To facilitate the adoption of GPS functionality in mobile handsets and telematic devices, CEVA, Inc., a licensor of DSP cores and communications solutions to the semiconductor industry, has ported its GPS software and algorithm to its single-MAC TeakLite and dual-MAC Ceva-X DSP cores to create what it claims is the industry's first DSP-based GPS solution that delivers benefits in cost, power dissipation and location performance for GPS-enabled products. According to CEVA, its Xpert-GPS product reduces power consumption and thus increases battery life by up to four times that of existing products. In addition, Xpert-GPS leverages the unique processing features of its DSPs to reduce overall development and manufacturing costs. It is estimated that the cost of implementing GPS using CEVA's solution with be just about $3 per unit, claims CEVA. Unlike hardware-based solutions that target single cellular standards, Xpert-GPS further reduces costs by supporting all wireless standards including GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, GPRS and UMTS.

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Xpert-GPS, the eighth generation of GPS technology from CEVA, delivers instant and accurate location information to within 5 meters, claims the developer. In addition, it also slashes the "time to first fix" to 2.5 seconds when a system is first powered up and provides an instantaneous "location lock" in continuous tracking mode. Instant and accurate positioning is required for wide-spread adoption of GPS mobile devices and is fundamental to enabling the rapidly growing location-based services (LBS) market. According to CEVA, the time to first fix is under 2.5 seconds at -147 dBm for E911 and under eight seconds at -155 dBm for wideband-CDMA networks. The accuracy ranges from under 5 meters at -130 dBm outdoors to under 20 meters at -148 dBm indoors. While these measurements were demonstrated with a RF front-end device from Maxim Integrated Products, CEVA said that the Xpert-GPS will work with any GPS front end.

"The ability to combine our proven DSP cores with exciting GPS technology changes the rules for GPS," said Chet Silvestri, president and CEO of CEVA. "With a rich 20-year heritage of GPS experience, CEVA is uniquely positioned to deliver powerful solutions that are fast, accurate and affordable." Xpert GPS delivers a powerful set of benefits for both manufacturers and end users," said Will Strauss, president of market research firm, Forward Concepts. "For the handset manufacturer, it solves the most critical challenges of cost and power. For the end user, it delivers a nearly instant and incredibly accurate location fix which is vital for location based services adoption and usage."

This approach meets and exceeds all service carrier requirements and the FCC E911 cell phone location mandate, asserted the developer. It is available immediately for integration into cellular handsets and other wireless GPS systems.