GloNav Announces Production Availability of the Industry's Lowest-Power GPS RFIC.

Optimized for handsets and portable devices, the highly integrated GNR1040 GPS RF Front End operates from a single 1.8V power source and offers ultra-low 15mW power consumption

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- GloNav Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing global positioning system (GPS) and other satellite navigation solutions, today announced the volume production availability of its ultra low-power L1 GPS RFIC optimized for integration into cellular handsets, portable consumer electronic devices and battery operated GPS devices. The GNR1040 is a highly integrated, low-power, single-conversion low-IF GPS RFIC for the 1.575GHz - L1 signal that includes built-in flexibility and programmability to support multiple GPS baseband processors.

"Navigation and location-based service enabled devices require a robust RF solution, and manufacturers will seek GPS RFICs that are high performance, easily implemented and programmable," said Bill McLean, chief executive officer, GloNav Inc. "Our highly integrated low-power consumption, low-IF GNR1040 GPS receiver provides a fully integrated GPS RFIC for devices while reducing overall component count and lowering power consumption."

The GNR1040 GPS receiver contains a fully integrated GPS receive path, including low noise amplifier (LNA), that down-converts the GPS L1 signal 1575.42MHz to a programmable IF (1.5MHz or 4MHz); the signal can be quantized to one or two bits and delivered through a programmable streaming data interface to GPS baseband devices. The fractional-N frequency synthesizer architecture can use any clock reference frequency in the range 10MHz to 50MHz, enabling the support of all common reference frequencies used in cellular handsets. A standard SPI interface allows access to the internal register bank controlling the numerous features of the part. This enables optimization of the various programmable parameters under software control, for specific GPS system implementations.

The GNR1040 connects directly to GloNav GPS3000/4000 series baseband IP cores. It also has the unique capability to output data directly via its standard SPI interface, simplifying the interface to general-purpose processors and DSPs for enabling emerging software GPS applications.

GloNav leverages Jazz Semiconductor's SBC18 0.18-micron silicon germanium BiCMOS (SiGe BiCMOS) process for the design and manufacturing of the GNR1040, a key ingredient for enabling the high performance and low power consumption. The device is packaged in a 4x4mm 24-pin QFN package and operates from a single 1.8V supply, consuming just 15mW of power.

Flexible evaluation kits of the GNR1040 are available immediately, including a PC-based tool for controlling the device's parameters, simplifying customer's evaluation and integration of the device.

GNR1040 Features

* Optimized for cellular handset integration

* Excellent linearity, noise figure and phase noise specifications

* Built-in flexibility to support multiple GPS baseband processors

* Direct interface to GloNav GPS3000/4000 series baseband IP cores

* Ultra low power consumption (15mW)

* 1.8V supply voltage

* Fully integrated IF filtering - no external IF components

* Integrated fractional-N PLL and VCO

* On chip crystal oscillator circuit

* Supports all cellular handset reference frequencies

* On chip matching network

* Flexible quantization (1 or 2-bit) and data interface

* SPI control interface

* 4x4mm 24-pin QFN package

* Very low external component count

* Temperature range -40oC/+85oC

About GloNav Inc.

GloNav Inc., headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., is a fabless semiconductor company developing global positioning system (GPS) and other satellite navigation technologies and products. The company was formed from the spin out of the GPS business from Ceva Inc. and acquisition of RFDomus Inc., with capital infusion from Atlantic Bridge Ventures. The powerful combination of the technology acquired from Ceva and RFDomus enables GloNav to offer the lowest-power, highest-performance GPS semiconductor solutions in the industry. Visit online at www.glonavgps.com.