Raleigh, North Carolina and Plano, Texas, USA – Telit Wireless Solutions, a global provider of M2M solutions, products and services and Parsec Technologies Inc., a global supplier of advanced amplifier technology communications products, solutions, and services, have announced that a combination of the companies’ technologies has resulted in the world’s lowest profile companion solution for GPS receiver and antenna.
For host devices able to accommodate higher volumetric symmetry, assembly of the components can be made to fit a 6x16x8mm volume. A flat component arrangement can yield an ultra-low-profile volume of 6x16x2.4 mm. Along with class leading miniaturisation, the receiver outperforms top traditional designs, handling with excellence a loss of 10dB or greater in the GPS signal, reaching, for example, the typical OBD port under a vehicle’s dashboard where many usage-based insurance (UBI) data-loggers are installed. The PTA1.5M active antenna delivers the ultra-sensitive Jupiter SE880 micro receiver over 15dB of additional gain in the operating frequency range. Both companies are making available complete application notes to simplify the engineering effort for system integrators.
The miniature 4.7×4.7mm LGA (Land Grid Array), SiRFstarIV™-based Jupiter SE880 receiver module employs leading heterogeneous 3D integrated technology to achieve best-in-class performance in all dimensions critical for regular or size-constrained GPS applications. Its state of the art RF front-end employs spatially calibrated waveguide-quality radio paths inside the three-dimensional space of its architecture drastically reducing parasitic impedances characteristic of traditional 2-D RF designs. Inside, a multi-filter system includes not only the traditional SAW filters typical in GPS receiver designs, but also a 2.4 GHz 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.
The PTA1.5M, with a gain of 15dB and PTA1.5x2M with a gain of 30dB are the world’s smallest GNSS active antenna modules capable of receiving signals down to -192 dBm with frequency centred at 1575.42 (±1.023) MHz. Either model delivers a radiated efficiency greater than 60% when mated to the Jupiter SE880 receiver. Parsec’s PT1233D LNA also has the highest available IP3 at low voltage, helping eliminate interference. Both PTA1.5M and PTA1.5x2M can incorporate the antenna element, an optional SAW filter, the cascadable PT1233D LNA, matching and passives components, on a low cost, easy to integrate 10×16 mm single sided PCBA with “back side” copper clad ground plane. The height of the PTA1.5M and PTA1.5x2M modules vary according to application, allowing their use in even the smallest form factors including Intel’s M.2 Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF) module (23x30x2.4 mm, LxWxH).
“Receivers combining the Parsec PTA/PT Family and Telit’s Jupiter SE880 modules deliver good user experience in finished LBS critical products without sacrificing design flexibility, ease of implementation or cost,” said Michael A. Neenan, CEO and founder of Parsec Technologies, Inc. “The combination is ‘bullet-proof’ in providing a rewarding design experience making RF work reliably, passing end-product regulatory compliance testing without re-test.”
“Miniaturisation is a major enabler of new application areas for positioning and M2M,” said Taneli Tuurnala, Vice President and Head of GNSS Division of Telit Wireless Solutions. “With the Parsec antennas, the complete receiver features the industry’s ‘smallest landed footprint’ making it suitable for use in wearable electronics, UBI devices or adapters for the mobile computing industry.”
