Broadcom Limited is offering a mass-market, dual-frequency GNSS receiver device, the BCM47755, designed to enhance location-based services (LBS) applications for mobile phones, tablets and fitness wearables.
Equipped with the latest GNSS innovations, the device is capable of centimeter-level accuracy with minimal power consumption and footprint, enabling an entirely new suite of high-precision LBS applications including lane-level vehicle navigation and mobile augmented reality.
Until now, mobile location based applications have been powered by single-frequency GNSS receivers operating under stringent battery-power and footprint constraints.
The expanded availability of L1/E1 and L5/E5 frequencies in satellite constellations enables the use of two frequencies to compute position much more accurately in both urban and open area environments.
BCM47755 uses two different frequency signals from each satellite. (Image courtesy of Broadcom)
The BCM47755 delivers this higher level of location accuracy while meeting the rigorous battery power and footprint needs in mobile phones.
The BCM47755’s accuracy allows location-based applications to offer a richer consumer experience. For example, lane-level knowledge of the vehicle’s location vastly improves the turn-by-turn navigation performance.
Further, combining this accurate location with the lane’s traffic pattern gives consumers a significantly better estimate of arrival times. In the same vein, ride-sharing applications can be enhanced to more precisely pinpoint driver and client location.
The BCM47755 consumes less than half the power of previous generation GNSS chips. Since GNSS and sensor applications are always on, this power efficiency has a proportional impact on the battery life of the mobile device. So, even while benefiting from a richer navigation experience, consumers will have a longer lasting battery on mobile devices that use the BCM47755.
Product Highlights
Advanced dual-frequency GNSS receiver capable of processing satellite signals in both L1/E1 and L5/E5 frequency bands providing higher level of location accuracy
Incorporates new low power GNSS radio and dual-core ARM CM4-CM0 sensor hub
More than 50 percent lower power consumption compared to previous generation GNSS receiver
Delivers high-quality raw GNSS measurements for both code and carrier phase, enabling advanced location-based applications.
“With the launch of the dual-frequency GNSS sensor hub, Broadcom continues the tradition of raising the bar for mobile GNSS,” said Vijay Nagarajan, senior director of product marketing of the Mobile Connectivity Products Division at Broadcom. “Location-based consumer applications can be disruptively enhanced with centimeter-level accuracy. On the other hand, lower power consumption and smaller footprint continue to be defining requirements for any mobile phone chip. The BCM47755 achieves these twin objectives for a richer consumer experience.”
The GNSS market landscape is expanding due to the rapid growth of GNSS-enabled wearables and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) coupled with new innovation opportunities around low-cost precision GNSS, according to ABI Research’s latest GNSS IC vendor report.
In its latest GNSS IC vendor competitive analysis, ABI Research determines Broadcom and Qualcomm remain the two top IC vendors for the fourth year in a row with a mere two points separating MediaTek in third from u-blox in fourth.
New threats emerge to shake up the landscape in the years ahead, though, with CEC Huada and Samsung now companies to watch, the report said.
“MediaTek and u-blox once again swapped places,” said Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “U-blox had another stellar year financially and, along with Skytraq, led the way on low-cost precision GNSS with its NEO-M8P module. MediaTek, which showed significant success in wearables and smartphones, transitioned back to third place primarily due to growing market share.”
Broadcom and Qualcomm remain the two top GNSS IC vendors. Within the past year, Broadcom spurred more headlines with its wearables success and its initial work on L1/L5 dual-frequency receivers. Qualcomm continues to lead in total GNSS shipments, as well as innovative new technologies like LED/VLC and LTE Direct, according to the report. Its partnership with Baidu on its IZat platform is also notable and represents the beginning of the era of “always on, ubiquitous location technologies.”
But the incumbents are not the only players to watch in this evolving market. CEC Huada and Samsung sit poised to instill great change in the market landscape, as their innovation over the past 12 months serves to prove.
“CEC Huada developed single frequency RTK GPS, as well as BDS receivers and INS/MEMS receivers, which the company released to select customers in 2016,” Connolly said. “And it is now developing a dual frequency BDS receiver and a receiver for IRNSS. Samsung, meanwhile, launched its first embedded GNSS solution, the Exynos CPU chipset. Given its presence across so many GPS-enabled consumer electronic devices, the company looks set to be a major disruptor in the coming years.”
