SyChip Inc., a Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) venture, today announced that it has developed the world's smallest fully integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) module.
Designed for wireless Internet appliances, the GPS2020 chip-scale module enables navigation and location-based services in cellular phones and personal digital assistants. It measures only 11 mm by 14 mm, or about half an inch on a side.
Wireless location services enable people to receive navigation, traffic, weather, other information services, and advertising based on their location. International Data Corp. estimates that the market for this type of service will grow to $4.9 billion in 2004, from about $554 million in 2001. These services will be accessed by 132 million U.S.-based wireless subscribers in 2004, according to IDC estimates.
The SyChip GPS module is also designed to enable manufacturers of cellular phones sold in the United States to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's E-911 Phase 2 mandate. This rule stipulates that U.S. wireless carriers who opt for a handset-based geolocation solution must begin offering GPS-enabled handsets by October 2001. The FCC's Phase 2 mandate requires that 100 percent of all cellular phones offered by these carriers must be able to identify their location to within 125 meters (410 feet) for 911 emergency calls by the end of 2002.
"We expect the small size and high performance of SyChip's GPS2020 to help wireless Internet appliance makers to offer a host of location-based services swiftly and economically," said Dennis Peasenell, SyChip's president and chief executive officer. "The small size and high power efficiency of the GPS2020 make it the only GPS module that can be integrated on the main circuit board of any cellular phone or PDA. It will reduce the overall size and power requirements of future appliances while offering outstanding performance," said Peasenell.
The GPS2020 uses SyChip's proprietary high-density interconnect structures and SiRF Technology's SiRFstar II(TM) GPS chip architecture. SyChip's integrated chip-scale module provides complete GPS functionality in a 12-channel, digital radio receiver, with on-board radio-frequency function, 8-Mbit flash memory, processor, low noise amplifier (LNA), filter and GPS crystal. The central processor section is a 32-bit, 50-megahertz unit that can be used to expand applications and functions of the module.
"Designers can use the module's customizable firmware capabilities to tailor those functions to match the needs of host devices, such as cellular phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants)," said Moses Asom, COO and co-founder of SyChip, Inc. "We will be shipping evaluation kits of this product to prospective customers in mid-December."
"Service providers are pressing for a geolocation solution to be ready soon," said Casey Hill, general manager of the Location Core Solutions Center at Motorola - Personal Networks Group. "We think SyChip's solution could fill this need for millions of existing and future cellular phones, because of its small size and high level of integration."
"We believe that SyChip's innovative offering can enable quick and effective integration of GPS into wireless mobile devices," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and VP Marketing of SiRF, a GPS-based location technology products company. "Ultimately, such innovations help drive location-awareness into the widespread consumer domain, enabling people to find their way around from wherever they are or to identify their location to get timely assistance in emergency situations."
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