Miniaturisation and receiver advances
From INVESaTWIKI
Technological trends - Receivers technology
The main trend in receivers is the
miniaturisation of the satellite navigation
hardware.The progress made in silicon
technology allows for size reduction, power
consumption reduction, and integration of
additional functionalities, encompassing
communication and computation.At the same
time the software content is steadily
increasing.
The decrease in power consumption and size
of electronics hardware is a major condition
for receivers to be used in conjunction with
mobile handset. In particular, the reduction of
power consumption in electronic devices
determines user autonomy.As power is
proportional to the square of the voltage, the
diagrams demonstrate the very significant
decrease in power needs, which in turn
translate to much larger receiver autonomy
(i.e., smaller battery size and increased number
of hours without need for re-charging.As an
example, a reduction of a factor 10 in
consumed power in receivers is foreseen from
year 2000 to the year 2015).The integration of
satellite navigation modules within mobile
communication handsets is, no doubt, one of
the biggest evolutions over the next decade
for the mass-market user.This will allow the
development of smaller terminals, which will
support Location Based Services, gathering
position and commercial information. It is
worth noting that emergent techniques such
as “software” radio (i.e. using appropriate
software on to the same hardware
components for both navigation and
communication functions), might also promote
dual use of the terminal.The actual ability to
reduce the cost per function by an average of
25-30% each year represents one of the
unique features of the semiconductor industry
and has a direct consequence on the ability to
double functionalities check term on chipsets
every 1.5 years in an environment of constant
prices. Figure 1 shows identified trends in cost
reductions, taking the price of an integrated
transistor as a reference.The cost reduction is
observed for development costs, when the
product is introduced within the market (year
one), and without taking into account further
cost reductions that could result from mass
production.
The cost reduction of elementary integrated functions as depicted above impacts directly on receivers unit cost, which is falling at a rate of nearly 30% per year as shown in Figure 2. [1]
References
[1] Galileo Joint Undertaking
"Business in satellite navigation - An overview of market developments and emerging applications".