Broadcom Corporation has added a new GNSS wireless connectivity chip to its automotive portfolio, which it unveiled at CES 2016, being held this week in Las Vegas.
Automotive GPS shipments are expected to more than double by 2022, creating significant opportunities among component suppliers and increasing competition for market share. The chip offers wideband capture radio technology for simultaneous tri-band reception of all visible GNSS satellites including GPS, Galileo, QZSS, GLONASS, BeiDou and global SBAS augmentation systems.
Broadcom’s BCM89774 provides improved location and positioning while lowering power consumption for in-vehicle applications and reduces bill of materials cost for car makers, by integrating the sensor hub and CPU on a single chip.
The BCM89774 delivers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) one of the most accurate solutions available today, Broadcom said. The new chip also improves positioning in dense urban environments and foliage-blocked areas to enhance the consumer experience.
Optimized to meet the rigorous standards of the automotive industry, the BCM89774 has been tested to AECQ100 automotive environmental stress requirements, is manufactured in TS16949 certified facilities, and offers full production part approval process (PPAP) support.
“Broadcom’s new GNSS connectivity chip for automotive keeps car makers and tier one suppliers ahead of the curve with advanced precision and reduced power consumption while lowering BOM cost,” said Richard Barrett, Broadcom Director of Automotive Wireless Connectivity. “By delivering premium products that meet automotive grade requirements, we are positioned for growth in this accelerating market.”
Key Features:
Low-power mode for emergency service and theft tracking applications
Location awareness capabilities added to traditional functions of a sensor hub for lower power consumption and BOM costs
Simultaneous reception of GPS, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS and Galileo navigation satellites
Support for global Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) system
Management of CAN BUS inputs and sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers to provide a fused sensor data tracking subsystem
Best-in-class acquisition, tracking sensitivity and time-to-first-fix in both cold and hot starts
Full pass through capability for external host-based systems
Tested to AECQ100 automotive environmental stress requirements and manufactured in TS16949 certified facilities
Full production part approval process (PPAP) support
ABI Research’s competitive analysis evaluates GNSS IC vendors across innovation and implementation parameters
The GNSS market is slowly shifting in new directions, according to ABI Research. While the smartphone market continues to grow, new opportunities are also emerging in automotive, insurance, wearables, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Overall, the GNSS market is forecast to continue to grow strongly, with ubiquitous location and market-specific IC design as key differentiators.
In its latest competitive analysis of GNSS IC vendors, ABI Research evaluates a variety of innovation and implementation parameters to determine emerging competitive threats and technologies, the companies best positioned for success and those in danger of losing out.
Unchanged for the past three years, the market’s two top IC vendors remain Qualcomm and Broadcom, soon to be acquired by Avago. Both companies continually illustrate the ability to lead the way on cutting-edge innovation, which in turn drives their dominant market-share position, ABI Research said.
Beyond just GNSS, both companies also offer comprehensive location technology platforms in HULA (Broadcom) and Izat (Qualcomm), which will enable smartphone OEMs to begin offering ubiquitous location in 2016. Qualcomm’s work on LED/VLC and LTE Direct illustrates the gap that now exists between it and pure-play GNSS IC vendors.
u-blox, a well-established GNSS IC company, has shown continuous growth each year by implementing new technologies and making acquisitions, culminating in its first ever third place ranking, ABI Research said. The company continues to lead the way in its core markets, while also expanding into the emerging IoT space.
“The big surprise this year has been MediaTek dropping to fourth place,” said Patrick Connolly, principal analyst at ABI Research. “This is primarily due to a lack of new GNSS or indoor location products. However, this did not affect its IC market share, or its ability to win an important GNSS IC win with Fitbit in wearables. MediaTek has a history of delivering when its customers need new innovation. As a result, ABI Research expects new product announcements from the company in 2016, especially around indoor location.”
Ranking fifth, STMicroelectronics is seeing customers migrate to its TESEO III platform. Its modular, high-performance approach should also enable it to move beyond its traditional markets of automotive and recreational/fitness, especially as it has begun to leverage the company’s expertise in sensor fusion.
