TRX Systems - Blog

TRX Systems Showcasing NEON® Signal Mapper Solution at CBRN Defense Conference

boushelln@trxsystems.com (Nicholas Boushell) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 14:13:07 GMT

TRX Systems wll be at the 2016 Annual CBRN Defense Conference and Exhibition (Booth #60) from August 2^nd to the 4^th in Aberdeen, Maryland. The TRX team will be demonstrating NEON Signal Mapper, a solution that simplifies and dramatically reduces the time required for mapping CBRN measurements inside buildings and underground where GPS doesn’t work. NEON Signal Mapper automates the geo-referencing, cloud storage, and 3D visualization of CBRN measurements for personnel tasked with collecting and analyzing this important data.

The CBRN Defense Conference and Exhibition showcases information regarding weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the increasing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN) threat around the world. The CBRN Conference highlights emerging defense technologies and provides a great opportunity for TRX to introduce NEON Signal Mapper to government and commercial industry experts.

Requests for meetings and demonstrations can be made by contacting us at info@trxsystems.com.

TRX at the 2016 Joint Navigation Conference in Dayton, Ohio

boushelln@trxsystems.com (Nicholas Boushell) — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 13:30:06 GMT

The TRX team will be presenting and demonstrating our patented NEON technology at the Joint Navigation Conference (JNC) in Dayton, Ohio June 7-8. TRX will be exhibiting in booth #111 at the JNC Exhibit Hall located in the Dayton Convention Center. Requests for meetings and demonstrations can be made by contacting us at info@trxsystems.com.

CEO Carol Politi and CTO Carole Teolis will be presenting at two separate sessions Tuesday June 7th, 8:30AM-10:00AM:

Embedded Training Application Delivering GPS-Denied Location and Soldier Context in Indoor and Urban Environments to Enhance Training Realism and Improve Real Time Casualty Assessment, Session B2: Test and Training 1, Room 305. This presentation will describe the technology, the architecture, and the integration within the CTIA training architecture. Detailed performance results from both technical testing and evaluation as well as from field testing to date will be provided.
Distributed, Collaborative Navigation and Mapping in GPS Denied Environments, Session D2: Collaborative Navigation Techniques, Room 307-309. The presentation will detail integration of the navigation solution into Nett Warrior to provide a GPS denied location service for dismounted soldiers, and the results from testing during AEWE 2016.

TRX will also be hosting a live demonstration Wednesday June 8th, 1:30PM-3:00PM:

TRX NEON Operational System Demonstration, Session B6: Operation Systems Demonstrations 1, Room 305. The live demonstration will feature our NEON GPS-denied location and mapping system. With support from the US Army, DARPA, NSF, and DHS, TRX will demonstrate structural and signal mapping as well as tracking with multiple personnel in GPS-denied indoor environments.

TRX Awarded Two New Patents

carole@trxsystems.com (Carole Teolis) — Fri, 20 May 2016 13:00:05 GMT

TRX is entirely focused on delivering accurate indoor location through sensor fusion, ranging, and mapping technologies. The approaches TRX has implemented are unique, and allow for ubiquitous location when you are operating in buildings that are difficult or impossible to instrument, and where significant time spent "mapping" a building may not be possible. Maintaining strong IP protection for our technology is important for our distribution partners and for application partners who integrate TRX location services as part of their overall solutions set.

TRX has recently been issued two new patents from the United States :

9,322,648: covering the use of sensor and map information for improved elevation accuracy in and around structures.
9,297,658: covering improved location and heading accuracy using Wi-Fi signatures

TRX was also issued a patent in Hong Kong and in Australia on our methods for 3D tracking and mapping which form the basis for our Feature SLAM work. TRX now has a total of 12 US and 12 international patents, covering GPS-denied and indoor mapping and location determination.

TRX's patents cover methods for 3D tracking and mapping, including sensor fusion for motion classification and drift estimation, mapping (signature mapping - both signal strength and magnetic - and structural inference based on a tracked user’s movement) and map-based corrections. Later TRX patents build on these foundational patents, adding improvements, including tracking of moving cellular devices, heading corrections using building constraints and occasional good magnetic sensor data, sensor fusion for robust elevation determination indoors and outdoors, and automatic sensor calibration. These later patents also enhance TRX's map inference methods, adding unique feature descriptors (including unique structure and signal information) that enable our methods for automated map fusion.

