If you remember, global positioning systems or GPS assisted only a few in finding directions to their destinations from a starting point. Aside from the military, a few high-end luxury cars were early beneficiaries of this emerging technology in the commercial sector. But, with the price structure eroding, and RF IC integration improving, GPS receivers have become affordable and are making inroads into a variety of markets. From myriad automotive applications to mobile phones and recreational digital cameras, GPS technology is migrating across multiple product lines. And, more players have joined the fray, unveiling novel solutions on a competitive basis.

Consequently, as prices fall, location capabilities are appearing in more consumer products, including phones, cars, notebooks and handheld computers and personal navigation devices (PNDs). The technology has been combined with a number of location-based services to accelerate its adoption in cell phones, cars, PNDs and other handheld devices. Market research firm In-Stat predicts that U.S. location-based services (LBS) for businesses alone is forecast to grow from 582,000 to 1.1 million subscribed devices by 2010. Some of the applications for this technology identified by the researcher include fleet management/dispatch, workforce and sales force management, as well as a variety of public sector location applications.

Now, there are many more suppliers of GPS chips in the market. Recently, to accelerate the adoption in the mainstream arena, RF Micro Devices entered the fray with the launch of a low-power, low-cost flexible solution for applications like smart phones, wireless PDAs, digital cameras, gaming devices and other cost-sensitive, battery-operated mobile devices. Until now, mass deployment of GPS in mobile devices has been hindered by the high cost and size of conventional hardware-based GPS implementations. According to RFMD, its solution redefines the boundaries of cost, power and size — enabling accelerated, widespread adoption of GPS in cost-sensitive mobile devices. RFMD's solution eliminates the need for a dedicated baseband ASIC by leveraging the available host processing power and memory resources in feature-rich smartphones, wireless PDAs and other consumer devices. Based on a mixed-signal 0.18 µm CMOS process, the RFIC incorporates a hardware accelerator on-chip and is bundled with the developer's proprietary core GPS software. Low power consumption is achieved through various hardware and software-controlled power save modes.

To further proliferate its use, the technology is now being combined with wireless standards like Bluetooth to bring wireless connectivity to GPS receivers. By integrating these functions on-chip using state-of-the-art silicon process and packaging technologies, suppliers are targeting a large array of platforms where Bluetooth radio is used to communicate location information to other devices or products. “GPS and Bluetooth are becoming common functions in most of our target markets,” noted SiRF Technology founder and marketing VP, Kanwar Chadha. For that, the pioneering company has readied a multifunction architecture called SiRFLink, aided by recently acquired Impulsesoft, a company in Bangalore, India with Bluetooth expertise.

However, others like SiGe Semiconductor, a key supplier of GPS chips, sees Bluetooth and GPS merger as a mismatch. The company is investigating combinations with wireless LAN (WLAN) modems and digital TV receivers. Initially, as these functions pervade laptops, media devices and other handheld consumer products, they will be designed separately. After the first wave of acceptance, integrated solutions will emerge sometime in the 2008 time frame, according to Stuart Strickland, director of radio front-end products for SiGe Semiconductor.

Concurrently, many other similar combinations may be in the works by big and small players to create novel products to enable a new set of applications. GPS, in combination with radio frequency identification (RFID), is one such unique convergence that can open a whole new front. In reality, a technology that was once considered a luxury for consumers is now becoming ubiquitous in everyday consumer products.

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