Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Xemics | Subject: GPS chipset
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 02 April 2003
Chipset enables frugal GPS module
Racewood Technology Company has developed the world's lowest power GPS receiver.
Racewood Technology Company has developed the world's lowest power GPS receiver The device is based on a high-performance low-cost chipset from Xemics
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 19 Dec 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Sensing machine gains ICE support
Xemics and Phyton have released the first in-circuit emulator (ICE) for the XE8000 microcontroller series and sensing machines.
Microcontroller takes on smart radio applications
New from Xemics the XE88LC06 is a microcontroller for smart radio applications.
The GPS receiver features a power consumption of only 50mW in tracking mode, compared with a typical 100 to 200mW for the closest competition with a similar level of performance.
This significant power saving is key for the applications targeted by the Xemics/Racewood module: power-sensitive mobile information devices such as laptops, PDAs, digital cameras, and even wristwatches.
Thanks to this ultralow power consumption, the GPS receiver will provide accurate location, speed and timing information to users over an extended period of time.
Further reading
SoC is all-in-one wireless headset solution
The Xemics XE1218a is a complete SoC solution for small unidirectional wireless headsets.
RF transceiver balances cost with performance
Xemics has developed a highly integrated ultra-low-power RF transceiver it claims enables flexible solutions with a minimal number of external components.
Simplified design route for RF transceivers
RFast is a complete development environment for the Xemics XE1200 transceiver series.
This is achieved without the need of large additional batteries.
Another key advantage is the small size of the receiver.
It comes in a form factor that matches portable device requirements and can easily be integrated into existing systems.
The receiver includes the necessary resources to provide time, position, speed, and other relevant navigation data through a very simple interface.
Racewood will manufacture the receiver based on a Xemics design and will be purchasing the Xemics XE1610 GPS chipset.
This technology allows high-volume manufacturers of consumer products to add GPS location capability with minimal impact on device size or battery life.
The chipset from Xemics is the lowest power implementation of GPS receiver technology to date.
"By partnering with Racewood to deliver fully featured GPS modules to the marketplace, we are leveraging our advanced semiconductor capabilities", said Remy Pache, Xemics' Vice President of Marketing.
"By doing so, our customers can now easily integrate the GPS functionality into their innovative portable and consumer products, where battery size and overall costs were real barrier to entry for this location technology.
They will also shorten their time to market, and should they then need to migrate to their own design, Xemics will offer the full support for that key step".
Several types of the design are being derived to match the specific requirements of demanding applications for use with laptops, notebooks and PDAs, as well as GPS Compact Flash cards for PDAs.
Customized versions are also in the pipeline for consumer products.
The Xemics chipset offers the lowest power consumption of any GPS receiver on the market today.
The baseband advanced channel correlator IC consumes less than 3mW.
The total RF and channel correlator solution is less then 25mW while acquiring and tracking.
For a full position velocity time (PVT) GPS platform, it sums up to 50mW, with a powerful 32bit ARM7-based microcontroller onboard, with 128Kbyte RAM and 512Kbyte Flash.
It is the ideal solution for power-sensitive applications.
Xemics' chipset implementation is extremely compact.
The baseband chip is packed in a 16-pin SO.
The high level of integration translates to lower component count and enables a tiny footprint.
This facilitates the integration of GPS functionality into a variety of mobile devices without adversely affecting product form factor and size.
The GPS chipset is available through Xemics worldwide sales and distribution channels.
• Xemics: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
