SANTA CLARA, Calif.-SiRF Technology Inc. announced an alliance with location technology product and services provider Integrated Data Communications. The two companies plan to develop complementary product offerings that will enable easy integration of GPS-based location technology in a variety of wireless infrastructure environments.
Specifically, SiRF’s SiRFLoc architecture, which enables both autonomous and wireless-assisted positioning solutions, will be supported by IDC’s In-Place handset-based technology communicating with IDC’s LSC 2000 family of location services controllers.
SiRF also debuted the SiRFstarII, a compact generation of global positioning system architecture, which the company said will greatly improve performance and reduce the footprint for complete GPS functionality to the size of a postage stamp.
SiRFstarII GPS architecture is designed to be available as an integrated chipset configuration as well as an Internet Protocol core that can be integrated into platforms such as cellular phones, said the company.
SiRFstarII will enhance location accuracy from 100 meters to between 2 and 15 meters by taking advantage of two upcoming infrastructure enhancements, said the company.
The first enhancement is the Wide Area Augmentation System, the Federal Aviation Administration’s initiative to improve accuracy and integrity of GPS signals. WAAS is scheduled to be fully deployed by next year.
The second enhancement is the Department of Transportation’s national network of ground- or beacon-based differential stations, called National Differential GPS, which will enhance the existing U.S. Coast Guard’s differential network.
SiRF said it also has developed a new set of platform-optimized technologies, including SiRFLoc and SiRFDRive.
SiRFLoc improves GPS positioning in wireless system environments by using wireless network resources to assist GPS for cell phones and other wireless handhold devices.
SiRFDRive optimizes positioning solutions for automobiles by combining measurements from GPS and dead reckoning vehicle sensors, such as odometers, to boost location precision, said the company.