As new opportunities for GNSS continue to develop in markets such as wearables, IoT, personal tracking and UAVs, there will also be a number of new or emerging companies looking to claim a share in the stakes. Analysis findings point to the Chinese regional market as one such area that has potential to demonstrate strong growth trends in future years.
“There’s big opportunity for emerging Chinese start-ups, such as CEC Huada, to meet new, indigenous, market demand over the next 10 years, while also working their way toward becoming major international competitors,” concluded Connolly. “Additionally, Galileo Satellite Navigation, an emerging company focused in software GPS, is reporting impressive results in trials. As consumer electronics start supporting software GPS, it will be interesting to watch whether or not it can achieve volume shipments in 2016.”
These findings are part of ABI Research’s Location Devices Service, which includes research reports, market data, insights and competitive assessments.
Avago Technologies Ltd. will move ahead with its merger with Broadcom Corporation, following a shareholder meeting Nov. 10 where shareholders overwhelmingly approved the business transaction.
Avago and Broadcom announced their merger agreement on May 28. The companies have received clearance on the proposed merger from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States and antitrust authorities in the United States, Japan and Taiwan.
Among other customary conditions to closing, the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals from the European Commission and antitrust authorities in China and South Korea, all of which are progressing. Avago anticipates that these remaining approvals will be received and expects the transaction to close late in calendar year 2015 or early in 2016.
Avago Technologies is a designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of analog semiconductor devices with a focus on III-V based products and complex digital and mixed signal CMOS based devices. Its product portfolio includes thousands of products in four primary target markets: wireless communications, enterprise storage, wired infrastructure and industrial, and other.
Broadcom Corporation has announced a new GNSS chip for Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable devices that simplifies integration of GNSS into low-cost products. The advanced chip enables devices such as fitness bands to deliver pinpoint location while consuming minimal power and in some cases can eliminate the need for a separate microcontroller (MCU).
The Broadcom BCM47748 removes a bulk of the signal processing from the device MCU by calculating position, velocity and time (PVT) on-chip, delivering significant system power savings. The chip uses intelligent firmware to extend battery life while also maintaining accuracy in speed, distance and position for an enhanced user experience.
Broadcom At ION GNSS+: Broadcom’s Stephen Mole is presenting on the topic of achieving low power consumption in wearables at ION GNSS+ 2015, taking place Sept. 14-18 at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida. Stephen will present during the A5 session, Applications using Consumer GNSS, on Friday, Sept. 18, at 9:40 a.m. inRoom 23.
“Broadcom is extending its navigation leadership into the IoT ecosystem by helping customers deliver a premium location experience without compromising battery life or requiring a costly, power-hungry host processor,” said Prasan Pai, Broadcom senior director, Wireless Connectivity. “With more consumers demanding GNSS in a wider variety of applications, we see a tremendous opportunity to expand our reach into new devices with market-leading GNSS technology.”
By absorbing location computations on-chip, Broadcom not only reduces power consumption but can also dramatically lower costs for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) by replacing the device MCU and reducing board space. Additionally, firmware inside the BCM47748 automatically adapts to user activity and context, whether biking, walking or running, to provide precise location results to the user, enabling performance that is not sacrificed for power savings.
Key features:
PVT computed on-chip
Integrated GNSS receiver with concurrent support for GPS and GLONASS, combined with accelerometer inputs to produce stable, accurate and low power speed and distance
Context engine and adaptive firmware to enable low power consumption for every activity and context without compromising accuracy
Ability to produce GNSS fixes with only 5mA current consumption in certain scenarios
MCU host interfaces include SPI, UART or I2C
Sensor interfaces include I2C master, SPI master, I2S, ADC and GPIO
Large on-chip memory for enhanced PVT accuracy and customer applications
Embedded processor with self-boot capability
Geofencing and lifelogging capabilities
70 ball WLBGA package with 0.4mm ball pitch
The Broadcom BCM47748 is currently sampling with customers. Evaluation kits and reference designs are also available.
This tri-band receiver technology, when combined with baseband search and track engines, allows true simultaneous tracking of all current L1 GNSS signals, including GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), and satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS).
By Charles Norman and Andreas Warloe, Broadcom Corporation
Starting with the first commercial GPS receivers, adding support for incrementally more complex GNSS systems presents significant challenges for GNSS hardware and software developers. The latest systems, especially Galileo, were designed with the assumption that Moore’s law would provide nearly unlimited computing resources and memory over time. The expected improvements in ASIC technology have indeed occurred, but market demands have pushed the size, cost, and power consumption of GNSS chipsets down, rather than allowing capabilities to grow freely.
