Pacific Crest Corporation has  appointed GPS/GNSS industry veteran Don Speedy to head business development and sales for North America. With more than nine years of successful experience in business development and OEM GNSS, geographic information systems (GIS) and survey sales, Speedy will be responsible for driving strategic partnerships in OEM GNSS and data link communications while maintaining regional relationships.

Prior to joining Pacific Crest, Speedy was at Hemisphere GPS, Raven Industries, and Thales Navigation where he expanded OEM opportunities for GIS, survey and GPS-based solutions. He also collaborated on product development and marketing to align with customer and market requirements, expecially in finding new applications in non-traditional markets.

Pacific Crest supplies wireless data communication solutions designed for positioning and remote sensing applications. The company also specializes in reselling Trimble Navigation’s high precision GPS receivers to system integrators for a variety of positioning applications. 

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u-blox has announced the immediate availability of a GPS “PCI Express Mini” card. The card enables laptops, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, and “Ultra Mobile” PC OEMs to provide GPS and location-based services such as personal navigation, services/people finder, and geo-tagging.

Sales of mobile PCs with integrated GPS are projected to grow from 3 million units in 2007 to 45 million units in 2011, according to the company.

u-blox has announced the immediate availability of a GPS “PCI Express Mini” card. The card enables laptops, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, and “Ultra Mobile” PC OEMs to provide GPS and location-based services such as personal navigation, services/people finder, and geo-tagging.

Sales of mobile PCs with integrated GPS are projected to grow from 3 million units in 2007 to 45 million units in 2011, according to the company.

The PCI Express Mini Card is based on the company’s u-blox 5 positioning engine. Requiring only an external antenna, the card comes in two sizes — PCI-Express Mini Card (PCI-5S) and PCI-Express Half Mini Card (PCM-5S). The cards implement u blox’ SuperSense technology, which can track extremely weak GPS signals to -160 dBm as well as the Kick Start feature for a fast Time-to-first-Fix at weak signals, according to the company.

Proprietary anti-jamming algorithms help make the products immune to noise generated by the PC bus, mobile phones, and local electronic devices. The drivers support Windows XP and Windows Vista. A driver for the upcoming Windows 7 is in preparation. The PCI-5S and PCM-5S are now in mass production.

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Four additional channels are dedicated to tracking space-based augmentation systems
(SBAS), including Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in North
America, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) in
Europe, Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) in Japan,
Omnistar services and others.

Trimble has announced its new GNSS reference receiver — the Trimble NetR8 — for precise scientific and network infrastructure applications. The NetR8 reference receiver has 76 channels and supports GPS L1, L2, L2C and L5 signals as well as GLONASS L1/L2 signals.

Four additional channels are dedicated to tracking space-based augmentation systems
(SBAS), including Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in North
America, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) in
Europe, Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) in Japan,
Omnistar services and others.

The company
has also introduced its BX960 real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS receiver in an
environmentally rugged enclosure for OEM or system-level integration.

Housing the Trimble BD960 receiver, the BX960 receiver is designed for integrators who are looking for a complete, box-level solution for their GPS requirements. The new receiver is available with either a single or dual BD960 OEM GNSS modules. Model BX960 receiver houses a single BD960 module and covers a range of configurations from L1 DGPS to the fully loaded RTK unit tracking GPS L1/L2/L5 and GLONASS L1/L2 signals.

Model BX960-2 contains two BD960 modules which allow a "moving baseline" RTK solution to be calculated between two antennas. This produces vector and heading information that address a range of precise navigation applications in which both centimeter-level positions and precise heading are required, according to the company.

The Trimble BX960 GNSS receiver is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2008 through the GNSS OEM business unit of the company’s subsidiary Pacific Crest.

The NetR8 reference receiver has 76 channels and supports GPS L1, L2, L2C and L5 signals as well as GLONASS L1/L2 signals. Four additional channels are dedicated to tracking space-based augmentation systems (SBAS), including Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in North America, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) in Europe, Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) in Japan, Omnistar services and others.

