关于瑟伏收购掌微的新闻
来源：百度文库 编辑：神马文学网 时间：2024/10/03 05:30:17
网址是
http://www.centralitycomm.com/ce ... Communications.html
http://www.sirf.com/PressRoom/Press.aspx?PressId=130
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#2
发表于 2007-6-23 18:53 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
SiRF Technology to Acquire Centrality Communications to Strengthen its Multifunction Location Platform Strategy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Lori Evans
Evans Public Relations/for SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc.
650/200-5891
lori@evanspublicrelations.com
SiRF Technology to Acquire Centrality Communications to Strengthen its Multifunction Location Platform Strategy
Navigation and Multimedia SoCs broaden SiRF’s Multifunction Offerings
SAN JOSE, Calif. – June 21, 2007 – SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF), a leading provider of GPS-enabled silicon and premium software location platforms, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Centrality Communications Inc, a leading developer of navigation processor solutions for mobile navigation devices, for a total consideration of $283 million in stock and cash.
Founded in 1999, Centrality has developed a range of system on a chip (SoC) offerings that bring high quality navigation and multimedia experience to consumers in mobile environments. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Centrality has more than 190 employees and a worldwide presence with its main development center in Shanghai, China and branch offices in Taipei, Seoul and Brussels.
Centrality‘s Atlas™ and Titan™ family of navigation processors together deliver the new standard in features and value for the navigation infotainment systems (NIS) market. By leveraging Centrality‘s suite of reference platforms, leading NIS manufacturers can deliver compelling products and services to market quickly.
“World class multifunction SoC platform expertise is a significant differentiator for us, especially as we address the emerging needs of portable navigation, automotive and consumer markets with value-added products,” said Dr. Michael Canning, president and chief executive officer of SiRF. “Centrality’s team has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions to market and we believe that the combined entity can provide a very attractive product portfolio to address the price performance and functionality needs of our customers. In addition, the Shanghai Center will enable us to scale our development activities rapidly and significantly strengthen our capabilities to address the fast-growing China market.”
With its primary focus on portable navigation-infotainment devices, Centrality has developed a range of platforms centered on enhancing the location, information and entertainment experience of consumers. Based on a proprietary dual-core processor architecture, these SoCs have integrated GPS, DSP, graphics and multimedia accelerators, providing breakthrough performance while achieving lower cost. While the Atlas™ family focuses on high performance value solutions, the Titan™ platform is designed for the highest end solutions.
“Centrality has developed a leading innovative family of SoC processors for navigation infotainment systems and these combined with SiRF’s overall location platform market leadership, global brand recognition, and worldwide support infrastructure opens up vast opportunities for our platforms,” said Rob Baxter, president and chief executive officer of Centrality. “Joining forces with SiRF enables us to combine our SoC platform and media expertise with SiRF’s location and multifunction radio expertise, further strengthening our technology leadership position and enabling us to bring more value-added products to market quickly.”
Centrality delivers platforms with full reference design support in order to ensure that customers enjoy the best system performance, shortest time-to-market and enhanced product differentiation. As a leading provider of embedded GPS platforms, Centrality supports multiple operating system environments to address customer needs. With a large number of fully qualified ODM customers, Centrality can help bring better and more innovative products to market faster.
“SiRF and Centrality have a shared vision of bringing the benefits of location information to mainstream consumers through innovations. We believe that there is a large potential market opportunity for mobile consumer devices with convergence of location, entertainment and wireless communications capabilities,” said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice president of marketing for SiRF. “Our combined expertise can deliver very powerful end-to-end multifunction location platforms to location-enable a broad range of new devices and services and to help our customers, operators and content partners add more value to their offerings while significantly enhancing the consumer experience.”
Under the terms of the Agreement, in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of Centrality, including equity awards, SiRF has agreed to pay $283 million in a combination of cash and shares of SiRF Common Stock. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the merger. Completion of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close next quarter.
Conference Call Details
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. will host conference call at 5:00PM EDT/2:00PM PDT today, June 21, to discuss this acquisition. The conference call will be webcast live via the Internet in the investor relations section of the SiRF website athttp://www.sirf.com. Interested parties should access the site, downloading any necessary audio software, at least ten minutes prior to the call. An archived webcast replay of the call will be available at the web site for twelve months.
