Location based mobile services in Japan

Location based mobile services in Japan January 19, 2011

©2011 Eurotechnology Japan KK www.eurotechnology.com

Location Based Mobile Services in Japan�

(version 5 of January 19, 2011)

Gerhard [email protected] Japan K. K. www.eurotechnology.com �

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Executive Summary�

  In July 2001, DoCoMo introduced the first location based information information service in the world “i-Area”, followed by KDDI/au introducing the first GPS equipped phones in December 2001."

  To enable location information for emergency calls Japan’s General Affairs Ministry ordered that from April 2007 all 3G phones sold in Japan must be equipped with GPS. Today 97% of all phones sold in Japan are 3G and therefore equipped with GPS, and it is estimated that about 90% of mobile phones in use in Japan have GPS."

  Based on 90% market penetration of GPS phones, by operator’s ecosystem, strong customer acceptance and heavy investments, a very vibrant business sector of location based services has developed in Japan. "

  Location based services include personal navigation (top provider Navitime has about 4 million subscribers paying monthly subscription fees), location based games (top ranking game providers have 1.5 million subscribers), and B2B services."

  Japan has invested about US$ 1 billion sofar to implement an augmentation of the US provided GPS system of satellite based navigation. Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) will greatly improve resolution and coverage. The first QZSS Satellite “Michibiki” was launched into orbit on September 11, 2010. Michibiki covers Japan for 8 hours per day, two more satellites are planned to provide 24 hour service. Experiments demonstrated the determination of locations with 3 centimeter accuracy at speeds up to 80 km/h. It is estimated that the QZSS system will enable new industries with a value of about US$ 12 billion/year. �



Agenda�

  Executive summary"  Determining a mobile phone’s position"  GPS and Japan’s mobile phones"  Localization determination as an accessory (API)"  Market size"  The main types of LBS"  How to get from A to B – navigation"  Location based services on i-Mode"  i-Area"  Business-to-business services"  Selected companies in the LBS sector"  Summary�



Geo-spatial information systems and Global Positioning System (GPS)

in Japan�



Position determination, and Global Positioning System (GPS) for Japan’s Mobile Phones�



Determining the position of a mobile phone�

  The position of a mobile phone can be determined in a number of different ways:"

  Satellite global positioning system (GPS)"  Triangulation: the phone’s position is determined by

calculating the ratio’s of radio signal strengths from/to three radio base stations"

  Relative positioning by integrating over the acceleration of the phone measured by a three axis accelerometer"

  Signal from in-door antenna units (this method is used for example in Tokyo’s subway stations)"

  In some cases all these methods are combined to give the most accurate determination of the phone’s current position"



Accuracy of location determination�

Service� Method� Representative example�

Accuracy � conditions�

GPS � Calculation position using signals from 4 or more satellites�

A-GPS, GPS� Several meters – several 10s meters�

Open sky conditions�

Triangulation� Calculate from the signals from 3 or more cellular base stations�

E-OTD, OTDOA, A-FLT�

Several 10s meters – several 100s meters�

In towns or inside buildings�

Cell based determination�

Determine from the cell location�

Cell ID � Several 100s meters – 10 km range �

Inside buildings, underground, when the two methods above cannot be used�



GPS in Japan’s mobile Phones�

  KDDI started to introduce mobile phones with GPS from December 2001."

  Around 1999/2000 the number of mobile phones exceeded the number of fixed line connections. More and more emergency calls were placed from mobile phones and the location of these mobile phones was difficult to determine and delayed the provision of emergency services."

  Japan’s Ministry for Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (SOMUSHO) ordered, that from April 2007 all 3G phones newly sold in Japan must include GPS + the functions to forward the phone’s location to an emergency call center when an emergency call is placed."



DoCoMo’ first GPS phone�

  DoCoMo introduced the first GPS phone in April 2003, about 1 ½ years after KDDI/AU had introduced the first GPS phone."

  Figure on the left shows a non-functional display version of the FOMA SA700iS, produced by SANYO for DoCoMo"



Position determination for emergency calls from Japan’s mobile phones�



Private companies for emergency management including emergency calls�



Location determination as an API�



GPS based location determination as an accessory for other applications�

  The application above shows a “norikae annai” application: you input the start location, destination, desired departure or arrival time and the application determines the route, and transfers."

  Start location can be input directly, or a GPS based search function can find the closest station for you"

  Start"  Destination"  Desired

transfer"

  Date"  Time"  Arrive or

depart"

  The departure station can be automatically determined using GPS"



Market size�



The main types of LBS�



Position determination for child safety�



How do I get from A to B

Navitime: Naviwalk – total navigation�



Naviwalk – navigation for walking�



Naviwalk – Navigation with train travel�



Norikae annai – train travel information by Saku"o-norikae�



Eco-navigation�



Location based services on i-Mode�

  For more information about DoCoMo and i-Mode: http://www.eurotechnology.com/store/imode/ �



i-Area

the world’s first location based service�



Google maps on DoCoMo�



B2B GPS services business applications�



GOOPA – train travel based location services�



Selected companies in the sector: location based services for mobile phones�



Examples of companies in the sector of location based services for mobile phones�

  Since about 90% of Japanese mobile phones are equipped with GPS and following customer uptake a thriving industry has developed. The following pages only introduce a few representative examples of interesting companies in this field."

  Companies fall into several classes, including:"  Companies owning and producing map data. A very large investment in terms of

money and effort is necessary to create a digital data base of mapping data covering all of Japan. Recently, mapping data also increasingly include 3D data and data of the inside of major buildings, and underground structures such as underground shopping centers and subway railway stations. The entrance barrier into this field is very high, and new entrants such as Google need to license digital mapping data from established map companies."

  Companies providing navigation services (e.g. Navitime)"  Companies providing “norikae annai” (train navigation) services"  Companies including location services in their other business (e.g. restaurant

information services)"  B2B companies"  Location based game companies"  Augmented reality companies (eg. Tonchi-Dot with Sekai-Camera)""



Summary�



Executive Summary�  Location based services for mobile phones are in their tenth year of development

in Japan: DoCoMo’s i-Area services had started in July 2001, followed by KDDI/AU’s first GPS equipped phones in December 2001."

  Since April 2007, all 3G phones sold in Japan must include GPS, and emergency calls from mobile phones must deliver location information to emergency centers. Today about 90% of all mobile phones in Japan have GPS, and 97% of all mobile phones sold. Private companies have started to offer enhanced emergency call services with subscription charges."

  Over the last 10 years a very vibrant business sector of location based services for mobile phones has developed in Japan. "

  Location based services include personal navigation, location based games, and B2B services."

  Japan has invested about US$ 1 billion sofar to build a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) which will greatly improve resolution and coverage of GPS. The first satellite for this system was launched on September 11, 2010. Experiments demonstrated the determination of locations with 3 centimeter accuracy at speeds up to 80 km/h. It is estimated that the QZSS system will enable new industries with a value of about US$ 12 billion/year. �



More information�

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