CSR slashes cost of adding GPS to devices

Chipmaker CSR is to cut the cost of adding global positioning system (GPS) capability to phones and other devices. The firm is to build GPS functionality into its widely-used BlueCore Bluetooth chips, and said this will add less than $1 to the cost of making a handset.

As part of this plan, CSR announced last week it had acquired two GPS specialists, NordNav Technologies and Cambridge Positioning Systems (CPS), which will enable it to provide GPS support in the software stack it sells to accompany its Bluetooth chips.

"Our objective is to put GPS receive capability alongside Bluetooth in devices," said Matthew Phillips, senior vice president of CSR’s Mobile Handset Connectivity business unit.

NordNav has expertise in software GPS, while CPS has technology called Enhanced-GPS that enables positioning to be extended into areas where signal coverage is patchy, such as city centres and indoors.

Philips said that the first chips with integrated GPS are due by the end of 2007, and he expected the first handsets using these to appear in 2008. In the meantime CSR will roll out the software, which will work with other GPS hardware, he added.

Existing GPS kit is relatively large and typically uses multiple chips to decode GPS signals and compute the position, according to CSR. Software GPS can do the job at a much lower price point, which is vital for phone handsets.

"We think this will drive the attach rate and enable [GPS capability] to spread very quickly among handsets," Phillips said. CSR has the lion's share of the worldwide market for Bluetooth chips.

Having GPS built into a broad range of handsets is likely to boost take-up of already popular satellite navigation software, but it will also enable other location-based services such as searching for amenities close to the users' position.