To listen to the call, please dial (800) 896-8445 (domestic) or (785) 830-1916 (international) approximately 10 minutes prior to the start time. The conference ID is: SIRF. A telephonic replay will be available approximately two hours following the earnings call and will remain available for one week. The telephone playback of the conference call can be accessed by dialing (800) 695-0395.
About SiRF Technology
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. develops and markets semiconductor and software products that are designed to enabled location-awareness utilizing GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectively capabilities such as Bluetooth, for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. SiRF’s technology has been integrated into mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation systems, mobile phones, PDAs, GPS-based peripherals and handheld GPS navigation devices, and into commercial applications such as location servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in three target platforms: wireless handheld devices, such as mobile phones; automotive electronics systems, including navigation and telematics systems; and consumer and compute devices, including personal digital assistants, notebook computers, recreational GPS handhelds, mobile gaming machines, digital cameras and watches. Founded in 1995, SiRF is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol SIRF. Additional information about SiRF and its location technology solutions can be found atwww.sirf.com.
About Centrality Communications, Inc.
Centrality is a leading developer of semiconductor system solutions for GPS navigation products. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Centrality also has a worldwide presence with branch offices in Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, Caymans and Brussels. Centrality‘s Atlas™ and Titan™ family of navigation processors together deliver the new standard in features and value for the navigation infotainment systems (NIS) market. By leveraging Centrality‘s suite of reference platforms, leading NIS manufacturers can deliver compelling products and services to market quickly. For more information, please visit:www.centralitynav.com .
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the benefits of the combined company, including its product portofolio, price-performance-functionality, our ability scale our development activity in Shanghai and our ability to strenthen our position in the China market, the benefits of the Titan platform, our ability to strengthen Centrality’s technology position and bring products to market quickly, the market opportunity for mobile consumer devices, ability of Centrality to strengthen SiRF’s multifunction location platform strategy, its world class multifunction SoC platform expertise and the anticipated closing of the acquisition are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “to,” “being,” “possible,” “may,” “will,” “addresses,” “designed to,” “provide,” “believe,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be considered as an indication of future performance. SiRF’s actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the risk that we may not realize the anticipated benefits of this acquisition, risks associated with acquisitions, including the ability to successfully integrate the acquired technologies or operations, potential diversion of management’s attention and our ability to retain key employees of acquired businesses, demand and market acceptance for our products and those of our customers, the market for GPS-based location awareness, risks associated with the semiconductor industry and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company‘s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 and from time to time in SiRF’s SEC reports. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
# # #
Editors Note: SiRF Technology and the SiRF logo are registered trademarks of SiRF Technology, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#3
发表于 2007-6-27 20:58 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
huangjt2 20:57:02
GPS主流芯片 及 技术发展方向点评
目前提供GPS的厂家可大致区分为四类:第一类是只提供芯片(GPS Chipset)然后支持客户研发终端产品的厂家,包括有Analog Devices、飞利浦、高通、英飞凌、索尼、意法半导体、Trimble(天宝)、Atmel、SiGe、SiRF.第二类是提供GPS模块的厂家,如Trimble、Motorola、Rockwell、Garmin(高敏)、Leadtex、Holux、Royaltek、XEMICS、NAVCOM.第三类是指提供一般商用终端产品的厂家,这类的终端产品有汽车导航器、船用/飞机用/个人用导航器,其特点就是含有方便的导航软件,友好的人机接口(如LCD、显示器、Keypad),甚至再加上两路收发器,此类厂家如Trimble、Garmin、Magellen(麦哲伦)、神达、惠普、戴尔、索尼、阿尔派、先锋、建伍、松下.第四类厂家指的是生产高精确度的GPS接收器,也就是有得到P码授权的业者,如Leica、Raytheon、RockwellCollins.当然也有少数提供IP整合方案的厂商如Parthus.
一台GPS设备关键的元件有七个,分别是天线、低噪音放大器(LNA)、射频接收转换(RF Section)、数字部分(也称数字基带,Digital Baseband)、微处理器(Microprocessor)、微处理器周边外设(Processor Peripherals)、输入输出和驱动(I/OandDriver).如下图所示.
