Rivada Networks gets patent for peer-to-peer location method created for fireground use

In addition, the location method described in the patent also could be used to help provide the location of  911 callers using wireless phones in indoor locations—a vexing problem that has been a hot topic before the FCC in recent months.

“If I lose GPS, the algorithm basically goes down to a dead-reckoning program. So, it says, ‘What was my last lat-long coordinate?’” Smith said. “With dead reckoning—and this is how a lot of aircraft navigate—you’re able to estimate the reasonable position, based on where your last known fixed was as it relates to where you are right now.

“Based on that, if you press 911 … and you can’t get a good position fixed from the network, the handset goes, ‘This is what my best position is, based on where I believe I’m at,’ and it sends that to the network as part of a 911 call.”

From a purely technical standpoint, Smith believes it would be possible to implement a system that uses the patented location method within a year to 18 months. However, incorporating it into the larger ecosystem and operational practices likely would take much longer.

“To have this reasonably working with everything, I don’t see why a year and a half is that far of a reach,” Smith said. When it comes to having it fully implemented within a wireless company, that may take another year or year and a half.

“It always moves faster, if they’re told to do it. If [policymakers] say, ‘You will get this done now,’ then all barriers to entry get dropped, and stuff happens quickly.”