the 920-928 MHz band.[3][4][5][6] The company went public on Nasdaq in October 2021 with a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Spartacus Acquisition Corporation.[7]
 | |
| Formerly | Commlabs[1] |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: NN | |
| Industry | Location technology, Wireless |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Reston, Virginia, U.S. |
Number of employees | 61 (2021)[2] |
| Website | nextnav |
Technology
editNextNav distributed its Pinnacle vertical location service in January 2021, which provides floor-level vertical location using barometric sensors from cell phones and other devices. Their Pinnacle network was distributed in partnership with AT&T and is in more than 4,400 cities across the United States. The larger NextNav network uses Metropolitan Beacon System technology to deliver high-precision three-dimensional indoor location capabilities across a market area. MBS is built on principles similar to GPS transmitting precisely timed signals from a network of wide-area beacons enabling receivers to use trilateration techniques to determine their precise locations. This differs significantly from other approaches to indoor and urban location, which rely on short-range, local-area transmitters.
Due to the terrestrial placement of the transmitters and the sub-GHz nature of the signal, MBS signals can travel several kilometers and—because the network is specifically designed, deployed, and managed for indoor positioning—can be reliably received in deep indoor conditions that block satellite signals (e.g., GPS, GLONASS). MBS signals also enable location to be computed with far lower power drain than GPS. In addition, the system incorporates barometric pressure compensation technology that allows receivers equipped with pressure sensors to compute their altitude very precisely, typically within a floor.
A byproduct of the GPS-like operating principles of NextNav's MBS network is the ability to deliver high-precision (Stratum-1-level) timing to indoor locations or in the event of GPS outages.
MBS receivers are being commercialized as an additional constellation added to multi-constellation GNSS processors. Today's GPS processors typically process additional satellite constellations, and the MBS processing capability constitutes primarily firmware additions.
The performance of the technology under emergency dialing conditions was originally demonstrated in the CSRIC III test bed in San Francisco in 2012, with performance enhancements added on an ongoing basis. More recently the technology was enabled in the primary global telecommunication standards bodies, 3GPP (Release 13)[8] and OMA (SUPL 2.0.3).[9] MBS signal technology is available under FRAND terms.
The technology can be scaled for any location application, including services to mobile phones, the Internet of Things, and enterprise and public safety applications.
On March 11, 2024, NextNav announced it signed an agreement to acquire spectrum licenses covering an additional 4 MHz in the lower 900 MHz band (902-928) from Telesaurus Holdings GB LLC, and Skybridge Spectrum Foundation. NextNav acquired the additional spectrum licenses for a total purchase price of up to $50 million, paid for through a combination of cash and NextNav common stock. The acquired licenses are in the same lower 900 MHz band as NextNav's current licensed spectrum.
On April 16, 2024, NextNav filed a rulemaking petition with the Federal Communications Commission to deliver a spectrum solution in the Lower 900 MHz band on the grounds that it would facilitate a terrestrial positioning, navigation, and timing network (as a complement and backup to GPS) and broadband. As of September 5th, 2024 the comment period had closed and was strongly opposed by American Radio Relay League as well as the LoRa-based Meshtastic community which also operate in the 902-928Mhz band.[10][11]
Coverage
editNextNav's Urban and Indoor Positioning service TerraPoiNT is available in San Francisco Bay Area, McLean, VA and other select markets. Its Pinnacle vertical location service is available in more than 4,400 cities nationwide and has partnered with AT&T FirstNet to provide vertical location service for First Responders.
Acquisitions
editIn November 2022, NextNav has recently completed the acquisition of a geolocation system provider based in France, specializing in low-power technologies, Nestwave.[12]
References
edit- ^ "SPAC TIME: Will NextNav be a Washout or Success?". Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. June 12, 2021.
- ^ "NextNav, Inc. 2021 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 23, 2022. p. 13.
- ^ Murfin, Tony (17 April 2013). "Indoor Location Breaking Through". GPS World. North Coast Media LLC. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- ^ Overly, Steven. "The Download: Location company NextNav finds its way to a $70 million investment". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (25 July 2014). "Gary Parsons' NextNav Raises $70M for Indoor-Positioning Tech". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- ^ Meiyappan, S.; Raghupathy, A.; Pattabiraman, G. "Positioning in GPS Challenged Locations - The NextNav Terrestrial Positioning Constellation". Institute of Navigation. Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- ^ "NextNav and Spartacus Acquisition Corporation Announce Closing of Business Combination" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. October 28, 2021.
- ^ "3GPP Release 13 Specification Adds Support for Metropolitan Beacon System for Mobile Systems". MarketWatch.
- ^ "OMA Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) v 1.0 & 2.0 | OMA". openmobilealliance.org. Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
- ^ "ARRL Defends 902-928 Amateur Radio Band".
- ^ "WTB and OET Seek Comment on NextNav Petition for Rulemaking".
- ^ FinSMEs (2022-11-07). "NextNav Acquires Nestwave". FinSMEs. Retrieved 2022-11-07.