14 DAY TRIAL // CSR announced that it is going to provide the most competitive GPS technology for mobile handsets and network operators. The recent acquisition of NordNav Technologies and Cambridge Positioning Systems will allow CSR to provide software-based low cost GPS suitable for mass-market mobile phones and personal navigation devices. CSR expects its first Autonomous and Assisted GPS product offerings that support satellite navigation and other location-based services to be available during the first half of 2007.
CSR's acquired patented GPS solution is a software-based architecture that is expected to reduce the bill of material cost to less than $1 when used with CSR's Bluetooth technology. CSR's patented methods to reduce both the number of processor cycles and the time to first fix give an efficient overall solution with less than half the processing requirements of alternative solutions, while remaining flexible enough to perform highly dynamic and accurate tracking. The software GPS technology acquired from NordNav will also take up 80 percent less area than competing hardware solutions and is the lowest cost solution on the market.
CSR has acquired Cambridge Positioning Systems for its Extended GPS software algorithms for mobile handsets and network server software. These algorithms allow users to achieve a faster location fix (less than 3 seconds), and also provide GPS coverage in dense urban areas and even indoors where there is no access to GPS satellite signals. The faster fix also means that in comparison to conventional Assisted GPS, power can be reduced by a factor of 10 or more.
"At $5-$10, current GPS solutions are too expensive and just not practical for mainstream cellphone applications," said Matthew Phillips, Senior Vice President of CSR's Mobile Handset Connectivity strategic business unit. "There are also performance restrictions in terms of both handset and network that have meant that the technology is not appropriate for the mobile platform. The two acquisitions mean that CSR has removed the barriers for mobile handset makers and operators to provide location based services for the mass market."