Hi everyone,
I’ve recently had the chance to use a Motorola A1000 (
www.tre.it operator – Italy), and to perform a “definitive” testing on the AGPS technology.
The Motorola A1000 (
link) like other handsets - such as the preceding Motorola A925 (
link), the even more preceding Motorola A920 (
link) and the upcoming Motorola A1010 (
link), have got an internal GPS antenna (antenna’s specifications
here). Those receivers are usually weaker than other receivers specifically built for an intensive GPS usage (Bluetooth GPS, USB Mouse GPS, Hand Held GPS etc.); for that reason those antennas are “assisted” by the GSM, GPRS and the UMTS technology, in order to perform a “quick” & “clean” satellites locking and location fixing. That’s why this technology has been called “Assisted GPS” (AGPS).
When the internal GPS antenna performs the satellites locking procedure, the unit retrieves other important data from the telephone network, using information related to the GSM, GPRS or UMTS cell you are in. This combined data flow allows the handset to point out your position on the planet, using the very well known format of latitudinal and longitudinal degrees, e.g. N 43.10679 – E 12.38819 - Perugia – Italy, my home town!.
These important data are provided by the Telephone Operator; in Italy this service has been provided so far for free, but very likely you can face charging fees if you are in another country, usually triggered by the GSM, GPRS or UMTS packet’s traffic the unit needs to receive. (Just to point something out: I’m speaking about the traffic needed for the Coordinates Location, not the traffic needed for the Maps' Downloading! Of course we pay that as well as in every other country!)
It’s important to understand that having an AGPS unit and using an AGPS application, it’s not the same that having a fully functional GPS system. Usually when you use very light AGPS applications on Symbian handsets (without having an external GPS antenna) you can't perform the Routing and Re-routing procedure, and neither you get a Voice Guidance Assistance with Turn by Turn advises! It's not "Navigation" in a strict sense!
So… what does AGPS let you to do? AGPS applications let you to know your position on the planet, and let you to check that position against a digital map, and - just in case - to know how far you are from other waypoints you have in precedence marked onto the handset. "Track Logging and Following" and "Waypoints Proximity Alarm" are available as well. A compass is present(though very imprecise if you stand still).
So… what is this guide all about? It’s about using a Symbian based Smart Phone for GPS purposes, without “connecting” an external GPS antenna. I.e. using only the internal GPS antenna, together with very light GPS applications.
That doesn’t mean those handsets are incapable to have an external GPS antenna, and fully functional GPS applications. Indeed Internet Surfers are been awaiting for “long time” Tom Tom products and Route 66 products to use with e.g. the Motorola A1000, in association with an external Blue Tooth GPS antenna. Before that moment arises… here you go the AGPS possibility!
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So… we can buy on the market units such as the Motorola A1000, expecting them to be capable to work on the GSM, GPRS, UMTS telephone network, and to combine those technologies with the GPS one.
But the problem is: How can I operate the AGPS technology on my unit? The following quick guide will try to answer the main questions of this matter.
[hr]The first problem is that those handsets such as the Motorola A1000 are often sold without having in bundle a GPS application! You don’t believe me? Try it! Despite those telephones having an internal GPS antenna, and an Operating System, on the GPS side you won’t find any software on the box! Crazy isn’t it?!?
Many different products are available on the market / net (some of them are freeware):
I’ve installed and successfully used on my Motorola A1000 the application
"nhGPS" v.1.12. I decided to use that one following suggestions of Motorola A series / Symbian OS enthusiasts. They seem to have chosen nhGPS for its simplicity and flexibility.
Despite being not a free product, you can create and use your own maps for free, in a very straightforward and unexpensive way. See below the CREATING YOUR OWN MAPS chapter.
Once you’ve got the nhGPS installer file onto your PC (we’re speaking about an .SIS file of around 150 Kb) you need to install it onto your unit. I strongly recommend using the Desktop Suite given in bundle (and, of course, the USB cable present in the box!). The installation procedure will be as simple as clicking the SOFTWARE INSTALL button onto the Desktop Suite Console onto your PC; the only thing you need to do is to tell the Desktop Suite the path for the nhGPS.sis file (onto your PC). Everything is fully automated… no hassle at all.