芯片提供者当中以SiRF最为强大,稳居龙头地位.该公司成立于1995年,2001年的销售额为1500万美元,2005年增长到16520万美元,2006年上半年则比2005年同期增长69%,预计2006年销售额达到2.8亿美元,5年间销售额增长近20倍.其客户包括全球最大的GPS整机厂家Garmin(高敏)和台湾最大的GPS整机制造厂家神达,惠普、摩托罗拉、戴尔也是其客户.该公司销售额激增后开始加强并购,近一年来,SiRF进行了3次收购活动,包括印度蓝牙立体声解决方案和嵌入软件供应商Impulsesoft、摩托罗拉GPS芯片组业务以及一家瑞典RF设计公司Kisel Microelectronics AB.2006年3月,该公司再度出击,以现金和股票的方式收购印度通信系统IP初创公司Truespan,该公司是一家面向手机和便携产品开发数字视频广播(DVB)接收器技术的无晶圆厂半导体公司.
高通则是全球第一大IC设计公司,差不多垄断了CDMA手机的主芯片.1985年成立的高通最早做无线汽车跟踪系统,现在高通的无线汽车跟踪系统还时时刻刻跟踪着美国25万辆汽车,这些汽车当中大部分是运钞车.这个系统和GPS非常类似,就是把卫星换成了基站.GPS成熟后,高通迅速开发出GPS芯片,不过高通没有打算出售这些芯片,高通把GPS功能集成到CDMA手机中,也就是GPS,高通所有的CDMA基频芯片都具备此功能,只要加上射频部分,稍加改动就可以做成GPS手机.后来发展到A-GPS,这些都提高了CDMA手机的价值.
SiRF总裁预计,到2011年,手机至少有80%具备GPS功能.作为第一大手机芯片厂家的德州仪器自然不能忽略GPS.德州仪器在经历数年的研发后推出一款相当先进的GPS芯片,来完善其手机芯片产品线.TI(德州仪器)2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案—GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片,采用TIDRP技术,可实现离散的GPS解决方案,不仅具有最小系统占用面积、最低总体系统成本等特性,而且还拥有低功耗、高性能等A-GPS功能特性.为加速开发具备A-GPS功能的手持终端,优化的GPS5300单芯片还可与TI 3G技术和OMAP处理器相连接,以便为移动终端制造厂商提供完整的解决方案.GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片目前已开始提供样片,于2006年第二季度投产.
现有的完整GPS芯片组解决方案
GPS接收机专用芯片组,主要包括射频和基带信号处理芯片,构成了GPS接收机的核心和关键部件.目前全球约有几十家制造商生产GPS芯片,其中有些厂商提供完整的GPS射频加基带组的硬件解决方案,如中国大陆地区的华迅微电子公司提供的HXM001芯片组等;有些厂商提供包括配套软件在内的完整的GPS接收机或系统解决方案,如SiRF公司提供的SiRFstarlle/LP芯片组、Zodiac2000芯片组等;有的厂商提供单片集成基带电路及射频电路的GPS芯片,如Motorola Instant GPS芯片.现行产品情况如表1所示.
表1 主要GPS射频加基带芯片组厂商及其产品一览表
华迅
HXM001
HXM001一RF
HXM00l—BB
-
RF集成了从LNA到ADC、OSC及数字控制等所有的电路模块, BB集成了DSP、CPU、ROM/RAM等功能模块
(数据来源:参考文献1,上海情报所整理)
GPS单芯片是GPS接收机专用芯片组发展方向
随着军用和民用对小尺寸、低功耗的不断追求,以及硬件设计水平和芯片制造工艺的不断进步,2002年开始出现将GPS射频与数字部分集成在一起的单芯片GPS接收机,其中产品化的单片式GPS芯片有Motorola的“Instant GPS”和Sony Semiconductor的CXD2951系列.随后又出现了德州仪器、高通、美国SiRF等国外公司的GPS单芯片,以及英飞凌等台湾公司的GPS单芯片.同类产品发展方向包括片上集成射频电路和基带电路、采用全CMOS工艺制造、支持AGPS、小体积、低功耗、高灵敏度等,技术指标集中在:制造工艺0.13~0.18μm,尺寸50~70mm2,灵敏度-150~-160dBm ,功耗50mW.制造工艺最优的为德州仪器2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案,预计将于2006年第二季度投产.分别介绍如下:
SONY GPS单芯片集成了RF射频电路和基带电路,采用0.18μm CMOS工艺设计,最小灵敏度达到-150dBm,功耗50mw.
英飞凌(Infineon)的Hammerhead系列GPS单芯片PMB2520,片上集成了射频电路和基带电路,采用0.13μm RFCMOS生产工艺.高灵敏度-160dBm,支持2.5G和3G网络,芯片面积7*7mm.适用于移动电话、PDA、智能电话.