The NetR8 reference station can operate as a campaign receiver for post processing, as a continuously operating reference station (CORS) receiver, portable base station for real-time kinematic (RTK) applications or as a scientific reference station collecting information for specialized studies.

Trimble and Sweden’s Saab TransponderTech AB recently announced that they are cooperating to integrate their differential GPS (DGPS) solutions for enhanced marine navigation. Under the agreement, the companies will integrate their marine navigation solutions to deliver DGPS error correction messages to ships at sea through automatic identification system (AIS) coast stations and networks. The DGPS messages transmitted on AIS frequencies will augment the existing marine DGPS broadcasts from coastal beacon stations.

The two companies are collaborating to develop interfaces connecting Saab’s AIS and Vessel Tracking Management & Information System (VTMIS) with Trimble DGPS reference station and integrity monitoring software. The integrated solution will use Trimble’s Charisma and Coastal Center software for integrity monitoring of the DGPS data prior to transmission through both the beacon transmitters and AIS stations. The integration will also permit the Saab AIS/VTMIS operator to monitor the performance of both DGPS services.

Trimble also announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of RolleiMetric from Rollei GmbH of Braunschweig, Germany, in an all-cash transaction. RolleiMetric is a provider of metric camera systems for aerial imaging and terrestrial close-range photogrammetry. Closing of the transaction, anticipated at the beginning of the fourth quarter, is subject to certain closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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A convergence of a relatively new Singapore-based company, Rockwell semiconductor engineering background, and SiRF Technology’s SiRFstarIII will produce a new family of OEM GPS receivers from Micro Modular Technologies (MMT).

By incorporating the SiRF module, the MN5010HS GPS receiver module represents a departure from MMT’s use of GPS technology from u-Nav Microelectronics (now Atheros Communications GPS business unit). Established in 2005, MMT has also joined the roster of SiRF Technology value added manufacturers (VAMs).

A convergence of a relatively new Singapore-based company, Rockwell semiconductor engineering background, and SiRF Technology’s SiRFstarIII will produce a new family of OEM GPS receivers from Micro Modular Technologies (MMT).

By incorporating the SiRF module, the MN5010HS GPS receiver module represents a departure from MMT’s use of GPS technology from u-Nav Microelectronics (now Atheros Communications GPS business unit). Established in 2005, MMT has also joined the roster of SiRF Technology value added manufacturers (VAMs).

The MN5010HS measures 10 x 10 x 1.8 millimeters, including an input LNA, all RF and baseband processing, TCXO, reset circuits and real-time clock with on-board crystal. It will operate with either active or passive antennas.

The module is available now, as is an evaluation kit, the MN5010HS-EVK, which allows the GPS receiver module to be connected to a PC via USB interface and includes test software for performance evaluation.

MMT’s current offering includes three modules based on the u-Nav technology. Another SiRFstarIII product will be announced in about three weeks, according to Kirk Brinkworth, MMT product marketing. Brinkworth and Larry Cleland, MMT’s vice-president of sales & marketing, attributed the move to the SiRFstarIII platform to customers’ requests for the well-known SiRF technology.

MMT will focus on customers looking for embedded GPS solutions, according to Brinkworth, particularly those for asset and personnel tracking both in consumer and commercial markets.

Last year, MMT opened an office in Irvine, California, which houses its engineering design center headed by Terry Dawson, who previously worked with the Rockwell/Connexant GPS group. Manufacturing of the MMT modules takes place in Thailand.

Alfred Low, MMT’s president & CEO, is also the founder and CEO of Sabre Technologies, established in Singapore in 1991 as a distributor and components rep firm to help U.S. electronics manufacturers bridge their link to southeast Asian customers. Sabre Technologies represents such companies as Fastrax, Sarantel, and InvenSense.

For additional information, contact Kirk Brinkworth at phone 949-336-7850, fax 949-336-7851, e-mail <ki*************@***********ar.com>, or visit the company website.