The methods covered by TRX's patent portfolio provide benefit to improved location and mapping in the following areas:

Crowdsourced mapping creating a robust location assistance database - TRX's unique mapping methods merge and fuse data coming from many standard mobile devices to provide an efficient mechanism for creating and updating indoor structural building models, signal and routing maps at a large scale through crowdsourcing. These indoor maps can be used to deliver more accurate location and heading (direction of travel) and to enable indoor routing.
Robust elevation calculation using sensor fusion and mapping - TRX elevation engine delivers floor level elevation determination indoors using a combination of sensor fusion and mapping methods. TRX's sensor fusion methods remove pressure anomalies due to weather and HVAC systems and adjust device offsets to provide reliable indoor floor level elevation.
Heading determination using sensor fusion and structural map inference - Heading errors (direction of travel) are the largest source of location errors in inertial tracking systems. Maintaining an accurate heading is one of the key challenges in infrastructure free inertial navigation and is critical for tracking cellular devices, which may be moving relative to the tracked person. TRX’s patents cover multiple unique methods of estimating and correcting the tracked person's heading. The techniques include sensor fusion and structural map inference, magnetic and RF mapping.

TRX Develops Proximity System to Increase Firefighter Safety

carole@trxsystems.com (Carole Teolis) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 14:30:00 GMT

Fire Departments in rural/small suburban areas identified a gap for the development of a hardware and software system that helps firefighting Incident Commanders and Team Leaders to maintain team integrity within the fire ground. Supported by the Department of Homeland Security First Responder group, we developed an affordable high accuracy time of flight ranging solution in an effort to fill this operational gap. The aim of the system is to provide team leads and search parties with very accurate ranging information to their team. The access to the ranging information will help to reduce the time to find a firefighter in distress in low visibility conditions. This low cost tool can help rural or small fire departments keep track of their firefighters inside burning buildings. The images below show the prototype Android App and the small proximity device developed by the TRX team.

The ranging solution is based on the latest ultra-wideband time of flight ranging sensors. Ultra-wideband sensors use a frequency bandwidth of 500Mz or more. The wide bandwidth significantly reduces multipath errors - that is, errors in the ranging measurements caused by signals bouncing off walls and other objects in the cluttered indoor environments. The solution provides sub-meter ranging accuracy over distances up to approximately 50 meters. The operational range of the solution is currently limited by FCC requirements on the power of signal emission for ultra-wideband signal sources. The 50 meter range is more than adequate for maintaining the integrity of teams operating together.

Another benefit of the ultra-wideband system is that the sub-meter level ranging accuracy is able to be maintained even when passing through standard office walls. While the sensors are a huge improvement over signal strength based ranging in terms of their accuracy, they do not defeat the laws of physics so the ranging measurements will still be blocked by some building materials such as metals.

In addition to the ranging, the TRX Systems proximity device includes other sensors that enable us to provide relative elevation information; allowing a search team to know that a firefighter is 25 feet away and 10 feet below. This information would allow a RIT team, for example, to measure range and relative elevation from outside of a building.

In February the system was tested with Herman VFC Fire Chief Rob McLafferty (one of the subject matter experts advising DHS and TRX Systems on this development program) and several firefighters from the Herman VFC . The test was designed to give the firefighters a feel for how the system would work in the best conditions (line of sight) and also how the system would work during team operations and searches in areas of different construction.

The Proximity Sensor will ultimately be integrated with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). During this program we worked with MSA to develop an ICD sharing the proximity information for display on their SCBA interface. MSA will be demonstrating the ranging capability integrated directly into their G1 SCBA at FDIC (Booth 2111). We will be delivering 100 proximity units to the Department of Homeland Security for further testing with rural and small suburban departments. For more information on the Firefighter Accountability and Proximity System, read the article by the Department of Homeland Security.

TRX Systems Co-Chairs at the IEEE/ION PLANS

carole@trxsystems.com (Carole Teolis) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:29:45 GMT

Last week I co-chaired a session on Collaborative and Networked Navigation at the IEEE/ION Position Location and Navigation Symposium (ION PLANS) in Savannah, Georgia. Both Professor Zak Kassas from University of California, Riverside and myself were the session chairs at the technical conference that occurs only in the spring of even number years.

