editor's blog
Subscribe Now

Collocated Location Technology

MWC_PR_IMG_Wearables-cr_200.jpg

Location services used to mean one thing: applications that leveraged GPS and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to fix your location and then… do stuff with that information. Of course, GPS isn’t reliable indoors, so there were holes in the system, but, for its time, it was pretty spiffy.

Meanwhile, in a separate corner of the technology world, MEMS hit high gear, and inertial sensors allowed some indoor navigation (better with expensive chips; so-so with commercial grade; greatly enhanced by good sensor fusion). As we’ve seen, the two work together, each standing in where the other was weak, and bolstered by the use of indoor networks like WiFi and Bluetooth as further triangulation tools.

But, despite their mutual affinity, GNSS and inertial systems remained distinct. One talks to satellites; the other uses MEMS. It was up to systems integrators to bring them together.

Well, it looks like that’s changed. Broadcom has announced a combo GNSS/sensor hub chip. Yes, it’s not just an inertial system; it’s a more generic sensor hub. But the obvious application is to plug in some accelerometers and gyros, perhaps augmented by a magnetometer, and get them dancing with the GPS.

Of course, part of the story is power reduction, afforded by the microcontroller in the sensor hub as it offloads a phone application processor, but that’s the case for any hub. What’s different here is that GNSS becomes, in essence, just another sensor. Which is kind of what it is, right? A satellite sensor?

They can also do indoor network triangulation… Think of it as a WiFi (et al) sensor.

You can get more details in their announcement.

 

Image courtesy Broadcom

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Sep 21, 2023
Wireless communication in workplace wearables protects and boosts the occupational safety and productivity of industrial workers and front-line teams....
Sep 26, 2023
5G coverage from space has the potential to make connectivity to the Internet truly ubiquitous for a broad range of use cases....
Sep 26, 2023
Explore the LPDDR5X specification and learn how to leverage speed and efficiency improvements over LPDDR5 for ADAS, smartphones, AI accelerators, and beyond.The post How LPDDR5X Delivers the Speed Your Designs Need appeared first on Chip Design....
Sep 26, 2023
The eighth edition of the Women in CFD series features Mary Alarcon Herrera , a product engineer for the Cadence Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) team. Mary's unwavering passion and dedication toward a career in CFD has been instrumental in her success and has led her ...
Sep 21, 2023
Not knowing all the stuff I don't know didn't come easy. I've had to read a lot of books to get where I am....

Featured Video

Chiplet Architecture Accelerates Delivery of Industry-Leading Intel® FPGA Features and Capabilities

Sponsored by Intel

With each generation, packing millions of transistors onto shrinking dies gets more challenging. But we are continuing to change the game with advanced, targeted FPGAs for your needs. In this video, you’ll discover how Intel®’s chiplet-based approach to FPGAs delivers the latest capabilities faster than ever. Find out how we deliver on the promise of Moore’s law and push the boundaries with future innovations such as pathfinding options for chip-to-chip optical communication, exploring new ways to deliver better AI, and adopting UCIe standards in our next-generation FPGAs.

To learn more about chiplet architecture in Intel FPGA devices visit https://intel.ly/45B65Ij

featured paper

Accelerating Monte Carlo Simulations for Faster Statistical Variation Analysis, Debugging, and Signoff of Circuit Functionality

Sponsored by Cadence Design Systems

Predicting the probability of failed ICs has become difficult with aggressive process scaling and large-volume manufacturing. Learn how key EDA simulator technologies and methodologies enable fast (minimum number of simulations) and accurate high-sigma analysis.

Click to read more

featured chalk talk

In-Cabin Monitoring Systems (ICMS) Using Automotive Short Range Radar
Sponsored by Infineon
Worldwide regulation and legislation is driving a demand for automotive in-cabin monitoring systems. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Michael Thomas and Amelia Dalton investigate how short range radar can be utilized for a variety of in-cabin monitoring systems. They also examine the implementation of these different systems and how Infineon’s low-cost and low power radar solutions could make our vehicles safer than ever before.
Nov 1, 2022
38,151 views