SiGe Semiconductor says that it is ready to launch the world's first Galileo-ready receiver for mass market consumer electronics, which will enable the integration of GPS style navigation services into portable devices including mobile phones.
Galileo is a new satellite system that will greatly enhance navigation and positioning performance compared with the existing GPS system. The combination of GPS and Galileo will improve user experience of location based services by enabling products to determine position data much more consistently, more quickly, and with greater accuracy than with GPS alone. These benefits are expected to drive a significant opportunity, as the global satellite navigation market is expected to reach US$30 billion by the time the Galileo system becomes operational in 2008.
The SE4120 allows consumer device manufacturers to capitalise on this market by designing Galileo-ready systems even as the standards are being finalised. The software-based receiver architecture ensures that changes to the standards can be supported with simple software upgrades. This allows manufacturers to design their systems now, ensuring they are among the first to market with Galileo-ready products. The software-defined architecture also minimises board area, power consumption, and cost - benefits ideal for high-volume portable consumer electronics.
"With the new SE4120L receiver, SiGe Semiconductor is the only semiconductor supplier able to meet the needs of OEMs wishing to enter the emerging Galileo market," said Stuart Strickland, product line director at SiGe Semiconductor. "Our unique software-defined signal processing architecture allows manufacturers to install and consumers to purchase Galileo-ready systems with confidence."
Software-defined radio minimises bill of materials, optimises board area, cost and power
The SE4120L is a highly integrated receiver with built-in support for software-defined satellite signal processing for both GPS and Galileo. The software architecture greatly reduces the load on host processors compared with conventional software approaches, and reduces cost and power consumption compared with dedicated hardware."
Posted to the site on 19th September 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/19416.php