GNSS in cellular phones is now expected to be always-on and to add only a few dollars to the cost of a $600 smartphone. Even as customers and phone manufacturers demand GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo support, chipset cost is not allowed to increase significantly. Instead of, in essence, designing four separate GNSS receivers in the chip, cost and size pressures force designers to look for commonality among the signals in order to share hardware blocks and software or digital signal-processing algorithms.
GNSS L1 Signal Down-Conversion
Commercial L1 GNSS signals span a 50 MHz range. It is getting harder for a single antenna to cover the entire bandwidth, but it is possible. The radio input contains three frequency bands of interest, spanning a total of 15 MHz:
BeiDou, at 1561 MHz, is at the low end;
GPS, Galileo, satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), and Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), at 1575 MHz, are in the middle; and
GLONASS, at 1602 MHz, is at the top.
The radio process in the new tri-band receiver described here first amplifies the signal using a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to keep the system noise figure as low as possible. Then it downconverts to an intermediate frequency (IF) and filters the three bands into separate channels. The three bands are then digitized and sampled at the lowest possible sample rate. The sampled bands can be filtered digitally to remove blockers and downconverted to baseband. The baseband samples are buffered by constellations to allow parallel access for searching or tracking on each visible satellite.
All satellites in a code-division multiple access (CDMA) constellation can share baseband buffers, but the frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) constellation, GLONASS, uses a separate buffer for each satellite. This is because the memory and power required to store each satellite in use is less than storing the entire FDMA bandwidth.
Signal Similarities and Differences
All GNSS satellite signals use binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulation. The biphase modulation is generated from a high rate pseudorandom noise (PRN) code that is exclusive-ORedwith a low-rate data stream.
The PRN code for all constellations except Galileo is generated from linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs). Galileo’s PRN code is a memory code with a bit-offset carrier BOC(1,1)/BOC(6,1) modulation. All constellations except GLONASS are CDMA. Each satellite in a CDMA constellation is at the same frequency but has a unique PRN code. GLONASS is FDMA. Each visible GLONASS satellite has a unique frequency, but all use the same PRN code.
L1 GNSS constellations use four different code lengths: 511, 1023, 2046, and 4092. The code length has a large impact on the power required to detect a signal. Data modulation is different on each constellation. BeiDou data is exclusive-ORed with a secondary code. Galileo has a secondary code-only channel. The highest data or secondary code rate is 1 kHz on BeiDou, and the lowest is 50 Hz on GPS. Table 1 shows a detailed chart with the main signal parameters for all L1 GNSS signals.
Table 1. Parameters for all L1 GNSS signals.
Radio Overview
The radio processing starts with a LNA, which utilizes a 72-nanometer negative metal oxide semiconductor transistor in a cascade configuration, with deliberate capacitive feedback and inductive source degeneration to achieve an excellent noise figure (~1.5 dB system noise figure) while maintaining a good input match. Two external matching components are required to achieve an optimal input match.
Following the LNA is an in-phase/quadrature ring mixer switched-capacitor mixer. With this style of mixer, the LNA output is only connected to one mixer output at a time and, thus, the optimal noise figure is obtained. By switching the output of the LNA from the I+ output and then later to the I– output, a 2:1 voltage gain is achieved. This improves noise figure and eases the noise requirements of the IF amplifier following the mixer, thus reducing power consumption.
The local oscillator for the mixer is derived from a low-power, low phase-noise, phase-locked loop. It has many adjustments, so the circuit can be adapted to a wide variety of reference frequencies and system requirements. It employs a ΔΣ modulator in the feedback loop, allowing for very fine frequency-control resolution.
The complex IF output from the mixer is amplified by a transimpedance section followed by three parallel amplifier/filter/attenuator sections, one for GPS/Galileo/SBAS/QZSS, one for GLONASS, and one for BeiDou. The transimpedance section’s response is close to a simple pole but with a small amount of peaking. Each of the remaining sections is built with a single complex band-pass/band-notch section, followed by real poles and zeroes. Using real poles and zeroes considerably reduces the noise and bandwidth requirements of the amplifiers. The net effect is that the power consumption of the overall IF amplifier section is substantially reduced.
