Navteq Plan Skirts Vehicle-Install GPS Navigation

Digital map and location-based services provider Navteq has unveiled its Map and Positioning Engine (MPE) strategy, which includes plans to offer map-enabled driver assistance on cars without installed navigation systems or navigable maps.

Outlined at a trade show in Paris this week, the subsidiary of cell phone maker Nokia said the strategy calls for its MPE product to deliver map-enhanced Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) applications that will be embedded directly in the electronic control units of vehicles. The low-cost technology can be implemented on credit card-sized circuit boards or even distributed in vehicles' electronics architecture.

"The map and positioning engine reference solution is a fundamentally new way to think about digital maps and GPS positioning in the vehicle electronics architecture," said Bob Denaro, Navteq's VP of ADAS, in a statement. "The industry needs a solution that brings the value of digital maps and vehicle positioning to all vehicles."

Ever since Nokia's $8.1 billion acquisition of Navteq was approved earlier this summer, the automotive and wireless phone industries have been waiting to hear how Navteq would approach the Internet-based mapping market.

Navteq's MPE specification contains the company's Electronic Horizon algorithms, which enable the searching and interpreting of the road ahead. Unlike traditional ADAS, the Navteq application is always on and requires no stored navigation route.

Navteq, which has 194 global offices, indicated that its tech and customer support staff will be available to help customers use the algorithms with its maps.