A pair of Global Positioning System (GPS) modules has been developed by Swiss company u-blox for portable applications, requiring only 1.8 V supply. This reduces the power requirements by about 40 percent compared to existing GPS devices for embedded applications. The modules, models NEO5D and NEO5G, are supplied in a miniature 12 x 16 x 2.3 mm package and feature tracking sensitivity of -160 dBm. The ROM-based architecture of these GPS modules does not require costly external Flash EPROM, making them ideal for consumer applications. According to Thomas Nigg, Vice-President of Product Marketing for u-blox, "while all alternative solutions operate at 3 V, our new modules support the commonly used 1.8 V in mobile devices. By doing so, the power consumption of the GPS module can be reduced by 40 percent or more."

u-blox
(www.u-blox.com)