Atheros Enhances GPS User
Experience with Advanced Navigation and Low Power in
Handsets, PNDs and PMPs
AR1511 Chip and ORION 3.0 Software Combo Delivers
State-of-the-Art AGPS Performance for Standalone and
Hosted Applications
SANTA CLARA, April 28, 2008 — Atheros
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a leading developer
of advanced wireless and wired network communications
solutions, today announced a new member of its
Radio-on-Chip for Mobile (ROCm®) family of GPS solutions
– a hardware and software GPS combination that targets
mobile phones, Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) and
Personal Media Players (PMPs).
Atheros’ new solution consists of its second-generation,
single-chip GPS receiver, the AR1511, and companion
ORION 3.0 software suite. This combination is ideally
suited for integrating advanced navigation functions
into mobile devices, with state-of-the-art Assisted GPS
(AGPS) technology, advanced parallel search, and
industry-leading tracking sensitivity of -160dBm, which
together enable the most rapid and accurate location
determination while conserving device battery power.
Atheros’ latest ROCm GPS offering provides developers
with turnkey, high-performance options for both
standalone and host-dependent designs. This platform
flexibility enables customers to design a wide variety
of location-aware devices and form factors, giving
Atheros a significantly expanded GPS market opportunity.
The AR1511 and ORION 3.0 solution contains new
patent-pending features specifically designed to address
the most challenging navigation environments. These
enhancements provide considerable performance advances
with Time To First Fix (TTFF) reacquisition times
reduced by nearly half, and positional accuracy
increased by more than 50 percent.
“With the AR1511 and ORION 3.0 combo, Atheros is
delivering state-of-the-art AGPS for today’s cell phone,
PND and PMP users, enabling quicker fix times that
result in extended battery life,” said Greg Winner,
general manager of Atheros’ GPS business unit. “Unlike
most GPS silicon providers, we offer both standalone and
hosted designs that enable our customers to add GPS to
virtually any type of mobile consumer device.”
“Over 1.6 billion handsets are expected to ship with GPS
between 2008 and 2011. With this growing penetration of
GPS in handsets and other mobile products, it is more
critical than ever that solution providers meet the
consumer demand for high-performance navigation that’s
easy on battery life,” said Morry Marshall, Partner –
Strategic Technologies, Semiconductor Partners LLC.
“Atheros, with its proven ROCm low-power techniques and
new AGPS innovations, is well positioned in the emerging
mobile GPS market.”
Atheros ROCm Combo Delivers
High-Performance AGPS
Atheros’ Assisted GPS (AGPS) options speed navigation in
challenging environments —indoors, in urban canyons and
in other locations where broadcast satellite signals are
obscured. AGPS can also accelerate the navigation
process in conditions where broadcast ephemeris is
available, by quickly securing location information from
non-broadcast sources, thus reducing power consumed in
satellite search mode.
►Real-time
ephemeris through cellular networks
Mobile networks can enable handsets with ephemeris data,
satellite orbital information, more quickly than it can
be downloaded directly from the satellites. The AR1511
and ORION 3.0 combo provides GSM handsets with AGPS,
exceeding the industry-standard 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications and the Secure
User Plane for Location (SUPL) requirements, which
facilitate communications between satellite location
servers and GSM handsets. Bluetooth®-enabled PNDs and
PMPs can also access cellular-based ephemeris by
connecting through a nearby handset.
►Real-time
ephemeris through the Internet
Atheros’ new solution also provides conventional
AGPS, access to real-time ephemeris over the Internet
for PNDs, PMPs, and PCs—virtually any location-aware
device that has Internet access over Wi-Fi. This allows
GPS devices to have intermittent connectivity to
real-time, Internet-accessed ephemeris when in the
presence of a Wi-Fi access point, thus enabling
accelerated location fixes, enhanced accuracy and
reduced battery power.
►Extended
Ephemeris when real-time access is unavailable
Atheros’ AR1511 and ORION 3.0 combo also supports
extended ephemeris, stored satellite orbital data, for
any location-aware device. This feature leverages RX
Networks GPStream™ technology to accelerate TTFF and
reacquisition times with high location accuracy.