The IEEE/ION PLANS was a refreshing opportunity to learn about the latest work from scientists, researchers and engineers from around the world in the field of navigation. The 30-minute slots allow for detailed presentations on new methods and results ranging from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results. The IEEE/ION PLANS featured numerous sessions and programs so there was always something of interest on the schedule. Some interesting practical applications that I visited are listed below:

Enhancing APNT Coverage using LDACS Air-to-Air Ranging, German Aerospace Center (DLR), using air-to-air ranging to enhance air to ground ranging network performance for commercial aircraft positioning as a backup for GPS.
Carrier Phase Positioning (RTK), University of Texas, Austin, the latest results for obtaining cm level positioning with commercial cell phones and reducing the cost of deploying the required reference networks.
Personal Navigation, FOI Sweden, using vision with active illumination for positioning and mapping in unknown and dangerous environments for soldiers and first responders.

More information on all of the IEEE/ION PLANS programs and session can be found at http://www.ion.org/plans/program.cfm

TRX Partners with Anritsu

boushelln@trxsystems.com (Nicholas Boushell) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:46:18 GMT

TRX Systems is now partnered with the Anritsu Company to deliver integrated solutions that feature TRX’s NEON^® Signal Mapper application with Anritsu’s industry leading handheld analyzers. Utilizing NEON’s capability to automatically collect geo-referenced test data with Anritsu’s handheld spectrum analyzer products saves valuable time and money by:

Eliminating the need to manually perform "check-ins" at each test point
Providing vastly more data than is possible with manual processes
Removing typical data recording errors caused by "guesstimating" locations
Delivering actionable data in areas not easily analyzed
Enabling quick analysis of signal coverage and faster problem resolution
Providing color-graded measurement results in 2D and 3D views

Where GPS is unavailable, the Anritsu MA8100A Series TRX NEON^® Signal Mapper solutions deliver real-time 3D location information for indoor test and measurement applications. The Anritsu MA8100A Series simplifies and dramatically reduces the time required for indoor signal testing, making it an ideal solution for professionals who conduct in-building testing of public safety and commercial networks, including public safety organizations, network operators, and DAS installers.

TRX Systems’ NEON® Signal Mapper application is interoperable with the Anritsu Spectrum Master™, LMR Master™, Site Master™, BTS Master™, Cell Master™, and VNA Master™ handheld analyzers.

For more information, please visit www.trxsystems.com or read the Press Release.

TRX Systems’ NEON Signal Mapper Application Showcased by Anritsu at IWCE 2016

kunstj@trxsystems.com (Jeff Kunst) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:03:31 GMT

Anritsu Company, a global provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions for 120 years, will be demonstrating a 3D in-building coverage mapping solution at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) this week. The solution leverages the TRX Systems’ NEON® Signal Mapper application to deliver real-time 3D location information that is interoperable with the Anritsu Spectrum Master™, LMR Master™, Site Master™, BTS Master™, Cell Master™, and VNA Master™ handheld analyzers.

The integrated Anritsu-TRX solution, which provides 3D maps and seamless indoor location and tracking data, reduces the time to verify public safety in-building wireless system operation and provides real-time 3D visualization of the test results as well as cloud storage for post testing review. A short video of the solution showing the integrated signal mapping solution can be found below:

The Anritsu-TRX solution will be demonstrated for the first time on March 23^rd and 24th in the Anritsu IWCE booth (#1633) at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

For more information, go to www.trxsystems.com or read the Anritsu Press Release.

NEON® Personnel Tracker Now Available with Motorola LEX L10 Mission Critical LTE Handhelds

kunstj@trxsystems.com (Jeff Kunst) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:44:04 GMT

Today, we are very excited to announce the availability of the NEON® Personnel Tracker application that is now fully interoperable with the Motorola Solutions LEX L10 Mission Critical LTE Handheld. The TRX-Motorola solution extends location and mapping indoors to deliver seamless tracking of personnel in critical public safety, security and industrial applications. The NEON-LEX L10 integrated solution to be showcased at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE), March 23^rd and 24th, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Motorola Solutions booth #1029).