There are three parallel ΔΣ analog-digital converters (ADCs), one for each of the three IF sections. The ΔΣ ADC is a continuous-time, second-order, one-bit ΔΣ ADC, running at a sample rate of 395.75 Msps. The ΔΣ ADC comprises two operational amplifiers, two digital analog converters, and a quantizer. The ΔΣ ADCs are designed in such a way that the quantization noise is lowest not at zero frequency offset (DC), but at the offset frequency of the GNSS signal. The A/D samples are filtered with a third-order cascaded integrator-comb subsampled at 99.44 mega-samples per second. Additional finite impulse response (FIR) filters and subsampling to 33.1 MHz complete the sampling. The combined ΔΣ ADC and digital filtering provide more than 50 dB of dynamic range.
Digital processing at 33.1 MHz includes several filters that remove interference sources from the received radio signal and automatic gain control logic that adjusts the gain of the IF amplifiers to give an optimal signal level. A configurable 20-tap FIR filter is provided for each sample section and can be configured to remove wideband blockers. In addition, each section has eight narrowband, single-pole infinite impulse response filters for removing narrowband blockers.
Figure 1. Radio overview diagram.
Separate Search and Track Blocks
Separate search and track sections are employed to compute correlations between the three sample streams and multiple reference hypotheses. The three sample streams are buffered in memory to allow the search and track sections to process multiple correlations in parallel. Search employs a prime factor fast Fourier transform with a selectable size (1023, 2046, or 4092).
Search correlations are computed by first removing a hypothesis Doppler from a buffered set of samples and then combining a selectable number of code epochs. The filtered samples are translated to the frequency domain, multiplied by the frequency-domain representation of the desired PRN code, and finally translated back to the time domain. This process creates a coherent correlation vector for the entire code. The coherent correlation vector is non-coherently accumulated until the signal-to-noise ratio of the peak exceeds a detection threshold.
Track correlations are computed in the time domain by multiplying a multichip reference code by a set of buffered samples. Typically, the reference code is linearly delayed for N correlations to produce an N-sample coherent correlation vector. The correlation vectors are buffered to allow multiple filters to be processed in parallel. A coprocessor is used to run the filters. The outputs from the coprocessor provide estimates of code phase, Doppler, acceleration, data synchronization, data bits, signal power, and more.
All the buffering and multiple processing sections allow for multiple hypotheses to be tested in parallel. For example, on a tunnel entry, the attenuated signal can continue to be tracked while the search section tries to detect the full-power signal.
Secondary Code Resolution. Several constellations have secondary codes that limit the length of the coherent integration unless the code can be wiped. GLONASS has a 100-Hz Manchester code, BeiDou has a 1-kHz secondary code, and the Galileo Pilot has a 250-Hz secondary code. After the time accuracy drops below 1 millisecond, all of the secondary codes can be wiped in both search and track, so the coherent period can be optimized to maximize sensitivity and minimize measurement error. On a cold start, when time is unknown, it is best to first try to detect with coherent correlations less than the secondary code chip period.
When a signal is detected, the receiver either goes into track and computes correlations with longer coherent periods for multiple time hypotheses or continues in search with a longer coherence period and multiple time hypotheses. The search and track sections allow for either of these choices. For constellations like Galileo, the best choice is to remain in search. For others like BeiDou, it is best to move to track.
Benefits of Multi-GNSS Receivers
The ability to track all L1 constellations means that even in difficult environments, there are a sufficient number of satellites to produce a navigation solution. As can be seen from field-test results, not only are more satellites tracked, but more satellites with strong signals are tracked. The measurement errors of satellites received with strong signals will be smaller, leading to very low bit-error rates and allowing for a faster ephemeris collection. Field test results confirm that a receiver with BeiDou support achieves faster and more accurate fixes than a receiver without BeiDou support (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. A receiver with BeiDou support achieves faster and more accurate fixes than a receiver without BeiDou support.
In addition to speed and accuracy improvements, more constellations provide a higher reliability. Recently, an upload error in the GLONASS constellation caused otherwise healthy satellites to report orbit errors of several kilometers. GPS/GLONASS-only systems could not completely isolate the faulty satellites. In difficult environments, there are not enough good satellites to isolate the faulty ones. With the addition of BeiDou, the faulty satellites were correctly isolated (Figure 3).
