SiRF

Last updated
SiRF Technology
Type Private
Industry ICT / Electronics
Founded1995
Headquarters
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease2.svg33.0% US$ 329.4 Million (2007) [1]
Parent Qualcomm
Website http://www.csr.com/
SiRF Ii chip Typhoon MyGuide 3500 mobile - GPS module - SiRF GSP2e LP-7451-92278.jpg
SiRF Ii chip

SiRF Technology, Inc. was a pioneer in the commercial use of GPS technology for consumer applications. The company was founded in 1995 and was headquartered in San Jose, California. Notable and founding members included Sanjai Kohli, [2] Dado Banatao, and Kanwar Chadha.[ citation needed ] The company was acquired by British firm CSR plc in 2009, who were in turn subsequently acquired by American company Qualcomm on 13 August 2015. [3] [4]

Contents

SiRF manufactured a range of patented GPS chipsets and software for consumer navigation devices and systems. The chips are based on ARM controllers integrated with low-noise radio receivers to decode GPS signals at very low signal levels (typically -160dBm). SiRF chips also support SBAS to allow for differentially corrected positions.

SiRFstarIII

SiRFstarIII architecture is designed to be useful in wireless and handheld location-based services (LBS) applications, for 2G, 2.5G, 3G asynchronous networks. The SiRFstarIII family comprises the GRF3w RF IC, the GSP3f digital section, and the GSW3 software that is API compatible with GSW2 and SiRFLoc. The chips have been adopted by major GPS manufacturers, including Sony, Micro Technologies, Garmin, TomTom and Magellan.

SiRFatlas IV

SiRFatlas IV is a multifunction location system processor and is meant for entry-level Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs). The SiRFatlas IV is a cheaper version of the very popular, but rather expensive SiRFPrima platform. [5] [6] Has GPS/Galileo baseband, LCD touch-screen controller, video input, 10-bit ADC and a high-speed USB 2.0.

SiRFstarV

SiRFstarV chips, launched in 2012, are capable of tracking NAVSTAR, GLONASS, Galileo, Compass, SBAS, and future GNSS signals. The SiRFusion platform integrates positioning from GNSS, terrestrial radio solutions such as Wi-Fi and cellular, and MEMS sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and compasses. SiRFusion can then combine this real-time information with cellular base station and Wi-Fi access point location data, ephemeribased aiding information from the CSR Positioning Center (CPC) to generate accurate and reliable position updates.

Acquisition

On 10 February 2009, UK wireless chip company CSR announced it was buying SiRF in a share deal worth $136 million. [7]

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References

  1. "SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. Announces Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2007". SiRF. Retrieved 2008-07-10.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. Sujit John (Apr 5, 2010). "Father of mass market GPS is an Indian - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  3. says, Bigzuo (October 20, 2014). "Qualcomm to Acquire SiRF Chipmaker CSR". GPS World.
  4. "About". Qualcomm. March 24, 2014.
  5. Faucheux, Misty (June 16, 2009). "What is SiRFatlas IV? The Latest Chipset from SiRF & What Drives Your Personal Navigation Devices?".
  6. "SiRFatlasIV unveiled: Low cost GPS and multifunction processor". Archived from the original on 2016-01-16.
  7. "CSR purchase announcement". CSR. Retrieved 2009-04-17.[ dead link ]