SUNNYVALE , Calif., June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trimble(Nasdaq: TRMB) and privately-held Locata Corporation of Canberra , Australia announced today that they have signed a development and distribution agreement for the integration of Locata technology with Trimble products for the construction market. Trimble and Locata will cooperate to develop an integrated Global Positioning System (GPS)-Locata receiver specifically designed for applications in the heavy and highway construction market and the building construction market. Under the terms of the agreement, Trimble will have worldwide rights to use Locata's new terrestrial positioning technology to integrate and manufacture products for these defined markets.

Locata's patented devices create a local positioning system, called aLocataNet, which replicates GPS functionality in environments where GPS coverage is limited or unavailable. The combination of LocataNet with Trimble's industry leading systems is expected to result in new products for machine control and grade checking applications that provide increased levels of reliability and accuracy for positioning. The combined products are expected to save time, increase productivity and reduce costs for construction market operators.

"As precise positioning becomes a critical control element for all heavy construction machinery, there is a growing understanding that terrestrial augmentation is vital for the many environments where GPS is either limited or not available. Trimble has already integrated GNSS signals, optical, inertial and other sensors into products designed for these markets. Locata technology provides another valuable sensor which will allow Trimble to supply total solutions for virtually every environment our construction customers work in," said Bryn Fosburgh, Trimble's vice President of Engineering and Construction.

"We are very excited to begin working with Trimble," said Locata CEO Nunzio Gambale. "Locata recognizes that the construction market is one of the biggest applications for machine control in the world. When it came time to form a partnership for the initial integration of Locata's technology into these applications, Trimble was the ideal choice. Our relationship with this outstanding company will ensure Locata technology has instant global penetration into every segment of the industry. In return, Locata's ability to provide the equivalent of "your own local GPS constellation" will allow our partners to improve the operators' bottom line through innovative and compelling new solutions to their positioning problems."

About Locata Corporation

Locata Corporation has developed new radio-location technology which provides precise positioning in difficult GPS environments. The company's solutions allow deployment of a network of terrestrially-based transceivers(LocataLites) that transmit precise ranging signals. LocataLites create a positioning network called a LocataNet that can operate in combination with GPS (e.g. construction environments) or independent of GPS (e.g. indoors).Early adopters of Locata technology already include the U.S. military, open-cut mining and structural deformation markets. The LocataNet replicates the GPS satellite constellation - but on the ground. One very special property of the LocataNet is that it is time-synchronous, allowing single point positioning (no differential corrections or data links required) with centimeter-level accuracy. There is no other technology that can do this.