Figure 3. (Top) Seoul, South Korea, third-party GPS/GLONASS-only receiver; (bottom) Broadcom GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou receiver enables isolation of faults.
Each constellation adds unique improvements. Narrowing the correlation triangle allows for improved multipath rejection and more accurate pseudorange measurements (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Narrower correlation triangle.
GLONASS, with the slowest code rate, has the broadest correlation triangle. BeiDou, with the highest code rate, has a correlation triangle that is narrower than GPS. The BOC code on Galileo gives the narrowest correlation triangle. Field test results confirm the improved measurements (Figure 5).
GLONASS, the only FDMA constellation, has the least cross-correlation. GPS uses Gold codes to keep the cross-correlations between any of its satellites at a minimum. BeiDou and Galileo have lengthened their codes and added a secondary code to reduce cross-correlations.
Conclusion
Taking advantage of similarities in the L1 GNSS constellations together with careful design choices to minimize size and current consumption has enabled the creation of commercial GNSS system-on-chips that support all current GNSS L1 systems and meet the cost, size, and power requirements of cellular phones. The addition of new constellations like BeiDou and Galileo has significantly improved speed, performance, and reliability.
Acknowledgments
Javier de Salas, Frank van Diggelen, and John Hutson, all of Broadcom.
Manufacturer
The BCM4774 single-chip GNSS location hub for smartphones with Galileo support was designed by Broadcom Corporation.
Charles Norman is a technical director in the GNSS group at Broadcom Corporation. Previously, he worked on GNSS systems at Magnavox, Interstate, SIRF, and RFMD. He holds 39 issued patents on GNSS systems and has an M.A. in mathematics from the University of California-Los Angeles.
Andreas Warloe is a senior technical director in the GNSS group at Broadcom Corporation. He previously worked on GNSS receivers at Magellan, Leica Geosystems, IBM, and RFMD. He holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.
Satellite TV pirates beware: Broadcom Corporation is offering a GPS-enabled satellite outdoor unit (ODU) device that gives satellite TV providers a way to track subscriber equipment, pinpoint service issues in the home, and stop piracy with a geo-lock. The solution will also enable delivery of location-based services.
The ODU solution combines Broadcom’s BCM4551 satellite TV device with its BCM4771 GPS receiver.
Broadcom’s new satellite solution resides in the low-noise block (LNB) of a subscribers’ satellite dish, enabling operators to better position dish installations and reduce metering equipment costs and truck rolls. Combining GPS-enabled ODU technology with a set-top box, operators can quickly locate and validate a subscriber’s home location, Broadcom said.
“By combining Broadcom’s field-proven satellite ODU technology with GPS functionality, we are able to provide operators with the capability to more conveniently and cost-effectively track the location of their equipment and prevent redistribution of content to nonsubscribers,” said Nicholas Dunn, Broadcom vice president of Direct Broadcast Satellite Marketing. “This integrated technology can also open the door to operator delivery of location-based social media and business applications, providing subscribers with targeted content such as information on local service providers, retail operations and restaurants, or a specific televised event.”
GPS technology within the LNB also allows operators to geo-lock content to subscribers. Content geo-locking uses a subscriber’s location to deliver video content specific to the subscriber’s service address. This ensures the delivery of personalized services and prevents costly theft of service for operators. Previously, content geo-locking was only available through a costly external device attached to subscriber’s set-top box; today’s introduction from Broadcom offers best-in-class capabilities at an incremental cost for operators.
Key Features of the BCM4551
Highly-integrated 28 nanometer (nm) process with low power consumption
Allows 24 DVB-S2 channels to be stacked on a single coaxial cable to service any STB to reduce satellite operator installation costs
8 RF inputs and 1RF output covering the 250 to 2350 MHz frequency range
24 user-band output channels
24 output channels selectable from any LNB input
Frequency shift keying (FSK) and digital satellite equipment control (DiSEqC)
Key Features of the BCM4771
Highly integrated radio frequency (RF), baseband processor and CPU with smallest complete PCB footprint
Faster signal searches, accurate real-time navigation and improved tracking sensitivity
Increased satellite availability: supports GPS, and GLONASS satellites at L1 frequency band.
