Cambridge, UKCSR has successfully integrated GPS with cellular measurements to create eGPS (enhanced Global Positioning System) technology capable of providing accurate position information on demand in all environments.
CSR's location technologies are now confirmed to provide the significant power and performance improvements necessary for embedding into a mobile handset.CSR's first single-chip GPS with embedded Bluetooth and FM radio technologies is back from the fab and proven.
CSR's CEO, Joep van Beurden commented, "Along with last month's announcement of the intention to form the EGPS Forum with Motorola, our working silicon and demonstrations at Mobile World Congress are all significant steps on CSR's roadmap toward adding high performance, yet power-efficient eGPS to cellular phones at an additional cost of less than $1." van Beurden continued, "Our patented eGPS technologies are ready to change the market for location technologies in mobile handsets."
CSR's patented eGPS techniques augment traditional GPS or A-GPS with cellular network measurements to provide a much improved user experience. Universal availability of location information, increased responsiveness and reduced power consumption make eGPS more appropriate for use in mobile handsets when compared with current GPS technologies. eGPS works globally, providing more accurate position information than conventional cellular-based technologies and allowing carriers to support the fine time aiding critical to GPS performance in difficult environments without needing expensive overhauls of unsynchronized GSM or W-CDMA network infrastructure.
The eGPS technology can be easily embedded into a standard slimline handset and minimize power usage as well as avoid conflicts with other handset technologies. Using off-the-shelf mapping software, CSR's handset shows highly accurate turn-by-turn navigation driven by signal-processing software running entirely upon the embedded host applications processor. A comparative demo against conventional A-GPS systems shows greatly improved time to first fix (TTFF) in difficult environments and a reliable fallback position based on cellular measurements when A-GPS fails. CSR's Bluetooth silicon with embedded support for eGPS allows satellite measurements to be maintained when the host processor is powered down, providing position information on demand while minimizing power and resource loads. A typical eGPS push-to-fix will be available in less than four seconds, accurate to within 10 meters and require the equivalent power of less than one second of handset talk time.
