CSR announced that it has halved the cost of embedded GPS solutions through a collaboration with Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company (Samsung). The resulting products, based on CSR’s GPS software and Samsung’s module hardware, bring best in class location-based services to mobile phones, media players and personal navigation devices, while taking the guesswork out of GPS RF design and allowing OEMs an exceptionally short route to market.
The 9.8x9.8x2.15 mm Samsung module is based on the SiGe Semiconductor SE4120S GPS RF IC and is a complete GPS RF subsystem, including voltage regulation, RTC and TCXO, SAW filter and LNA. When combined with CSR’s GPS software running on a typical applications processor, the system achieves tracking sensitivity of -159 dBm and has a cold start acquisition time of under 40 seconds.
According to ABI Research, the market for GPS enabled handsets alone is set to generate $50bn in revenues in 2008, with that figure set to rise to $100bn by 2012. CSR’s software approach eliminates the need for a dedicated GPS baseband; this reduces the cost of the module to less than half of what competitors are able to offer, and offers manufacturers a low cost route to take advantage of this high growth market.
The 9.8x9.8x2.15 mm Samsung module is based on the SiGe Semiconductor SE4120S GPS RF IC and is a complete GPS RF subsystem, including voltage regulation, RTC and TCXO, SAW filter and LNA. When combined with CSR’s GPS software running on a typical applications processor, the system achieves tracking sensitivity of -159 dBm and has a cold start acquisition time of under 40 seconds.
Dr. Stuart Strickland, Vice President of CSR’s Location Business Unit, commented, “Our software architecture already allows the lowest cost design for embedding GPS in high volume applications and we’ve seen strong interest from tier one mobile handset and consumer electronics companies. By partnering with Samsung, we are now able to completely eliminate a complex, risk-laden, and time-consuming step in the product design and integration process, thus making this lower cost alternative available to a much broader range of customers.”
Mr. Sakwan Hong, Vice President of Samsung, added, “With the market for location based services set to boom in 2008, it is crucial that our customers are able to keep apace with the demand. Samsung and CSR’s software GPS solution meets customer performance expectations at a substantially lower cost, so it was a natural progression to partner on this GPS module.”
Future products will integrate GPS with CSR’s technologies for Bluetooth and FM. CSR will be demonstrating its software-based GPS technologies at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2008.
About CSR
CSR is the leading global provider of personal wireless technology and its product portfolio covers Bluetooth, GPS, FM and Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers developed hardware/software solutions, based around its silicon platforms, that incorporate fully integrated radio, baseband and microcontroller elements.
CSR’s customers include industry leaders such as Apple, Dell, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, RIM, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TomTom and Toshiba.
CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden and both Dallas and Detroit in the USA.