Motorola’s LEX L10 is a customizable and intelligent communication device purpose-built to enable first responders to work faster, safer and smarter. The LEX L10 addresses unique public safety requirements including a display that prioritizes information based on user status and activity, a covert operation mode, a design that supports one-handed operation, dual 1 Watt front-facing speakers, tri-microphone noise and echo cancellation, and a dedicated PTT button for fast voice collaboration.

NEON Personnel Tracker delivers indoor and outdoor location improving command effectiveness and safety for public safety and security personnel. The application uses the NEON Indoor Location Software to provide location in both 2D and 3D, as well as tracking and visualization of personnel in indoor and outdoor environments such as basements, complex buildings and urban canyons. Accurate tracking is accomplished using NEON's patented algorithms, which combine data from all available device sensors including inertial, magnetic, pressure, light, Bluetooth, WiFi and any available GPS signals to calculate location.

Now interoperable with the LEX L10, NEON Personnel Tracker is an optimized solution designed to meet the needs of public safety personnel who typically operate in buildings not under their own control and industrial personnel who operate in buildings that are difficult to instrument and network. Benefits include:

Seamless tracking and the highest level of situational awareness
Easy to use, rapid to deploy solution supporting a broad set of use cases
Both real-time and after-action 3D visualization of individuals and teams
Ubiquitous connectivity via 3G/4G LTE, Public Safety LTE and Wi-Fi

Motorola is the leader in public safety communications and we are delighted to work with them to deliver indoor location and personnel tracking with the LEX L10 handheld.

A short video showing the integrated solution can be viewed below:

For more information on NEON Personnel Tracker, go to www.trxsystems.com.

TRX Participates in AEWE Annual, Live, Force-on-Force Testing

carole@trxsystems.com (Carole Teolis) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:50:09 GMT

TRX tested our GPS-denied location service at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiments (AEWE) in January and February. The AEWE is the US Army TRADOC’s annual, live, force-on-force experiment where it puts technologies into the hands of Soldiers for early feedback from the end-user in operational scenarios.

The event brings together key organizations in the Army that allow companies to test integration into military systems. TRX was introduced to the Nett Warrior Future Initiatives team and, working with them, we developed and tested a plug-in to Nett Warrior. TRX was one of several new Nett Warrior applications. New Nett Warrior applications provided capabilities for GPS denied tracking, sending continuous near-real-time intel to the edge, language translation, sending biometric data over the network, and rapid injury reporting.

TRX's Nett Warrior integration is shown in the figure:

The US Infantry Soldiers in the ExFor, many of whom have done several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, join the AEWE to test technology and mission constructs that will inform future Army concepts, organizations and requirements. TRX had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in training and testing with US and British Infantry soldiers before letting them take the technology out for several weeks of operational testing. The test and training process was a great opportunity to for us to get direct input on the TRX NEON system from soldiers. It allowed us to validate the design and also to get input on how they might use the system in operations.

The soldiers’ feedback on the NEON Tracking Unit was very positive. They liked the small size, light weight and flexibility on MOLLE vest attachment location. The integration with Nett Warrior made use seamless for the soldiers - it was turned on for GPS denied operations enabling tracking to continue even in locations where GPS was not available.

To learn more about our NEON location solutions here.

TRX Systems Online Store Open for Business

boushelln@trxsystems.com (Nicholas Boushell) — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 16:47:04 GMT

The TRX team is happy to announce today that NEON indoor location solutions are now available for purchase at the new TRX online store. The online store features our the Personnel Tracker and Signal Mapper applications based upon on our patented NEON Location Service. The TRX store makes it even easier to buy NEON solutions and it represents the next step towards our goal in becoming the world’s premier indoor location solution provider.

TRX Featured Store Products include:

NEON Personnel Tracker enables users to be located and tracked both indoors and outdoors using a combination of technologies including sensor fusion, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. The app is optimized for locating and tracking personnel in areas without GPS including inside buildings, outdoors in urban canyons and underground. Personnel Tracker detects and maps building features providing seamless location of users in areas where they would otherwise be untrackable.

NEON Signal Mapper delivers real-time 3D location for indoor test and measurement. The app provides an intuitive Android user interface enabling lightly trained users to map signal and sensor information within buildings. NEON Signal Mapper is easily integrated with 3^rd party test equipment and enables users to initialize their location, start/stop mapping and load mapped data to the NEON cloud for storage and 3D visualization on the Command software.

For more information, visit us at the TRX website.