GPS-chip med ultralavt effektforbrug

Air Semiconductor har netop leveret de første 'always-on' GPS-chips med et effektforbrug på kun 1/100 af eksisterende GPS-løsninger (in english).

Airwave-1 is the world’s first and only Always-On GPS receiver requiring as little as 1% of the power drawn by current GPS solutions. The fully integrated, single-chip consumes just 1mA while continuously tracking the user’s location and consequently can also provide instant location updates.

- Proving our first product works is a major milestone for the company. I am really pleased with the initial traction we have in the digital camera market and supplying working chips on schedule validates our technology, says Stephen Graham, Co-founder and VP Marketing at Air.

Tom Arran, GPS analyst at IMS Research, states:
- With the emergence of geotagging we expect GPS to become a common feature in the camera market with a CAGR of over 100% in the next five years. The Airwave-1 chip is well positioned to address this market as it meets the unique GPS design requirements for the camera environment.

The first customers for Airwave-1 are digital camera manufacturers who can exploit instant and continuous location to geotag (location-stamp) photographs the instant they are taken. Unlike other technologies, Airwave-1 achieves this completely transparently without impeding the experience of the photographer.

Airwave-1 operates in an entirely novel way by providing continuous location tracking and hence also eliminating time-to-first-fix. It uses an adaptive technology which maintains a constant watch on its location but can almost instantly focus to provide a pin-point fix. The single-chip contains all RF and digital hardware and the software needed to calculate location data. It outputs location data in a format that enables simple integration into consumer devices.

Production volume of Airwave-1 for all customers will begin in the second half of 2009.