SiRF Slimming GPS for Mobiles

GPS World, March 1, 2006

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SiRF Technology of San Jose, California, has launched a bevy of new products and ventures addressing the space and cost constraints of cellular handsets. “Thin is in,” according to Kanwar Chadha, company founder. “Ultra-slender phones are jumping off the retail shelves in the mobile arena today.” He signaled SiRF’s 2005 acquisition of Motorola’s GPS division as key to development of the new GSCi-5000, whose small footprint aims to expand SiRF’s multimode AGPS penetration into the mid-range segment of the market.

The GSCi-5000 receiver measures 4 3 6 3 1.0 millimeters. Integrated low noise amplifier and fractional synthesizer reduce cost and size, and proprietary technology minimizes the impact of RF jamming and compression issues that can hinder the late stages of the handset development cycle, according to the company. A combination of self-managed periodic fix modes and a 5-?A sleep mode decrease power consumption.

SiRFstarIII-LT. The company also debuted the SiRFstarIII-LT for GPS-enabled consumer mobile devices, with improvements in size, cost, and power efficiencies over the starIII line. The new family features two products, GSC3LT and GSC3Lti, for mobile platforms. The GSC3LT measures 7 3 7 3 1.2 millimeters — 33 percent smaller than SiRFstarIII offerings — and operates at 50 percent lower power consumption. The GSC3Lti, smaller and less expensive at 6 3 6 3 1.2 millimeters, targets handheld systems that have centralized power management and do not require the GPS subsystem power supply to be wholly independent.

India Software, Bluetooth.SiRF acquired Impulsesoft, a Bangalore, India, company specializing in Bluetooth stereo solutions and embedded software; all 55 employees joined SiRF. In parallel, SiRF launched its first multifunction product line, SiRFLinkI, combining GPS and Bluetooth capabilities in a single chip. The product targets platforms where both Bluetooth and GPS are becoming common functions. Chadha pointed to Daimler-Chrysler and other car makers putting Bluetooth at the core of their automobile communications platforms, as an indicator of market movement.

InstantFix. Addressing a barrier for consumer GPS navigation systems, SiRF introduced SiRFInstantFix to minimize the start-up wait time for GPS systems. It enables consumers to achieve the first fix on their SiRF-based navigation devices reportedly as quickly as eight seconds.

The InstantFix server uses proprietary algorithms to bypass the task of obtaining precise GPS satellite location data, or ephemirides; instead it predicts seven days of ephemerides and distills them into a file that SiRF-based nav systems use to pinpoint every GPS satellite. Chadha characterized the InstantFix concept as “similar” to one employed by Global Locate in its Long-Term Orbit (LTO) technology, described in an October, 2005 article in GPS World, but said that it uses “a different architecture and different algorithms.”

Verizon Navigates on New Motorola Phone

Verizon Wireless (Bedminster, New Jersey) has introduced VZ Navigator, providing mapping, audible turn-by-turn navigation, and the ability to find more than 14 million points of interest. The service is initially available on the new Motorola V325 cell phone. VZ Navigator shows users a map of their current location or that of an address in the United States, and locate restaurants, gas stations, banks, and other points-of-interest near their location. Voice-synthesized turn-by-turn navigation gives directions to a selected address.

Using GPS and Verizon Wireless’ network, VZ Navigator also applies AtlasBook developed by Networks in Motion, map data from Navteq, and back-end support from Autodesk.

TeleNav Too. Also in this space, Motorola’s ViaMoto on the Nextel network, and TeleNav Inc.’s TeleNav on the Nextel and Sprint networks compete with installed

in-car systems; Verizon announced in December that it may also offer Telenav in 2006. TeleNav Inc., a six-year-old company that has had its product on the marketplace for three years, promotes its speech user interface for easy address entry, large screen icon, and early notice as its key differentiators. “We’ve been out there building a subscriber base and market share,” said Sal Dhahani of TeleNav. “Now that the market is coming, we’re ready.”

TCS Assisted GPS Patent

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), of Annapolis, Maryland has received a patent for “Improved Culled Satellite Ephemeris Information Based on Limiting a Span of Inverted Cone for Locating Satellite In-Range Determinations.” The patent covers a method and algorithm for determining precise locations using assisted GPS technology within a GSM or CDMA cellular network.

TCS has mapped out cell towers in advance using information available through the Enhanced 911 mandate and GPS ephemeris data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The cell phones of users on a network using the service can be located much more quickly than those using traditional location services. According to TCS, a specific advanced handset performed precise locations in 10 seconds compared with the 5 minutes other cell phones might require.

Point and Learn

What if you could tour a historic park and learn about specific sites just by pointing a handheld computer and pressing a button? What if you were at Disney World and wanted to find the ride with the shortest line? What if you took a class of children on a field trip and needed to tell them to return to the bus — now?

A new product from Intelligent Spatial Technologies, Inc. (iST), of Orono, Maine, enables users to explore a defined area with a point-and-learn system that provides a multimedia presentation based on user geographic location and orientation. The iPointer Tour Guide software module lets system administrators create and upload customized tours for the company’s iPointer system. The iPointer system comprises an HP iPAQ handheld computer with a SiRFstarIII GPS chipset and digital Compass integrated with a wireless network and a geospatial database.

iST President Chris Frank said that users can point at a landmark that they view as interesting, press a button, and the GPS coordinates and the digital compass angles are sent over the wireless network to the company’s database. “We accurately select the landmark that they pointed to — whether it’s a building or a lake or a road — and we provide information back over the Internet connection to them in the form of text or photos and audio files.”

The handheld devices guide users through tours using a combination of graphically displayed arrows, maps, and multimedia descriptions of sites they are viewing. Users also can access the devices’ point-and-learn capabilities at any time by pressing a button to get information about any items of interest along a tour route.

iST is marketing the devices to historic parks, theme parks, corporate campuses, and college campuses. The database combines GIS data with photographs and audio files to provide information about different tourist sites. System administrators who work for the parks or campuses can establish set tours based on varying user interests. For example, a historic park could have separate tours for people interested in general history and those interested in architecture. All versions could be available to users; they would select a tour from a pulldown menu.

Depending upon the technological capabilities of the park, users could receive additional information about park conditions. Many amusement parks monitor line lengths and ride use, and the Tour Guide device could be linked with the same computer systems to give patrons information about rides with short lines.

The devices also provide two-way communication capabilities. When tourists transmit information about sites of interest back into the database, administrators can use that information to gauge foot traffic, user interest, and facility use. Users could receive customized messages such as schedules or coupons when they point at selected sites. The device also can send messages from an administrator to a group of users, such as students on a field trip. Another feature collects information about what a user viewed during a tour and then e-mails a commemorative message and map a few weeks later, which enables campus administrators to remind users about what they saw during their tours and perhaps give them more information than they learned while immersed in the campus environment.

The company either sells complete systems to parks or provides the devices and service for a monthly charge at the parks. iST provides installation, support, training, and maintenance; sets up kiosks and rents the devices; and helps with marketing and content collection.