TI(德州仪器)2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案,GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片采用TI DRP技术,可实现离散的GPS解决方案,不仅具有最小系统占用面积(50mm2)、最低总体系统成本等特性,而且还拥有低功耗、高性能等A-GPS功能特性.为加速开发具备A-GPS功能的手持终端,优化的GPS5300单芯片还可与TI 3G技术和OMAP处理器相连接,以便为移动终端制造厂商提供完整的解决方案.GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片目前已开始提供样片,预计将于2006年第二季度投产.
高通推出集CDMA2000 1X无线收发器、基带调制解调器、电源管理芯片和多媒体引擎于一体的单芯片解决方案.其优势在于,通过减少部件数量最大程度的提供更多设计选项,提供价格低廉的无线语音和数据服务,最大程度体现高通的无线高度集成战略.
美国SiRF公司推出的GSC3f是一款集成有基带与RF各电路以及4M闪存的单芯片GPS.外形尺寸为7mm×10mm,封装在140接口BGA内.接收灵敏度为-159dBm.
参考文献
1．GPS接收机专用芯片组技术发展,《全球定位系统》,2005年30卷2期,15-19,26
2．PMB 2520 - Hammerhead
http://www.infineon.com/cgi-bin/ ... mp;pageTypeId=17099
3．GPS5300 Navilink 4.0 Single Chip A-GPS Solution
http://focus.ti.com/pdfs/wtbu/ti_navilink_4_gps5300.pdf
4．SONY INTRODUCES THE INDUSTRY‘S FIRST 1-CHIP CMOS GPS LSI
http://products.sel.sony.com/semi/nrgps_2951.html
http://news.chinaecnet.com/newsview.asp?id=11056&cat=1
5.高通单芯片解决方案
http://www.cdmatech.com.cn/solutions/lc_1x.jsp?L2=lc_1x
6.SiRF公司发布“单芯片GPS”
http://china.nikkeibp.co.jp/chin ... ec200502140116.html
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#4
发表于 2007-6-27 21:00 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
huangjt2 20:59:29
GPS接收机射频芯片
摘要:本文讨论利用Maxim的高性能CMOS和硅锗(SiGe)射频芯片构建GPS RF至IF接收器的方案.
更多信息请查询:
无线产品网页
应用技术支持
AN3242: GPS和DGPS概述和完整的RF前端设计
AN3447: 用MAX2742构建GPS接收机
AN1985: 应用于优化GPS的低噪音放大器(REP024)
AN3248: MAX2653 LNA具有增益步进控制,可重新调谐用于GPS应用
AN1749: MAX2655 GPS LNA稳定性测试
AN890: 用于GPS接收机的硅锗(SiGe)下变频器
AN957: 调谐于GPS前端的MAX2681 SiGe下变频混频器
AN2242: MAX2538使用优化的183.6MHz GPS中频LC滤波器
AN640: A Single Chip Silicon Bipolar Receivers for GPS/GLONASS Applications
目前存在许多用于GPS应用的商用中频-基带芯片解决方案,好多公司选择自行设计具有自主产权的ASIC芯片,但是缺少将发射的GPS频率下变频到低中频频率的射频-中频前端芯片.Maxim已经生产好几款射频芯片,为完成这些任务提供了优异的选择.
MAX2741/MAX2742/MAX2744/MAX2745为高性能CMOS单芯片GPS前端下变频器,这些已投向市场器件消耗非常低的功耗,不需要昂贵的IF SAW滤波器或大尺寸的分离IF带通滤波器.所有器件均包含了低噪声放大器、混频器、BPF、自动增益控制放大器、本振合成器、时钟缓冲器及数字取样器.产品选型指南如表1所示.有关这些产品的详细信息,请访问以下数据资料、应用笔记链接.
