ST-Ericsson is launching a tiny receiver that can see both GPS and GLONASS positioning satellites, enabling mobile devices to deliver much faster and much more reliable location-based services, the company said.

Compared to GPS-only solutions, the combination of GLONASS and GPS technology dramatically improves positioning accuracy in dense “urban canyon environments,” where tall buildings can obscure satellite signals, as well as significantly reducing the time it takes to initially determine a device’s location, the company said.

Requiring two external components, ST-Ericsson’s new CG1950 is the first GPS/GLONASS receiver to be built in 45 -nanometer silicon, enabling manufacturers to produce low-cost devices capable of supporting highly accurate navigation, mobile social networking, augmented reality, and other location-based services. The low-power CG1950 is designed to be integrated into mobile phones, camcorders, cameras, and other mobile devices.

With backward GNSS software compatibility with ST-Ericsson CG2900 and GNS7560 solutions, manufacturers will be able to include GPS/GLONASS functionality with relative ease for faster time-to-market, the company said.

Benefits include:

• Smaller BOM and layout <25 mm² enabling customer’s sleeker designs.
• Low GNSS power operation allows the continuous GNSS tracking for more than 30 hours with a 850mAh battery.
• The powerful GNSS hardware provides a twice as fast TTFF at a sensitivity enabling indoor LBS.
• Seamless cellular coexistence and pre-integration on ST-Ericsson mobile platforms.

Features include:

• -163 dBm acquisition sensitivity and -165 dBm tracking sensitivity with embedded LNA (single-ended antenna).
• Autonomous (cold start) TTFF <38 s.
• A-GPS (hot start) TTFF <1 s.
• Low power tracking, 1fix/sec: 8.3 mA => 30 hours tracking with 850 mAh battery.

System:

• UART,SPI and I2C Host interfaces.
• 1.8 V single supply or direct battery connect.

Package:

• Small WLCSP package with 0.4mm ball pitch for low-cost PCB layout.