Once the installation procedure has been completed, you realize the application itself being saved onto the handset internal memory (typically c:\system\apps\nhGPS), whilst other folders have been created onto your handset external memory (typically d:\mediafiles\image\nhgps). Yes! Your unit has got an external memory! In my case a 128 Mb TransFlash Memory (
link), located under the battery, close to the uSIM slot.
You will use the folders on the external MiniSD memory to store your personal Maps’ Files. Yes! That’s the weakness of the 150 Kb nhGPS.sis file you’ve just installed:
No Maps are present! You have to get the ones you need, and to store them onto the MiniSd memory!
Different possibilities are available to do so:
LOOKING FOR A MAP ONTO THE INTERNET
What you need to look for is an .MJP file map. That’s the typical extension for the nhGPS Map Files. The file size will vary from few hundreds Kilobytes, to several Megabytes… depending of course on the size of the map you need! I can’t help you very much on this side (sorry), because I don’t know which country you are in and what maps are available.
What I can do is to add these two links:
Round The World Maps:
http://www.nhgps.com/links.html
Italy's Maps:
http://www.a1k.it/downloads.php?cat=9
DOWNLOADING A MAP THROUGH YOUR LOCAL OPERATOR
The nhGPS application let you to directly connect your handset to a server where different types of maps are available (via the GSM, GPRS, UMTS network). To do so launch the program, then tap the “Map” menu, then choose the “Download Map…” item, then select the size of the map you need. Be careful… these services are not for free!
You’ll be charged has usual by your local operator because of the Packets’ Traffic. Not a very expensive service though (few Euros, Pounds, Dollars), but you’ll indeed find it on the bill at the end of the month!
By the way... if the handset is connected to your PC, and the PC is connected to the internet, the handset is capable to download maps through the PC internet connection.
(I haven't tested this feature yet!)
CREATING YOUR OWN MAPS
Yes! This is the cool side of this program: you can very easily create your personal maps, if you have an image of the map you need. When I said an image, I meant an actual picture! You can even create a digital map of your town/village, providing that you have a hard copy picture of a good calibrated map. What you have to do is simply to scan it with your scanner, so that to have eventually a .JPG or .TIF file, and then to convert it in the .MJP format, using the "nhGPS MJP Converter" application. (The latest version of nhGPS doesn't even need to convert .jpg .tif and .gif files!)This procedure is extremely easy! When you have a map on a .JPG or .TIF format, you are two clicks away from having a compatible digital map for your UIQ Symbian unit. If you have many small image files that could compose a map, you can use one of those many "Image Stitching Tools" you could find in the net. Adobe PhotoShop works fine as well!
Please understand we’re speaking about image maps; you won’t be able to use the navigational features you’re accustomed to use with Garmin, Tom Tom, Route66… and alike... they're vectorial maps; whereas nhGPS maps are just .TIF or .JPG images, and your unit just places a blinking triangle on it, to let you know where you are!
Well well well… you’ve just installed nhGPS, and you’ve just stored onto your handset an .MJP image file of the map you need, haven’t you? It sounds like you’re ready to go!
Just launch the nhGPS application by tapping its icon onto the Launcher Tab of your Symbian unit. Don’t forget to stay outside your house, your car etc. at the open air; and don’t forget to place yourself in a position where the unit can see a wide and clear portion of the sky (no tall buildings, no tall trees, no tall structures and alike). The unit will ask for the permission to switch your internal GPS antenna on. Of course, you have to do it! For best performances AGPS needs the internal GPS antenna to be on, and the unit to be connected onto your Local Network Operator (e.g. via the GPRS). Do not forget to switch off the GPS antenna when you don’t need it… it’s very battery consuming. To do so just tap the little satellite icon at the bottom of your screen, and then choose "Off".
Now nhGPS wants to know where the map has been stored. It’s not capable to do that automatically.
Tap the “Map” menu, and then the “Select Map…” item.
Now tap the “New” button.
Now the “Choose Other…” button.
Now the “Browse” button.
Now tell nhGPS the position of your map file. Be careful not to mistake the “C:” folders with the “D:” folders. (“C:” is the internal memory, whereas “D:” is the external one)
Do you remember we’re looking for an .MJP file, don’t you? Not a JPG or a TIF one, ok?!?
Once you have your Map correctly listed inside the “Available Maps” panel, just tap onto it.
If everything has gone well, you should see the map onto your screen unit.
Don’t be worried about the map quality, you can zoom using the “+” and “-“buttons at the bottom of your screen.