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Finland’s Fastrax oy, which introduced a new generation of OEM GPS receivers earlier this year, has added a software receiver to its line-up.

Based on the Fastrax’s iSuite3 embedded software architecture used in the company’s iTrax03, and iTrax130) series of GPS receivers, the software receiver is designed for easy porting to a portable device’s central processing unit (CPU).

Finland’s Fastrax oy, which introduced a new generation of OEM GPS receivers earlier this year, has added a software receiver to its line-up.

Based on the Fastrax’s iSuite3 embedded software architecture used in the company’s iTrax03, and iTrax130) series of GPS receivers, the software receiver is designed for easy porting to a portable device’s central processing unit (CPU).

The SW receiver replaces satellite signal acquisition and positioning components —such as application processor, memory, and dedicated HW modules for communication (UART, SPI) and signal processing (correlators, acquisition engine) —typically found in a GPS baseband integrated circuit. A separate external GPS front end is required.

Target applications are high-volume consumer devices — such as cameras, smartphones, personal navigation devices, laptop computers — with high-end processors that have a capacity for a clock speed of approximately 500 MHz or more.

According to the company, the software receiver sensitivity is -144 dBm for cold start signal acquisition and -162 dBm for signal tracking and navigation.

Fastrax says the configurable software receiver can be combined with a large variety of GPS front ends. However, to simplify the introduction of the new product, Fastrax will design a convenient SMD module based on the SiGe SE4120S RF chip.

The module will contain the required components for a stand-alone RF front-end, including a low noise amplifier, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter, oscillator (TCXO), and passive components. Fastrax estimates its SW receiver will reduce the bill of materials (BOM) unit cost for the GPS hardware to less than US$3.

Expected to be released in the third quarter of 2008, the surface mount device (SMD) module will measure 8×8 millimeters.

For high volume consumer devices using mid- or low-end processors, Fastrax is also offering an accelerated software GPS receiver. In this version, the CPU load is reduced to roughly 1 MIPS by performing the correlation process on hardware that is integrated either in the RF front end or in the host processor. Fastrax Accelerated Software GPS is available on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) platform — the Altera Stratix II — for system emulation and related register transfer level RTL for silicon integration.

The Fastrax Software GPS solution is currently available for demonstration purposes. In parallel to finalizing the software GPS offerings into commercially available OEM products, Fastrax continues to pioneer the GPS receiver development by further improving its programmable hardware-based GPS receivers. The company expects to release new hardware and software receiver products in the near future, according to Kim Kaisti, Fastrax’s vice-president of business development.

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The company also reported record first quarter net income of $5.8 million, or $0.11, an increase of 169 percent compared to $2.2 million, or $0.05 per share, in the first quarter of 2007.

Hemisphere GPS has reported US$25.9 million in revenues for the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 56 percent from the year-earlier period (US$16.7 million) and a record for the company.

The company also reported record first quarter net income of $5.8 million, or $0.11, an increase of 169 percent compared to $2.2 million, or $0.05 per share, in the first quarter of 2007.

The Calgary, Alberta, Canada–headquartered manufacturer of GPS-based guidance systems and OEM GPS products attributed the gains to strong fundamentals in the agriculture market where record grain prices are resulting in higher farm incomes.

Increases in agricultural commodity prices are being driven by high global demand for food and bio-fuels in a world with low grain inventories. Increased cash receipts for farming operations are enabling growers to invest more in farm equipment and technologies such as GPS, which improve farming efficiencies and crop yields. Hemisphere GPS derived more than 85 percent of its revenues from the agricultural sector in 2007.

The company began shipments of its Outback S3 — the next generation in Outback Guidance, product line — at the end of March, which contributed to revenue growth in the quarter.

“We have seen a 70 percent increase in our revenues since the 2007 North American harvest began,” said Steven Koles, president & CEO of Hemisphere GPS. “The combination of record 2007 harvests and record commodity prices in 2008 bode well for a strong year overall.”

