Telit intros new GPS miniature receiver

BANGALORE, INDIA: Machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and value added services provider, Telit Wireless Solutions has launched the Jupiter SE880 ultra-compact GPS receiver module for applications in the commercial, industrial, and consumer segments including wearable and handheld devices.

The miniature 4.7x4.7mm LGA (Land Grid Array), SiRFstarIV-based receiver module employs leading 3-Dcomponent embedding technology to deliver better performance in all dimensions critical for regular or size-constrained GPS applications.

The SE880 receiver module was conceived to shorten Time-to-Market and to make the chipset-versus-module decision an easy one to make for device integrators, says the company. Telit's Jupiter SE880 features all components necessary for a fully functioning receiver design requiring only a 32 KHz external crystal for its time-base and TCXO to complete the design, along with antenna, power and data connections adequate to the integrator's needs.

For advanced designs incorporating the supported Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS), ephemeris data collected from the satellites can be stored to SPI Flash memory instead of the more common and expensive alternative of the EEPROM - again reducing costs and improving the business case for the end-device.  

The Jupiter SE880's RF front-end has got waveguide-quality radio paths inside the three-dimensional space of its architecture drastically reducing parasitic impedances characteristic of traditional 2-D RF designs. The multi filter system available inside has got a traditional SAW filters typical in GPS receiver designs and a 2.4GHz notch-filter capable of nullifying the jamming effects of high-energy radio devices such as Wi-Fi hot-spots, Bluetooth systems, cordless phones, and others, which greatly affect a GPS receiver's ability to resolve timid satellite signals in the hostile radio environment where they need to operate.

In its micro-power stand-by mode, the SE880 draws a low 50to 500 µAmps making it extremely battery-powerfriendly.  Waking from this mode it can produce a first-fix in a few seconds when waking from a few hours of stand-byand still less than 10 seconds when waking from a full day of stand-by, making it ideal for wearable and personal digital device applications, claims the company.

"The Jupiter SE880 keeps with Telit's tradition of leading the industry in miniaturization - following in the footsteps of the most recent such record - the HE910, still the world's smallest 7-band HSPA+ module.  Taking up less than 40mm² the footprint makes it the best GNSS platform for high-volume ultra-compact mobile/tracking applications and advanced consumer devices such as sports watches, cameras, tablets and others, where the SE880 becomes the only solution delivering stellar specifications from such a small package." said Dominikus Hierl, chief marketing officer at Telit Wireless Solutions.

"Further, when you bundle the SE880 with a Telit cellular module you have the optimal Wireless+GPS solution in terms of total cost effectiveness, footprint, ease-of-integration, and time-to-market."