表1. CMOS GPS RF前端接收器IC选型指南
Part Supply Voltage (V) Supply Current (mA) Reference Clock (MHz) IF Frequency (MHz) Conversion Gain (dB) Noise Figure (dB) IIP3 (dBm)
MAX2741 2.7 to 3.0 30 2 to 26 37.38 (first)
3.78 (second) 32 (first)
47 (second) 4.7 (first)
12 (second) -30 (first)
-36 (second)
MAX2742 2.4 to 3.6 14 18.414 1.023 117 4.5 -32
MAX2744 2.4 to 3.6 21 16.368
32.736 4.092 120 3.5 -25
MAX2745 2.4 to 3.6 21 16.368
32.736 4.092 120 3.5 -25
MAX2654/MAX2655 1575MHz SiGe低噪声放大器具有高增益、低噪声和高线性.这两款射频芯片集成了50 输出匹配网络,减少了外部元件数目.MAX2654射频芯片提供15.1dB的增益,1.5dB的噪声系数和-7.8dBm的输入三阶交调点(IIP3).为了改善线性,MAX2655射频芯片提供14.1dB增益、1.45dB的噪声系数以及从+2.2dBm至+3.8dBm可调整的IIP3性能.MAX2654供电电流为较低的5.8mA,而MAX2655的供电电流为从5.9mA至10.1mA可调整.两款芯片也具有0.1μA低功耗关断模式.MAX2641 SiGe LNA也是另一优秀的选择,它提供15.7dB的增益、1.2dB (于1575MHz)超低噪声系数以及+1.4dBm的IIP3.供电电流为较低的3.5mA.MAX2641没有提供低功耗关断模式以及片内集成的输出匹配网络.
Maxim目前尚未推出独立的支持增益步进控制的GPS LNA,但可利用MAX2563,将其调谐在GPS频段可以获得一个出色的解决方案.MAX2563是针对US PCS和欧洲DCS接收频段设计的SiGe LNA,更换匹配元件后,MAX2563能够提供19.2dB的增益、1.57dB的噪声系数和-5.2dBm的IIP3指标.详细信息请参考应用笔记3248:MAX2653 LNA具有增益步进控制,可重新调谐用于GPS应用.
MAX2680/MAX2681/MAX2682是SiGe下变频混频器的一个系列,可接受的RF频率范围为2.5GHz至400MHz,该系列最适合1575MHz的GPS应用.中频输出在10MHz至500MHz中频频率之间可调谐.MAX2680、MAX2681和MAX2682的性能见下表:
表2. GPS SiGe下变频器芯片选择指导
Part Supply Current (mA) Frequency
900MHz 1950MHz
IIP3 (dBm) NF (dB) Gain (dB) IIP3 (dBm) NF (dB) Gain (dB)
MAX2680 5.0 -12.9 6.3 11.6 -8.2 8.3 7.6
MAX2681 8.7 -6.1 7.0 14.2 +0.5 11.1 8.4
MAX2682 15.0 -1.8 6.5 14.7 +4.4 10.2 10.4
以下框图概述了Maxim各种GPS射频芯片的主要性能特点.
用于GPS接收机的射频芯片
http://www.centralitycomm.com/ce ... Communications.html
http://www.sirf.com/PressRoom/Press.aspx?PressId=130
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#2
发表于 2007-6-23 18:53 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
SiRF Technology to Acquire Centrality Communications to Strengthen its Multifunction Location Platform Strategy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Lori Evans
Evans Public Relations/for SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc.
650/200-5891
lori@evanspublicrelations.com
SiRF Technology to Acquire Centrality Communications to Strengthen its Multifunction Location Platform Strategy
Navigation and Multimedia SoCs broaden SiRF’s Multifunction Offerings
SAN JOSE, Calif. – June 21, 2007 – SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF), a leading provider of GPS-enabled silicon and premium software location platforms, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Centrality Communications Inc, a leading developer of navigation processor solutions for mobile navigation devices, for a total consideration of $283 million in stock and cash.
Founded in 1999, Centrality has developed a range of system on a chip (SoC) offerings that bring high quality navigation and multimedia experience to consumers in mobile environments. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Centrality has more than 190 employees and a worldwide presence with its main development center in Shanghai, China and branch offices in Taipei, Seoul and Brussels.
Centrality‘s Atlas™ and Titan™ family of navigation processors together deliver the new standard in features and value for the navigation infotainment systems (NIS) market. By leveraging Centrality‘s suite of reference platforms, leading NIS manufacturers can deliver compelling products and services to market quickly.
“World class multifunction SoC platform expertise is a significant differentiator for us, especially as we address the emerging needs of portable navigation, automotive and consumer markets with value-added products,” said Dr. Michael Canning, president and chief executive officer of SiRF. “Centrality’s team has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions to market and we believe that the combined entity can provide a very attractive product portfolio to address the price performance and functionality needs of our customers. In addition, the Shanghai Center will enable us to scale our development activities rapidly and significantly strengthen our capabilities to address the fast-growing China market.”
