7th November 2017
GX collaborates to create an innovative wireless geolocation solution
Thinking outside the box led the design engineering team at GX to help ZoneArt develop a way to use a Wi-Fi network to locate a mobile phone within a given space.
ZoneArt had devised a reliable method using Wi-Fi which could accurately pinpoint where the phone was located, within a metre. Additionally, they had also recognised a way to restrict the network within a given area, and to even lock the network down to individual users to provide added security.
The team at ZoneArt turned to GX for their help and expertise in integrating high speed electronics within a Wi-Fi hub, so that they could trial a working prototype, capable of emitting a secure and directional Wi-Fi network. The look and feel of the finished prototype owes much to too GX’s design engineering team too since they designed a sleek, wall mounted surround to house the Follow Spot hub.
“This has been a really exciting project to work on,” noted Mark Helmich, GX’s managing director. “For the past twelve months we have worked alongside ZoneArt to help evolve ‘Follow Spot’, their secure WiFi network. Our electronic and system knowledge and expertise has been crucial to implementing a method for directing the WiFi beam. By using an Altera Field Programmable Gate Array we could control many of the elements which would traditionally have been done in software. The FPGA allows us to achieve the same function in hardware, but at a much greater speed. Because of the rate of signal transfer it would have been impossible to do this using the software and microprocessor within the hub.”
Following Zoneart’s recent demonstrations it is evident that there is clearly an array of applications for Follow Spot, not just for retailers being able to understand the customer journey, but also in areas where it is essential to provide a secure Wifi connection.