If you still don’t see the map try to select the “Follow Gps” item inside the “Map” menu… sometime it does the trick.
Something to point out:
Very likely your unit hasn’t yet been able to lock onto the AGPS network. Be patient, it takes a while, even minutes! That’s the downside of AGPS… sometime it’s very slow, and sometime you even won’t be able to lock on at all! To me that procedure never takes less than 10 minutes!
How do I know if the satellites' locking procedure has been successful? First of all when this happens you see a Green Triangle on the map. Yeah, the Green Triangle it’s you! Second if your unit has been capable to lock on, at the bottom of the screen you see your exact location expressed into Latitudinal and Longitudinal degrees. Third if you aren't locked on the message "no fix" appears at the bottom of the screen.
Has the unit been able to lock on? So… we’ve been successful! The unit works, the Symbian OS works, the nhGPS works, the Map Image works and the AGPS network is on. Everything is fine… almost!
You could see an important inconsistency between your real location (because you know where you are) and the position of the green triangle onto the map that could be “miles” away from your actual position. Why? Simple: you need to calibrate the map (nothing to be worried about, it’s very straightforward).
MJP MAPS CALIBRATION
To do so you need to know the coordinates (in “North South” “East West” degrees) of two distant points present inside your map. What I mean is that you need to be extremely sure of the correctness of those two points coordinates. You can’t use your unit to retrieve the coordinates, we’re just calibrating it! Internet has plenty of this kind of map services… or instead you could use other GPS databases such as the NavTeq maps of a Garmin unit. What I did is to check the coordinates of two distant crossroads onto my Garmin eTrexVista unit. Why crossroads? Because if you do so it’s simpler to be more precise! Once you have the two points coordinates, tap the “Map” menu, and then the “Calibrate” item. Now scroll your map till you reach your first crossroad: tap once right onto the middle of it. Now nhGPS ask for the coordinates of what it calls “Marker1”. Just fill in the fields and tap ok (do not forget to state whether it’s North – South – East – West by adding an “N” “S” “E” or “W” before the coordinates digit) . Now do the same for the “Marker2”. Now deselect the “Calibrate” item onto the “Map” Menu, if it hasn't been automatically deselected..If everything has gone ok, the Green Triangle should be placed on a point that corresponds to your actual position.
IMPORTANT (COORDINATES FORMATS):
Don’t forget to check the coordinates format! GPS coordinates can be expressed using different formats. That is to say something similar to: "2.539 cm are equal to 1 inch" (forgive my example!).
Follow three different formats of GPS coordinates as an example:
a) dd° mm.mmmm'
b) dd° mm’ss.ss"
c) dd.dddddd
(At the beginning of this article you have an example of the "c)" type)
Let nhGPS to know which format you’re using, by tapping the “GPS” menu, then the “Preferences…” item. Now choose the “Units” tab: here is the place where you have to choose the coordinates format; right onto the “Position:” combo box. If you don’t do so, and you’re unlucky, you could end very easily up on calibrating the map in the wrong way. The result? You are in Boston and your handset says you are in Toronto!
Ok! Now you're ready to wander among the functions of nhGPS (very few, to be honest). Enjoy the GPS technology !
[size=1]PS - Feel free to review this quick guide, and to report every inconsistency or subsequent development. Every suggestion is welcome.[/size=1]
(20 of Junes 2005)
Supplemental #1 Track Logging
I decided to test the Motorola A1000 internal antenna’s capability as far as the Track Logging function is considered. I performed the satellites locking outside the car. Once it has been successful, I entered the car and I left the handset onto the passenger seat, because I don’t have a mounting bracket. Very surprisingly nhGPS navigator has been able to maintain the track logging without loosing the signal. I have previously saved a departing waypoint, and an arrival one, to check the accuracy of the system. The two waypoints have been saved manually (not marked), taking the coordinates from a Navteq map. The accuracy have been pretty high, if you take into consideration that we’re speaking about a not vectorial map, and an AGPS handset with internal antenna. As you can see on the picture the red tracking line has been drawn pretty correctly, with some corner cutting in the case of very close curves. My city is not a good city for GPS, as every medieval city in Europe. What maybe helped the handset is the size of my car; the passenger seat of the VW Polo it is not very far away from the wind shield.
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OldMan
Perugia
Italia
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Motorola A925 (3G Italian NetWork) GPS
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