With its primary focus on portable navigation-infotainment devices, Centrality has developed a range of platforms centered on enhancing the location, information and entertainment experience of consumers. Based on a proprietary dual-core processor architecture, these SoCs have integrated GPS, DSP, graphics and multimedia accelerators, providing breakthrough performance while achieving lower cost. While the Atlas™ family focuses on high performance value solutions, the Titan™ platform is designed for the highest end solutions.
“Centrality has developed a leading innovative family of SoC processors for navigation infotainment systems and these combined with SiRF’s overall location platform market leadership, global brand recognition, and worldwide support infrastructure opens up vast opportunities for our platforms,” said Rob Baxter, president and chief executive officer of Centrality. “Joining forces with SiRF enables us to combine our SoC platform and media expertise with SiRF’s location and multifunction radio expertise, further strengthening our technology leadership position and enabling us to bring more value-added products to market quickly.”
Centrality delivers platforms with full reference design support in order to ensure that customers enjoy the best system performance, shortest time-to-market and enhanced product differentiation. As a leading provider of embedded GPS platforms, Centrality supports multiple operating system environments to address customer needs. With a large number of fully qualified ODM customers, Centrality can help bring better and more innovative products to market faster.
“SiRF and Centrality have a shared vision of bringing the benefits of location information to mainstream consumers through innovations. We believe that there is a large potential market opportunity for mobile consumer devices with convergence of location, entertainment and wireless communications capabilities,” said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice president of marketing for SiRF. “Our combined expertise can deliver very powerful end-to-end multifunction location platforms to location-enable a broad range of new devices and services and to help our customers, operators and content partners add more value to their offerings while significantly enhancing the consumer experience.”
Under the terms of the Agreement, in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of Centrality, including equity awards, SiRF has agreed to pay $283 million in a combination of cash and shares of SiRF Common Stock. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the merger. Completion of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close next quarter.
Conference Call Details
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. will host conference call at 5:00PM EDT/2:00PM PDT today, June 21, to discuss this acquisition. The conference call will be webcast live via the Internet in the investor relations section of the SiRF website athttp://www.sirf.com. Interested parties should access the site, downloading any necessary audio software, at least ten minutes prior to the call. An archived webcast replay of the call will be available at the web site for twelve months.
To listen to the call, please dial (800) 896-8445 (domestic) or (785) 830-1916 (international) approximately 10 minutes prior to the start time. The conference ID is: SIRF. A telephonic replay will be available approximately two hours following the earnings call and will remain available for one week. The telephone playback of the conference call can be accessed by dialing (800) 695-0395.
About SiRF Technology
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. develops and markets semiconductor and software products that are designed to enabled location-awareness utilizing GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectively capabilities such as Bluetooth, for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. SiRF’s technology has been integrated into mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation systems, mobile phones, PDAs, GPS-based peripherals and handheld GPS navigation devices, and into commercial applications such as location servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in three target platforms: wireless handheld devices, such as mobile phones; automotive electronics systems, including navigation and telematics systems; and consumer and compute devices, including personal digital assistants, notebook computers, recreational GPS handhelds, mobile gaming machines, digital cameras and watches. Founded in 1995, SiRF is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol SIRF. Additional information about SiRF and its location technology solutions can be found atwww.sirf.com.
About Centrality Communications, Inc.
Centrality is a leading developer of semiconductor system solutions for GPS navigation products. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Centrality also has a worldwide presence with branch offices in Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, Caymans and Brussels. Centrality‘s Atlas™ and Titan™ family of navigation processors together deliver the new standard in features and value for the navigation infotainment systems (NIS) market. By leveraging Centrality‘s suite of reference platforms, leading NIS manufacturers can deliver compelling products and services to market quickly. For more information, please visit:www.centralitynav.com .