Extended ephemeris can be downloaded using wired or
wireless connections from Internet- or cellular-based
servers. The data is stored and provides tracking
ability for up to seven days, minimizing the device’s
need to scan the sky or frequently access networks to
obtain real-time location information. The GPStream
technology delivers ephemeris in highly compact 2KB
files versus competitive solutions which employ bulky
40-50KB files, reducing the system memory requirement
and demand on service provider networks. Like other
forms of AGPS, extended ephemeris provides the added
benefit of prolonging battery life through quicker
location fixes.
Atheros’ ROCm portfolio, consisting of mobile solutions
for all AGPS connectivity modes, including GPS, Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth, provides design and performance synergies
to readily enhance the design process and user
experience.
Fast Location Acquisition
through Advanced Parallel Search
The AR1511/ORION 3.0 combo features Atheros’
patent-pending advanced parallel search, which utilizes
eight search engines teamed with 12 highly sensitive
tracking engines. This enhanced approach to search
results in significant performance advantages – reducing
reacquisition time by nearly half and increasing
positional accuracy by more than 50 percent in
challenging environments. Atheros’ unique search
capability offers considerably lower power consumption
versus competitive solutions that rely on thousands of
correlators to calculate positioning, resulting in
prolonged searches.
GPS Options for Hosted and
Standalone Designs
Atheros latest GPS solutions provide enhanced design
flexibility with multiple options for either standalone
or host-dependent applications.
►AR1511
– Available in a 5mm x 5mm CSP for standalone and hosted
configurations, or a 10mm x 10mm BGA package for
standalone and hosted configurations on low-cost PCBs
►AR1511F
– 7mm x 7mm BGA package with integrated DSP and stacked
flash die for small form factor standalone
configurations
This AR1511F delivers GPS functionality without taxing
the host processor and memory, and eliminates the need
for dedicated Flash or fixed ROM. The chip provides
significant advantages over competitive ROM-based
solutions, with SDK support, selectable profiles and the
ability to easily update software. Macronix is partnered
with Atheros to provide the cost-efficient 1.8V, 8Mb
MX29SL802CBXHI-90G flash option for standalone
applications.
Atheros’ new GPS solutions also employ worldwide
satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) to ensure
the greatest accuracy, integrity and availability of GPS
information within specific geographies. Systems
supported by the ORION 3.0 software include WAAS (North
America), MSAS (Japan), and EGNOS (Europe).
Product Availability
The AR1511 CSP package is pin-compatible to the uN3010
CSP package and provides an easy migration path from any
existing design based on Atheros’ first-generation,
single-chip GPS solution. The AR1511/ORION 3.0 will
sample to customers in the second quarter of 2008.
About Atheros Communications,
Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of
semiconductor system solutions for wireless and wired
communications products. Atheros combines its wireless
and networking systems expertise with high-performance
radio frequency (RF), mixed signal and digital
semiconductor design skills to provide highly integrated
chipsets that are manufactured on low-cost, standard
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)
processes. Atheros technology is used by a broad base of
leading customers, including personal computer,
networking equipment and consumer device manufacturers.
For more information, please visit
www.atheros.com or
send email to
info@atheros.com.
###
Atheros, the Atheros logo, ROCm and ORION are trademarks
of Atheros Communications, Inc. All other trademarks
mentioned in this document are the sole property of
their respective owners.
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information contained herein,
the matters set forth in this press release, including
the features, benefits and performance of Atheros’ GPS
and other products, and the anticipated growth of the
market for GPS in handsets and handheld mobile devices,
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially, including, but not limited to, difficulties
in the development of new and enhanced products, general
economic conditions, the effects of any changes in
government regulations that may occur, and the risks
detailed in Atheros' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 2007, as filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, and in other reports filed with
the SEC by Atheros from time to time. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
hereof. Atheros disclaims any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
Although we believe that the forward-looking statistical
information from Semiconductor Partners is reliable, we
have not independently verified this data. Semiconductor
Partners generally indicates that it has obtained its
information from sources believed to be reliable, but
does not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the
information.
Dakota Lee, 408-720-5597, dakota@atheros.com, or Greg Wood, A&R Edelman for
Atheros , 650-762-2838,
gwood@ar-edelman.com
For
analyst inquires contact: Deborah Stapleton of Stapleton Communications, Inc.,
+1-650-470-0200,
deb@stapleton.com |
