GPS: Pioneer to evolutionize the GPS market?

Pioneer promises an evolution of the market - we will see if and how they keep the promise.

SiRF Technology Holdings's award winning SiRFstarIII architecture has been selected by Pioneer Corporation to power its entry into the portable navigation market. The SiRF GSC3 single-chip GPS receiver is at the heart of the recently introduced AVIC-S1, Pioneer's first portable navigation system, headed for the U.S. and European markets.

The SiRFstarIII architecture, winner of the PC Magazine's 2005 award for Technical Excellence, enables Pioneer to meet the increasingly high performance requirements for portable navigation applications. SiRFstarIII's extremely high sensitivity provides the AVIC-S1 with greater position availability in far more environments, including highly obstructed situations, than traditional GPS receivers. SiRF's latest-generation GPS performance enables the Pioneer AVIC-S1 to achieve best-in-class GPS signal acquisition and makes real-time navigation practical even through urban canyons and under dense foliage.

"Launch of a portable navigation device by Pioneer, a leader in traditional car navigation systems, is a key step in the evolution of this market," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice president of marketing for SiRF. "As well known consumer brands such as Pioneer adopt our SiRFstarIII architecture, it brings us closer to our vision of bringing the benefits of location information to mainstream consumers."

A compact and lightweight portable navigation device that combines the essentials - and performance - of an installed navigation system with the convenience of a true portable device, the AVIC-S1 can be easily transferred from car-to-car. Designed for ease of use, the AVIC-S1 features a TFT touch panel, 2D and 3D view modes, a screen arrow with voice instructions and a jog dial that simplifies searches for names, addresses and points of interest. Its built-in Bluetooth wireless capabilities allow it to provide hands-free communications with any Bluetooth-capable mobile phone.

"Our experience has taught us that consumers are extremely demanding and we have a firm commitment to maintain our reputation for delivering navigation products that meet these expectations," said Masanori Kurosaki, Executive Officer at Pioneer Corporation. "SiRF's pioneering GPS architecture allowed us to bring a portable navigation system to market that does not sacrifice the uncompromising performance expected by consumers who buy Pioneer products."

Able to track more than 20 GPS satellites, the SiRFstarIII architecture employs the equivalent of more than 200,000 correlators and sophisticated navigation algorithms, a significant improvement over today's architectures that contain a few hundred to a few thousand correlators, setting a new benchmark for fast and deep GPS signal search and track capabilities even in the most challenging environments.

The GCS3 combines a complete A-GPS digital baseband processor and RF front end in a single, compact, 7-mm x 10-mm package. It delivers unmatched time to first fix (TTFF) at the low signal levels of the original two-chip SiRFstarIII product, while occupying 20 percent less board real estate and consuming no more power than the earlier generation SiRFstarII product.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, GPS

Source: Telematics Journal

Read more

Read what others are saying about it: Bloglines, Feedster, Technorati