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the benefits of the combined company, including its product portofolio, price-performance-functionality, our ability scale our development activity in Shanghai and our ability to strenthen our position in the China market, the benefits of the Titan platform, our ability to strengthen Centrality’s technology position and bring products to market quickly, the market opportunity for mobile consumer devices, ability of Centrality to strengthen SiRF’s multifunction location platform strategy, its world class multifunction SoC platform expertise and the anticipated closing of the acquisition are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “to,” “being,” “possible,” “may,” “will,” “addresses,” “designed to,” “provide,” “believe,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be considered as an indication of future performance. SiRF’s actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the risk that we may not realize the anticipated benefits of this acquisition, risks associated with acquisitions, including the ability to successfully integrate the acquired technologies or operations, potential diversion of management’s attention and our ability to retain key employees of acquired businesses, demand and market acceptance for our products and those of our customers, the market for GPS-based location awareness, risks associated with the semiconductor industry and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company‘s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 and from time to time in SiRF’s SEC reports. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
# # #
Editors Note: SiRF Technology and the SiRF logo are registered trademarks of SiRF Technology, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#3
发表于 2007-6-27 20:58 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
huangjt2 20:57:02
GPS主流芯片 及 技术发展方向点评
目前提供GPS的厂家可大致区分为四类:第一类是只提供芯片(GPS Chipset)然后支持客户研发终端产品的厂家,包括有Analog Devices、飞利浦、高通、英飞凌、索尼、意法半导体、Trimble(天宝)、Atmel、SiGe、SiRF.第二类是提供GPS模块的厂家,如Trimble、Motorola、Rockwell、Garmin(高敏)、Leadtex、Holux、Royaltek、XEMICS、NAVCOM.第三类是指提供一般商用终端产品的厂家,这类的终端产品有汽车导航器、船用/飞机用/个人用导航器,其特点就是含有方便的导航软件,友好的人机接口(如LCD、显示器、Keypad),甚至再加上两路收发器,此类厂家如Trimble、Garmin、Magellen(麦哲伦)、神达、惠普、戴尔、索尼、阿尔派、先锋、建伍、松下.第四类厂家指的是生产高精确度的GPS接收器,也就是有得到P码授权的业者,如Leica、Raytheon、RockwellCollins.当然也有少数提供IP整合方案的厂商如Parthus.
一台GPS设备关键的元件有七个,分别是天线、低噪音放大器(LNA)、射频接收转换(RF Section)、数字部分(也称数字基带,Digital Baseband)、微处理器(Microprocessor)、微处理器周边外设(Processor Peripherals)、输入输出和驱动(I/OandDriver).如下图所示.
芯片提供者当中以SiRF最为强大,稳居龙头地位.该公司成立于1995年,2001年的销售额为1500万美元,2005年增长到16520万美元,2006年上半年则比2005年同期增长69%,预计2006年销售额达到2.8亿美元,5年间销售额增长近20倍.其客户包括全球最大的GPS整机厂家Garmin(高敏)和台湾最大的GPS整机制造厂家神达,惠普、摩托罗拉、戴尔也是其客户.该公司销售额激增后开始加强并购,近一年来,SiRF进行了3次收购活动,包括印度蓝牙立体声解决方案和嵌入软件供应商Impulsesoft、摩托罗拉GPS芯片组业务以及一家瑞典RF设计公司Kisel Microelectronics AB.2006年3月,该公司再度出击,以现金和股票的方式收购印度通信系统IP初创公司Truespan,该公司是一家面向手机和便携产品开发数字视频广播(DVB)接收器技术的无晶圆厂半导体公司.
高通则是全球第一大IC设计公司,差不多垄断了CDMA手机的主芯片.1985年成立的高通最早做无线汽车跟踪系统,现在高通的无线汽车跟踪系统还时时刻刻跟踪着美国25万辆汽车,这些汽车当中大部分是运钞车.这个系统和GPS非常类似,就是把卫星换成了基站.GPS成熟后,高通迅速开发出GPS芯片,不过高通没有打算出售这些芯片,高通把GPS功能集成到CDMA手机中,也就是GPS,高通所有的CDMA基频芯片都具备此功能,只要加上射频部分,稍加改动就可以做成GPS手机.后来发展到A-GPS,这些都提高了CDMA手机的价值.
SiRF总裁预计,到2011年,手机至少有80%具备GPS功能.作为第一大手机芯片厂家的德州仪器自然不能忽略GPS.德州仪器在经历数年的研发后推出一款相当先进的GPS芯片,来完善其手机芯片产品线.TI(德州仪器)2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案—GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片,采用TIDRP技术,可实现离散的GPS解决方案,不仅具有最小系统占用面积、最低总体系统成本等特性,而且还拥有低功耗、高性能等A-GPS功能特性.为加速开发具备A-GPS功能的手持终端,优化的GPS5300单芯片还可与TI 3G技术和OMAP处理器相连接,以便为移动终端制造厂商提供完整的解决方案.GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片目前已开始提供样片,于2006年第二季度投产.
