Golioth Location Private Access

Today we are launching Golioth Location in private access. This service offers network positioning functionality, allowing devices to leverage the same radios (e.g. cellular and Wi-Fi) used for communicating with Golioth to obtain location information. Doing so may extend battery life, reduce hardware costs, and enable more rapid acquisition of a device’s position. Device location data can optionally be returned to the device, stored on Golioth, or forwarded to external destinations via Pipelines.

Golioth customers with a Teams or Enterprise tier organization can request access using this form.

Why Build a Location Service?

Golioth users have already been able to leverage third-party location services via the Pipelines webhook transformer. However, there are a few drawbacks to this approach:

• Users must identify a third-party provider and manually integrate it into their Pipelines, or they must establish a costly second secure internet connection from the device to the provider.
• Users must manage a separate billing relationship with the third-party provider, which may involve complex pricing that is not aligned with managing a large fleet of constrained devices.
• Users are responsible for building location functionality into their firmware, rather than relying on functionality offered by the Golioth Firmware SDK.
• Location data is not returned to devices and is not made available in the Golioth console when manually integrating via Pipelines.

Golioth Location alleviates these concerns by enabling location functionality with a single function call in the Golioth Firmware SDK. There is no need to implement additional protocols or initiate multiple network connections, both of which can bloat firmware image size and reduce battery life, as all communication takes place over Golioth’s secure CoAP transport. Furthermore, because location data is flowing through the Golioth platform, it can easily be stored for fleet visualization, while still allowing for forwarding to external locations via Pipelines.

Why Network Based Positioning?

Location is a key component of many connected device applications, ranging from asset tracking and geofencing to compliance and stolen device recovery. We have previously written about the benefits of using network based positioning relative to GNSS. While typically less accurate, network positioning offers a number of advantages:

• Extends battery life by eliminating the need to operate power-hungry GNSS radios.
• Reduces the cost of hardware by utilizing components that are already necessary for cloud communication.
• Offers faster location resolution by eliminating time to first fix (TTFF) delays.

Many devices only need approximate location at a relatively infrequent interval. However, use-cases that require greater accuracy than that offered by network positioning techniques may combine GNSS and network solutions to quickly obtain general location before switching to more precise tracking. In some cases, such as indoor devices and those in dense urban areas, network positioning can offer superior accuracy to GNSS.

Golioth Location offers network positioning via Wi-Fi access point data, single-cell and multicell information, or a combination of both. Additionally, though network positioning has been identified as the top location feature request by existing Golioth customers, we anticipate expanding capabilities on feedback, such as adding support for assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) and predicted GNSS (P-GNSS).

Accessing Golioth Location

As of today, Golioth Location is available in private access to organizations on Teams and Enterprise tiers. During the private access period, we will be working closely with customers to ensure that necessary functionality is made available both on the Golioth platform and in the Golioth Firmware SDK. Customers that participate in this program will receive specialized evaluation pricing. Public pricing will be finalized prior to general availability.

What’s Next?

In the coming weeks we’ll share more details about the benefits and tangible use-cases of network positioning. If you are interested in sharing your own experience, or have any questions or feature requests, feel free to reach out on the forum!