Telit and SiTime have teamed up to produce what is claimed to be, at 4.7 × 4.7 mm LGA (Land Grid Array) package, the world’s smallest and lowest power GPS receiver chip. The SiRFstarIV-based Jupiter SE880 receiver module allows extended hibernation periods drawing just 15 µA while maintaining a less than one second Snap Start.

 

The receiver combines Telit’s Jupiter SE880 miniature GPS receiver with SiTime’s MEMS SiT15xx low power oscillators. Its tiny footprint and low power consumption means that future mobile tracking devices and navigation aids can be made smaller and will last longer between charges.

 

The 750 nA core current and power saving features of the 32 kHz SiT15xx family contribute to the chips low power consumption compared to systems using traditional crystal clocks. The GPS RF front-end incorporates spatially calibrated waveguide-quality radio paths in the chip architecture to reduce system noise and parasitic impedance normally associated with traditional 2-D RF designs. Its 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 nearby high-energy radio devices such as Wi-Fi hot-spots, Bluetooth systems and cordless phones etc. These unwanted sources can otherwise easily swamp weak satellite signals.