Broadcom will demonstrate the new solution at the International CES show, January 6-9.
Broadcom Corporation has announced a GNSS location hub that supports Galileo. Along with Galileo, the Broadcom BCM4774 simultaneously supports GPS, GLONASS, SBAS, QZSS and the BeiDou satellite systems.
With a planned deployment of up to 30 additional satellites for Galileo, smartphones with built-in support for this new system will experience an even higher level of accuracy and better positioning with faster times to first fix, Broadcom said. The architecture of the location hub enables the main AP on the smartphone to reduce computation load and stay in sleep mode for extended periods of time by offloading data calculations to the BCM4774. In certain modes, Broadcom’s advanced hardware design and increased memory can reduce power consumption by up to 95 percent over traditional architectures, significantly conserving battery life in mobile devices.
“Today’s announcement represents yet another navigation benchmark for Broadcom with the industry’s first GNSS location hub for smartphones to support the Galileo satellite system,” said Rahul Patel, senior vice president, wireless connectivity. “We are committed to pushing the limits on location technology by delivering premium performance and enhanced device intelligence while consuming minimal power.”
Additionally, Broadcom’s new solution recognizes various context states, adding more value to the data that is gathered from mobile devices. For example, a smartphone with the BCM4774 can tell the difference between a user that is walking, running or cycling and provides positioning updates that match the identified state for more precise data results. By processing the data directly on the BCM4774 versus the main AP, Broadcom reduces battery drain and creates opportunities for developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to determine how this information is analyzed and delivered to consumers, the company said.
Easy-to-use API allows OEMs to port their specific sensor fusion code onto BCM4774.
Additional hardware optimization further increases AP power savings through offloading of sensor fusion, on-chip positioning, geofencing and location batching.
Integration of GNSS receiver and sensor hub reduces board area by 30 percent.
Ultra-low power on-chip positioning enables background and foreground location using GNSS.
On-chip Wi-Fi positioning using a direct connect communication protocol to Broadcom’s family of connectivity combo chips.
Enhanced Batching support with the largest batch space in a sensor hub for all devices connected to the location hub, including Wi-Fi, MEMS and GNSS.
Broadcom Corporation today announced the industry’s first low-power GNSS and sensor hub combo chip to deliver new always-on location applications for a full range of mobile devices.
The Broadcom BCM4773 minimizes battery drain and adds a new layer of intelligence to location technology on mobile devices by integrating the GNSS chip and sensor hub into a single combo chip. Broadcom’s architecture enables information from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), GPS and micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to be calculated on a single system-on-chip (SoC) instead of the application processor (AP). This design drives more than 80 percent power savings by offloading from the AP and lowers cost by reducing board area by 34 percent.
“Broadcom today extends its leadership by announcing the industry’s first combo chip that brings GNSS and sensor hub technology together to revolutionize mobile apps in areas such as health, fitness and lifelogging,” said Mohamed Awad, Broadcom director, Wireless Connectivity. “We are proud to make all mobile platforms even smarter by enabling them to dynamically predict and react to consumers’ needs.”
Additionally, Broadcom brings more intelligence to context awareness by integrating GNSS and providing a direct connection to the Wi-Fi combo chip. This allows a mobile device to know where a user is and what the user is doing to further personalize the experience. For example, a BCM4773-based smartphone can use information from Wi-Fi, BLE, GPS and MEMS to recognize when a runner is outdoors versus inside on a treadmill and dynamically manage these technologies to save battery life and optimize the user experience, all without involving the main AP.
Key Features:
Optimized for hardware offload of sensor fusion, on-chip positioning, geofencing and location batching
More than 80 percent power savings compared to standard GNSS receivers
34 percent board area reduction by integrating GNSS receiver and sensor hub
Standalone microcontroller offloads fusing of sensor data from the AP to maximize power savings
Concurrent support for five different satellite systems, including GPS, GLONASS, SBAS, QZSS and BeiDou
Ultra-low power on-chip positioning for background and foreground location using GNSS
On-chip Wi-Fi positioning using a direct connect communication protocol to the Wi-Fi SoC
Batching support for all devices connected to the Location Hub, including Wi-Fi, MEMS and GNSS
