PTV America and its partners provide solutions for all applications in the field of mobile navigation. Discover the freedom of limitless mobile navigation. PTV and its partners provide:
Whether by car, motorcycle, truck or foot, the range of applications is almost unlimited!
During the past 25 years of information technology the demands placed on navigation have increased continuously. The advent of GPS technology has enabled satellite navigation services world-wide. Since then, the navigation solutions have advanced constantly. The first generation of systems was centered on very simple designs: the application steered users to their destination via routes which were unknown or unfamiliar, suggested a route and gave driving instructions.
The "normal" route is however, not always the best one. Road construction and traffic jams demand a more dynamic approach to navigation. Information about the traffic situation and the estimated arrival time are essential - even on the way to familiar destinations. This second generation of navigation systems is widely available today.
The third generation of navigation systems becomes a constant travel companion - by any mode of surface transport. The system takes the current traffic situation into account when driving, recognizes alternative routes, helps you find your way to your destination from your parked space and provides information about nearby sights and events. Navigation solutions become available everywhere, are convenient and are constantly used.
PTV 3G Navigation embraces all third-generation PTV solutions combining comprehensive data with state-of-the-art software customized for all application areas. It is offered for a wide range of devices: mobile phones, multi-media players, PDAs, and even fixed, OEM car systems. With products from the PTV 3G Navigation family new data sources can be easily processed and added, including comprehensive digital maps, gas station prices, weather and traffic information.
The first images of the future of the fourth generation depict systems which actively support the driver and show pictures of the route and the destination in 3D animation. PTV actively accompanies this process.
End-users demand up-to-date maps. To that end, PTV works closely with data suppliers of worldwide digital map data. We process the raw data, enhance it and bring it into a uniform format. The data can then be used for various navigation products and procedures. Our primary map data partner is NAVTEQ, conveniently located blocks away from our Chicago office.
Under the umbrella of PTV 3G Navigation we offer new and unique data models and services:
PTV offers technologies for integrating traffic information into navigation systems. We have developed contacts and partnerships worldwide with traffic suppliers. We collect the data, check it continuously for accuracy & quality and then process it for our customers. The result is a comprehensive navigation system with optimal traffic quality.
Current traffic information comes from public agencies, private companies, and also public/private partnerships. Traffic detection technology can include traditional loop sensors as well as video & radar cameras and their associated data. An additional source of traffic information is the vehicles on the road that send FCD (Floating Car Data) or "probe" data about the current traffic flow.
In addition, PTV has experience in using mobile phones, equipped with state-of-the-art offboard navigation, as a source of traffic information. These devices continuously collect statistic traffic data. While to date the vehicles on the road could only report a traffic jam if they were in one themselves, now deviations from the expected travel times are reported. This variable data is converted into speed profiles correlated with the time of the day. This serves as an additional source of data to verify and/or augment traditional traffic sources.
PTV offers enhanced traffic information via several routes. To begin with, each traffic incident is processed as a separate TMC message (Traffic Messaging Channel). These reports reach the vehicle either through broadcast technologies (TMC) or via mobile communication (GSM, GPRS, UMTS, SMS, MMS). Moreover, data is also delivered in a new standard format called TPEG (Transport Protocol Experts Group). Service providers which use traffic information as part of their services, receive continuous data from the PTV hosting centers.
Various navigation systems have resulted from the wide array of innovations :
By calculating the route at a service center with up-to-date map data, unlimited coverage is ensured and access to other to online services is possible. The wireless and navigation worlds are growing ever closer. Because procurement costs are often lower than for onboard systems, this is becoming a very attractive product for many industry players.
PTV NaviGuide -
the heart of it all:
With
PTV NaviGuide, service providers can create a high-performance offboard navigation platform
for their customers. With the help of mobile devices such as PDAs and mobile phones, drivers can
be guided turn-by-turn through traffic by a remote service center. The end user benefits from improved
route quality calculation using dynamic traffic data and up-to-date maps from the remote server.
PTV NaviGuide powers a number of navigation products including:
Falk Navigator platform:
Falk is a German mapping and atlas company similar to the likes of DeLorme and Rand McNally.
MAP&GUIDE developed their navigation products, that run on Microsoft platforms: Windows Mobile
for PNDs and Windows XP for laptops. It guides the user with door-to-door and turn-by-turn
voice prompts. The GPS connection ensures precise tracking and navigation. Different versions
are available for consumer, business and commercial fleet applications.
The devices come with continent-wide data sets and the hardware can be connected with external
TMC traffic feeds. For more information please contact our office or visit the MAP&GUIDE homepage
Hybrid navigation is an advancement of existing navigation systems which combines the advantages of both onboard and offboard solutions. Traditional onboard systems are often the popular choice of customers due to a lack of re-occurring fees. The route is calculated either directly on the device or the route is planned on a PC in advance and transferred to the navigation device. Apart from the retail purchase price no other costs or service fees are incurred, until the user chooses to update the map data. Hybrid navigation has a number of advantages over online systems. Because street and traffic data is collected, processed and provided by the remote server, the map data is always up-to-date and detailed information can be easily accessed.
With hybrid navigation systems the user can, for example, define a "home zone" in which he or she
frequently drives. Within this zone the system is able to operate onboard locally and independently from external
systems.
For trips which extend outside the home zone, hybrid navigation offers the opportunity of using map data which
is outside the home zone. This can be accomplished by downloading from the server and installing this map
data onboard as a "travel zone" for a specific period.
The combination of onboard and online systems is conceivable in almost unlimited variations and enables all kinds
of different application cases to be developed. Predefined packages can be compiled which perfectly match the
requirements of a target group, i.e. sales professionals.
For example, a scenic routing application can integrate dynamic information into an on-board system by means of
the waypoint procedure. In this process, scenic routes or interesting sights can be added to the navigation.
The server center transfers the optimal route to the onboard system in the form of waypoints. The device itself
determines the optimal route. This solution is based on our PTV Waypoint Server.
Dr.-Ing. Hans Hubschneider, spokesman of the PTV AG board: "Communication with the vehicle is the prerequisite for hybrid navigation. This technology is extremely challenging for car makers and system providers. But: you can transfer traffic data from the vehicle to traffic management centres via this communication channel. We must after all find a way of optimally using all traffic information. In other words we constantly add information from the flowing traffic to the overall navigation and traffic situation forecast."
