Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Spirent Communications plc, Crawley, UK, has announced the availability of two new capabilities for its UMTS Location Test Solution (ULTS) that will affect assisted GPS (A-GPS) implementation in mobile communication devices and location-based services (LBS): enhanced testing of secure user plane (SUPL) and wideband CDMA (WCDMA) signaling conformance testing.
By Glen Gibbons
NovAtel Inc. will establish grounds sites in Canada to monitor the GIOVE (Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element) test satellites under a CDN$667,861 (US$671,568) contract recently awarded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
The work includes a parallel cooperative effort to integrate the NovAtel Galileo Test Receiver (GTR), developed for the CSA, into the GIOVE-A Galileo Experimental Sensor Station (GESS), to upgrade the GTR capabilities and to field these GESS stations in Canada.
By Glen Gibbons
NXP Semiconductors launched its first assisted-GPS (A-GPS) chip, the GNS7560, targeting mobile phones and standalone personal navigation devices (PNDs) with the product’s package size of less than nine square millimeters.
By Glen Gibbons
CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) and Motorola have announced launch of an industry group that seeks to promote the integration of GPS and other location technologies to create more robust, continuous positioning capabilities by mobile device users.
By Glen Gibbons
Swindon, UK–based start-up company Air Semiconductor is aiming its first OEM GPS product at what it hopes is a sweet spot in the market: geotagging digital camera photos.
And it may be pointing in the right direction, according to a new IMS Research report that predicts a 200 percent cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) for GNSS-aided digital cameras over the next five years.
By Glen Gibbons
NAO Campus schematicThe French engineering consultancy Pole Star SARL has expanded the firm’s development activities with the launch of its first products — NAO City and NAO Campus, designed to improve the robustness of GNSS positioning in urban and indoor environments with a focus on location-based services.
By Glen Gibbons
IT321Fastrax Ltd. has launched two new GPS OEM receivers, including one with an integrated chip antenna, aimed at designers of mass-market automotive and portable devices.
The Fastrax UC322 incorporates an on-board chip antenna (five millimeters thick) designed to reduce the size from that of typical patch antennas and large separate ground planes, according to the company. Instead, the end device’s printed circuit board functions as part of the antenna.
By Glen Gibbons
Calgary, Alberta-based Hemisphere GPS has appointed Jim Chinnick as its new vice president of engineering.
Chinnick has depth of experience in the wireless and telecommunications industries. He was responsible for technology development at Wave Wireless and was engineering vice president at Wave Rider.
By Inside GNSS
Enhanced Paveway IIRaytheon Company received more than $150 million worth of contracts in December for its Paveway family of precision-guided munitions. The latest figures bring the total Paveway year-to-date bookings for 2007 to more than $300 million, a record for Raytheon’s Paveway program.
The contracts are a combination of direct commercial sales and foreign military sales and will provide customers in Europe and Asia with the Enhanced Paveway II (EP2) and the EP3 variants of the Paveway weapon system, which upgrade "dumb bombs" into precision-guided munitions.
By Glen Gibbons
NXP Semiconductors has announced plans to acquire GloNav Inc., a US-based fabless GNSS semiconductor company, for $85 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008, subject to regulatory approvals.
According to NXP, the company plans on integrating GloNav’s GPS technology with NXP’s expertise in Bluetooth, FM radio, and USB “to offer a broader connectivity suite to the mobile phone market.”
By Glen Gibbons
The U.S. Air Force has exercised new options on contracts with three companies for development of GPS Modernized User Equipment (MUE) for future military applications.
Under the new awards, Raytheon will receive $65 million; Rockwell Collins, $50.7 million; and L-3/Interstate Electronics Corporation, $36 million. All options were awarded on or about October 19.
By Glen Gibbons
Continuing a trend of GPS technology acquisitions designed to facilitate mixed technology wireless products, Atheros Communications has announced a definitive agreement to buy the assets of u-Nav Microelectronics, an Irvine, California–based fabless GPS semiconductor company.
Atheros, with headquarters in Santa Clara, California, is a nine-year-old developer of wireless semiconductor products, including 802.11 standard-based wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, and personal handy-phone system (PHS) equipment.
By Glen Gibbons
EDO Corporation will hold a special meeting of its shareholders on December 18 to complete previously announced plans to be acquired by ITT Corporation, a global aerospace and defense company with headquarters in White Plains, New York.
By Inside GNSS