Significant revenue growth was realized in all product lines and regions for ground agriculture, air agriculture, and precision products such as marine heading applications.

During the quarter, Hemisphere GPS also released a development kit for its Eclipse dual-frequency GPS receiver technology, enabling its OEM customers to more easily access and test all of the available features on the Eclipse dual frequency board and expediting product design timelines, according to the company.

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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.

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.

But Air Semiconductor isn’t alone in probing this potentially lucrative market. Geotate, a wholly owned subsidiary of NXP Semiconductor, launched its new Snapspot product at this week’s International Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas (as Air Semiconductor did with its Aiwave 1 chip).

Although a number of GPS cameras are currently on the market, sales remained below a million units in 2006 (out of 100 million digital cameras shipped that year), according to IMS. the key to capturing this market will be ultra-low power GNSS solutions that can provide extremely rapid time to first fixes (TTFFs).

“Camera manufacturers are unsure of traditional solutions because they are too power hungry, too expensive and take too long to get a location fix,” says Matia Grossi, author of the IMS Research report.

Air Semiconductor’s product, Airwave 1, is designed to solve the problem by providing continuous position fixes at varying levels of accuracy, depending on the application. The Airwave algorithm essentially trades off accuracy for lower power consumption, but reportedly enables a very warm start to the processing.

Both the GPS 0.13 micron chip (RFIC, digital signal processor) and software are proprietary Air Semiconductor assets with several patents pending in confidential filings, the company’s CEO Steve Graham told Inside GNSS. Graham co-founded the company in 2006 with David Tester, an engineer and Air Semiconductor’s chief technology officer who was a former leader of Conexant’s GPS group.

Engineering samples will go to customers this summer, says Graham, and the 12-person company expects to see its first revenue by the end of 2008. Financially backed by Pond Venture Partners, a European early-stage technology venture capital fund, Air Semiconductors has 12 employees and is currently recruiting.

The company expects to follow the Airwave-1 with products targeting other applications such as location-based alarms, push advertising, and tracking.

In contrast, Geotate’s patented approach captures raw GPS satellite signals in the available memory that are later unlocked via a web-based service. A short sample of the GPS satellite signal (less than two-10ths of a second) is captured and stored with the camera image. Later a user transfers the signal samples to a computer and then accesses Geotate’s on-line Capture and Process Server, which processes the signal sample to calculate the location where the samples were captured.

In a PMA 2008 preview, Altek Corporation, a digital still camera (DSC) original design manufacturer, demonstrated a DSC that incorporated the Snapspot technology.

According to a Geotate white paper, the Snapspot process uses 10 millijoules (mJ) of energy per capture: 5mJ for the GPS circuitry, and an estimated 5mJ by the processor storing the signal data in memory. The company claims a single-fix of 11 meters circular error probable (CEP) 90 percent of the time under good GPS signal conditions (signal received at at -130dBm) and 25 meters CEP under poor conditions (-140dBm).

The Geotate approach brings to mind the near-realtime offboard-processing solutions of GPS translators used, for example, in early ballistic missile tracking systems. Only in the case of Snapspot, the GPS signal sample is postprocessed via an Internet-based solution.

Geotate recently announced a collaboration with Rakon Limited of Auckland, New Zealand, to develop a solution for the digital camera application using Rakon’s GRM 6510 module. The resulting module has a 6×5-millimeter footprint and incorporates an low noise amplifier, RF application specific integrated circuit, surface acoustical wave filter, IF filter, and 0.5ppm temperature-controlled crystal oscillator on a ceramic substrate.

In addition to its GPS software, Geotate says it also provides example firmware for controlling the GPS radio and integration support to mitigate RF interference.

Geotate reportedly is in the final stage of spinout negotiations with an investor, with a deal expected to close by the end of the first quarter 2008. In December, NXP announced plans to purchase GNSS chip manufacturer GloNav, Inc.

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