The potential of Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) to improve the navigation industry, in particular GPS, has been discussed and tested in certain applications for years. Products have been developed and released for dead reckoning in vehicles, however, these systems don’t transfer to more mainstream applications. A person driving their vehicle or using the subway system in an urban environment are examples of potential consumer level applications. To reach this level of accessibility for the everyday consumer, developers are pairing MEMS with existing consumer wireless positioning technologies, such as Wi-Fi and GPS. This pairing has demonstrated both urban and indoor positioning capabilities. Different methods of integrating the technologies will be demonstrated in this article, including the advantages and trade-offs of each method for consumer applications in these challenging environments.
