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.

The February 4 announcement follows shortly after the January 23 closing of NXP’s acquisition of GPS technology provider GloNav, Inc., by the Einhoven, The Netherlands–based company. The NXP GNS7560 is implemented on a 90-nanometer architecture and features a CMOS RF front end plus correlator engine with power management modes that reduce power consumption to less than 13mW for one-second updates, according to the company.

Reportedly, the OEM receiver is designed to automatically alter its sensitivity and tracking based on signal strength, multipath, and velocity. Host software for the product is structured to facilitate OS integration with Microsoft Windows CE, Windows Mobile, and Linux standard drivers, as well as a variety of real-time kernels in support of “smartphone” designs.

The single-chip GNS7560 is integrated with NXP’s Nexperia UMTS/EDGE Cellular System Solution 7210, which supports multimedia applications and connectivity options for 2G and 3G mobile handsets. The Nexperia Cellular System Solution will be shown in NXP’s booth (Hall 8, B110) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain from February 11-14.

NXP says the standalone GNS7560 A-GPS chip is sampling now.

The post NXP Semiconductors Announces Assisted-GPS Chip appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

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.”

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.”

"We have already turned the cell phone into a multimedia wallet,” says NXP Semiconductors CEO Frans van Houten commented. “It’s only natural that we also want to use our mobile phones to navigate and to find local goods and services. GPS integration allows us to create these and many more interesting and dynamic features.”

GloNav has approximately 50 employees and contractors at locations in the US, UK, Ireland, and Taiwan. They will join NXP’s Mobile and Personal Business Unit. An additional payment of up to $25 million in cash is contingent upon GloNav reaching certain revenue and product development milestones over the next two years.

GloNav and its GPS technology have a long history or corporate identity and technology, going back 20 years to Navstar Ltd., a UK-based company that established a strong presence in military test range instrumentation markets. At various times the company was owned by Symmetricom and, most recently, Ceva Inc.

GloNav Inc. was established and funded in 2006 by Atlantic Bridge Venture (ABVEN), a Europe-based private equity firm, through the divestment of Ceva Inc.’s GPS technology and product lines and merger with California-based RFDomus Inc.

CEVA’s ownership in GloNav is 19.9 percent on a fully diluted basis. Based on its ownership percentage and the acquisition purchase price, Ceva’s share is valued at approximately $17 million, over four times the recorded value of approximately $4 million for the GloNav investment in Ceva’s financial statements.

NXP was founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in Europe, the company has 37,000 employees working in more than 20 countries and posted sales of €5 billion in 2006.

Copyright © 2007 Gibbons Media & Research LLC, all rights reserved.

The post NXP Semiconductors to Buy GloNav appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.