Nokia Research Center puts Mobile Millennium in...

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Large scale public pilot to gather and analyze traffic information
using GPS-enabled mobile devices

Palo Alto and Berkeley, CA - Nokia today launched Mobile Millennium,
a public pilot that will collect and study traffic data received from
GPS-enabled mobile devices, such as the Nokia N96, Nokia N95 and
Nokia E71. As part of its open innovation model, Nokia Research
Center is collaborating with UC Berkeley's California Center for
Innovative Transportation (CCIT), the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) and NAVTEQ to design, execute and analyze
the traffic system.

Based in part on the results of an earlier experiment, Nokia believes
that a community of users with GPS-equipped mobile devices can help
reduce traffic and the amount of time spent on the road. Providing
real-time information about traffic congestion helps drivers make
more informed decisions - such as whether to take alternative routes,
public transport or reschedule their journey.

"The global proliferation of GPS-enabled mobile devices has driven
tremendous growth in location-based experiences" said Henry Tirri,
Vice President and Head of Nokia Research Center. "Mobile Millennium,
with its unique collaboration of private and public stakeholders, is
designed to demonstrate that everyone can help address problems such
as traffic congestion. Nokia is proud to be part of this research."

Traditional traffic monitoring systems include pavement-embedded
sensors, roadside radar or cameras to provide data for changeable
message signs or traffic reports. But such systems are costly to
install and maintain and so they only cover limited stretches of
today's roads and highways. Using GPS-enabled mobile devices can
provide a richer, complementary source of traffic data without the
need to invest in expensive new infrastructure. Traffic flow data can
be expanded to include city side streets, rural roads or any roadway
where a cell phone can get a signal. The Mobile Millennium traffic
data is based in part on the backbone technology of NAVTEQ Traffic,
which provides nation-wide aggregated traffic data in the US from a
variety of sources, now including real-time data from GPS-enabled
mobile phones in vehicles traveling on the highways.

Participation in Mobile Millennium is open to anyone with a
GPS-enabled mobile phone from a range of manufacturers, an unlimited
data plan and the ability to install and run Java applications. The
Java application enables participants to receive real-time traffic
data and incident reports for main thoroughfares throughout much of
the United States. In the Northern California area, a number of
arterials and highways that are not currently equipped with sensors
will begin to show traffic data as more users join the network. While
the user-generated content is completely anonymous, each data point
contributes a piece to the traffic picture which can benefit the
entire user community. The pilot will operate over four to six months
and up to 10 000 members of the public community can participate.

Protection of personal privacy was built into the very core of the
reporting technology used in Mobile Millennium. From inception,
researchers built safeguards into the system, such as stripping
individual device identifiers from the transmitted traffic data,
using banking-grade encryption techniques to protect the transmission
of data, and drawing data only from targeted roadways where traffic
information is needed. This Privacy By Design(TM) system continuously
filters information to remove data that can be tied to a particular
phone, minimizing the amount of sensitive information ever created,
transmitted or stored.

"Berkeley is contributing our expertise in traffic modeling and
systems engineering to help make this complex system come to life,"
said Alexandre Bayen, professor of civil and environmental
engineering at UC Berkeley. "As part of a public university, we are
thrilled to be working on a project with such enormous potential for
public benefit," Bayen said.

Mobile Millennium is being funded in part by a grant award from the
US Department of Transportation under the SafeTrip-21 initiative.
Locally, Caltrans, who is also assisting in the logistics of trial
and enabling comparison with the data collected by the existing
sensor networks, aims to find a lower-cost and more reliable solution
than that which is available today. "Real-time traffic information
collected through this community-based technology is of great
interest to transportation agencies," noted Randell Iwasaki, Chief
Deputy Director of Caltrans.  "Our goal is to increase information
flow to and from travelers in a cost-efficient, effective manner.  We
are excited about the potential benefits of a system such as Mobile
Millennium," Iwasaki added.

Information about Mobile Millennium, supported devices and the
software download can be found at 

http://traffic.berkeley.edu.

About Nokia Research Center
Nokia Research Center (NRC) looks beyond Nokia's existing business
and product development to challenge current strategies and to
stimulate renewal in the company's direction.  Working closely with
all Nokia business units, NRC's research explores new frontiers in
digital services, physical-digital connections, human interaction,
data and content technologies, device architecture, and access and
connectivity.  NRC promotes open innovation by working on research
projects in collaboration with universities and research institutes
around the world.  For more information, see our website:


http://research.nokia.com

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and
growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We
make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that
enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television,
imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing
our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise
solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide
equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through
Nokia Siemens Networks.

Media Enquiries:

Nokia
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Nokia
Communications
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UC Berkeley
Communications
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Email: [e-mail]

www.nokia.com/press


 
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