TI makes GPS affordable in mobile phones

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) has announced a new single-chip device to drive GPS applications into mainstream mobile phones. Built on DRP single-chip technology, the NaviLink 5.0 solution has a footprint of 25mm?, delivering high performance with small solution size and low BOM, making GPS affordable to accelerate adoption in mobile phones.

Quick TTFF
The new NaviLink 5.0 GPS receiver architecture provides fast "time to first fix" (TTFF) in weak signal conditions typical in metropolitan areas and deep indoor environments. This will help operators in deploying location-based services, such as rich 3D mapping and navigation applications to their consumers. The solution supports both A-GPS and standalone modes of operation. Unlike other GPS architectures, the NaviLink chip requires minimal host loading and memory requirements, providing system design flexibility and reduced power consumption, which are key concerns for handset manufacturers. The chip also exceeds 3GPP and OMA SUPL performance requirements, enabling ease of integration in mobile phones.

"Most consumers are familiar with accessing navigation data from their in-car systems and via the Internet. With this solution, we enable handset manufacturers to offer affordable personal navigation systems and applications in mobile phones for on-the-go consumers anytime, anywhere," said Marc Cetto, general manager of TI's mobile connectivity solutions business.

Presence management
With location-based services on the mobile phone, busy consumers can access information about services and businesses in their immediate area such as ATMs, restaurants, movie theatres, and more. They can also identify the location of family and friends through "presence" management, which lets users locate personal contacts via their handset.

The solution is optimized to interface with Omap and Omap-Vox processors, which provide clear, crisp 3D images to the user. The GPS chip also interfaces with TI's 2.5G and 3G chipsets to deliver a complete solution for handset manufacturers. The solution is expected to be in high volume production Q4 2007.