CSR drives SiRFstarIV into automotive market

CAMBRIDGE, UK & SAN JOSE, USA: Strengthening its leadership position in the automotive market, CSR plc. has introduced the SiRFstarIV GSD4e-9500 GPS engine, the first SiRFstarIV architecture GPS device optimized to address the more demanding needs of the auto industry.

CSR also announced it has begun shipping the auto-qualified CSR8311, an advanced Bluetooth HCI device that is first to deliver Bluetooth low energy and Wideband Speech (also called HD voice) capabilities to the automotive market.

The new SiRFstarIV GSD4e-9500 GPS engine, together with the CSR8311 Bluetooth and CSR6000 Wi-Fi connectivity devices, provide automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs with a comprehensive, auto-qualified location and connectivity triumvirate of high-performance platform solutions for a variety of in-dash navigation and telematics applications in cars and trucks around the world. In a related announcement, CSR today also introduced the Wi-Linx software module for the CSR6000.

CSR will be displaying and demonstrating many of its automotive-qualified hardware and software solutions in booth 26 at the upcoming Telematics Detroit 2011 conference and exhibition being held June 8-9, 2011 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, MI.

“The addition of the GSD4e-9500 is an important milestone in the continuing expansion of our portfolio of best-in-class, auto-qualified location and connectivity components, and a demonstration of our continuing commitment to the automotive market,” said Charlie Lesko, senior vice president of the Automotive and PND Business Unit at CSR. “With CSR’s triumvirate of GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi solutions, the company is well positioned to serve the location and wireless connectivity needs of the automotive market in the coming years.”

SiRFstarIV for automotive: GSD4e-9500
The new GSD4e-9500 for the first time brings all the breakthrough SiRFstarIV location benefits to the automotive market, including active jammer removal technology and support for SiRFInstantFix client- and server-generated extended ephemeris and SiRFDRive dead-reckoning technologies.

CSR’s exclusive active jammer removal technology provides automatic immunity from the in-band electrical interference commonly found in vehicles, allowing the GSD4e to deliver superior real-world GPS performance. CSR’s SiRFInstantFix extended ephemeris technology and SiRFDRive dead-reckoning technology enable faster times to first fix and improved positional accuracy, even when antenna placement within a vehicle is less than optimal, such as under the dashboard.

With differing adoption rates and manufacturing cycles for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi common amongst most auto makers today, this modular approach gives automotive customers greater flexibility to address specific market needs when building their in-dash infotainment and telematics systems.

“The GSD4e-9500 brings to automotive customers a market-proven product that has been highly successful in the consumer and handset markets and is now available as an AEC-Q100 qualified device for the first time,” said Lars Boeryd, director of automotive marketing for CSR. “With the introduction of the GSD4e-9500, CSR has opened the door to the more widespread use of the SiRFstarIV architecture by automotive Tier-1 suppliers and OEMs, and is now able to provide a number of complete, highly competitive solutions to the automotive market.”

In addition to being able to dynamically detect, track and actively block up to eight separate sources of interference through its active jammer technology, the GSD4e-9500 offers a number of features such as single-SAW design, an on-chip LNA, fail-safe I/O, integrated switchers, single supply voltage, simple RF matching and small size and packaging to make it easier for designers to use and integrate into vehicle platform, giving suppliers and OEMs much greater flexibility in system design and antenna placement and helping speed time to market. It also undergoes the more exacting AEC-Q100 qualification process as well as stricter manufacturing, assembly and testing procedures to meet the tighter automotive quality and reliability standards compared to those for consumer devices.

Bluetooth 4.0 for automotive: CSR8311
The CSR8311’s support for the emerging Wideband Speech standard has been enthusiastically anticipated by several leading automotive OEMs, and should have a very positive effect on in-vehicle, hands-free call quality and the performance of the voice dialing feature found on most of today’s mobile phones.

The CSR8311 offers auto makers a complementary platform for their existing proprietary keyless entry technologies to allow drivers to configure personalized settings of the car through their smartphones, allow passengers to control in-vehicle entertainment systems remotely and use Bluetooth keyboards for Internet access. This technology, in conjunction with data from biometric sensors and certain vehicle functions, can also open the door to a variety of in-vehicle wellness applications offering useful information to drivers with certain medical conditions.

For the growing rear seat entertainment market, the CSR8311 is able to drive a number of stereo headsets and remote controls, and also supports CSR aptX wireless, high fidelity, low latency audio compression technology for Bluetooth. CSR aptX technology uses advanced ADPCM principles to squeeze the entire 10Hz-22kHz high fidelity audio frequency range neatly within the limited bandwidth of Bluetooth transmission standards to deliver high quality stereo audio reproduction with extremely low latency that avoids lip-sync issues when used with in-vehicle video entertainment systems.

Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity for automotive: Wi-Linx for CSR6000
Wi-Linx, a software module for the CSR6000 also introduced today, adds Wi-Fi hot spot, Wi-Fi client and Bluetooth 3.0+HS capabilities to any vehicle. Available now for Microsoft Windows CE 6.0 and Microsoft Auto 4.1 platforms, Wi-Linx for CSR6000 enhances the consumer wireless experience with the next generation of in-vehicle infotainment platforms, bringing Wi-Fi into the vehicle to complement current Bluetooth capabilities.

The automotive-qualified SiRFstarIV GSD4e-9500 GPS engine and automotive-qualified CSR8311 Bluetooth connectivity solution are available and shipping now. The GSD4e-9500 comes in a 96-ball, 0.8-mm pitch BGA package, and CRS8311 is available in a 40-lead, 0.5-mm pitch QFN package.