STMicroelectronics has begun volume production of its Teseo GPS chipset for use in certain Garmin Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) and handheld GPS receivers.

The Teseo chipset integrates a high-sensitivity single-chip GPS baseband IC (STA2058) with embedded flash, and an RF front-end (STA5620). The GPS baseband integrates a CAN 2.0 B active interface, a four-channel 12-bit A/D, I2C (Inter-IC), universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART), serial peripheral interface (SPI), general-purpose input/output (GPIO), and USB. The embedded flash memory is sufficient for storing Garmin’s GPS software.

ST designers are currently working on a system-on-chip solution that integrates the Teseo GPS engine and an ARM9 core for GPS navigation processing.

STMicro said its chipset overcomes the “shield effect” of a car’s front window and improves tracking in poor satellite visibility conditions. It also shortens GPS signal acquisition times. A "warm start" – the acquisition of accurate time, satellite positioning and velocity (ephemeris) data that have been lost during the switch-off – takes less than 34 seconds. Accuracy, expressed in circular error probability (the radius of a circle that represents a 50% probability of a position lying in that circle), is as precise as two meters.

The chipset supports satellite-based augmentation systems such as wide area augmentation system (WAAS) and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). The Teseo devices are also ready for compliance with Galileo, the upcoming European navigation system complementary to GPS.