现有的完整GPS芯片组解决方案
GPS接收机专用芯片组,主要包括射频和基带信号处理芯片,构成了GPS接收机的核心和关键部件.目前全球约有几十家制造商生产GPS芯片,其中有些厂商提供完整的GPS射频加基带组的硬件解决方案,如中国大陆地区的华迅微电子公司提供的HXM001芯片组等;有些厂商提供包括配套软件在内的完整的GPS接收机或系统解决方案,如SiRF公司提供的SiRFstarlle/LP芯片组、Zodiac2000芯片组等;有的厂商提供单片集成基带电路及射频电路的GPS芯片,如Motorola Instant GPS芯片.现行产品情况如表1所示.
表1 主要GPS射频加基带芯片组厂商及其产品一览表
华迅
HXM001
HXM001一RF
HXM00l—BB
-
RF集成了从LNA到ADC、OSC及数字控制等所有的电路模块, BB集成了DSP、CPU、ROM/RAM等功能模块
(数据来源:参考文献1,上海情报所整理)
GPS单芯片是GPS接收机专用芯片组发展方向
随着军用和民用对小尺寸、低功耗的不断追求,以及硬件设计水平和芯片制造工艺的不断进步,2002年开始出现将GPS射频与数字部分集成在一起的单芯片GPS接收机,其中产品化的单片式GPS芯片有Motorola的“Instant GPS”和Sony Semiconductor的CXD2951系列.随后又出现了德州仪器、高通、美国SiRF等国外公司的GPS单芯片,以及英飞凌等台湾公司的GPS单芯片.同类产品发展方向包括片上集成射频电路和基带电路、采用全CMOS工艺制造、支持AGPS、小体积、低功耗、高灵敏度等,技术指标集中在:制造工艺0.13~0.18μm,尺寸50~70mm2,灵敏度-150~-160dBm ,功耗50mW.制造工艺最优的为德州仪器2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案,预计将于2006年第二季度投产.分别介绍如下:
SONY GPS单芯片集成了RF射频电路和基带电路,采用0.18μm CMOS工艺设计,最小灵敏度达到-150dBm,功耗50mw.
英飞凌(Infineon)的Hammerhead系列GPS单芯片PMB2520,片上集成了射频电路和基带电路,采用0.13μm RFCMOS生产工艺.高灵敏度-160dBm,支持2.5G和3G网络,芯片面积7*7mm.适用于移动电话、PDA、智能电话.
TI(德州仪器)2005年推出的90nm工艺技术的单芯片A-GPS解决方案,GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片采用TI DRP技术,可实现离散的GPS解决方案,不仅具有最小系统占用面积(50mm2)、最低总体系统成本等特性,而且还拥有低功耗、高性能等A-GPS功能特性.为加速开发具备A-GPS功能的手持终端,优化的GPS5300单芯片还可与TI 3G技术和OMAP处理器相连接,以便为移动终端制造厂商提供完整的解决方案.GPS5300 NaviLink 4.0单芯片目前已开始提供样片,预计将于2006年第二季度投产.
高通推出集CDMA2000 1X无线收发器、基带调制解调器、电源管理芯片和多媒体引擎于一体的单芯片解决方案.其优势在于,通过减少部件数量最大程度的提供更多设计选项,提供价格低廉的无线语音和数据服务,最大程度体现高通的无线高度集成战略.
美国SiRF公司推出的GSC3f是一款集成有基带与RF各电路以及4M闪存的单芯片GPS.外形尺寸为7mm×10mm,封装在140接口BGA内.接收灵敏度为-159dBm.
参考文献
1．GPS接收机专用芯片组技术发展,《全球定位系统》,2005年30卷2期,15-19,26
2．PMB 2520 - Hammerhead
http://www.infineon.com/cgi-bin/ ... mp;pageTypeId=17099
3．GPS5300 Navilink 4.0 Single Chip A-GPS Solution
http://focus.ti.com/pdfs/wtbu/ti_navilink_4_gps5300.pdf
4．SONY INTRODUCES THE INDUSTRY‘S FIRST 1-CHIP CMOS GPS LSI
http://products.sel.sony.com/semi/nrgps_2951.html
http://news.chinaecnet.com/newsview.asp?id=11056&cat=1
5.高通单芯片解决方案
http://www.cdmatech.com.cn/solutions/lc_1x.jsp?L2=lc_1x
6.SiRF公司发布“单芯片GPS”
http://china.nikkeibp.co.jp/chin ... ec200502140116.html
ehua
管理员
UID 2
精华 0
积分 0
帖子 103
阅读权限 200
注册 2007-5-17
状态 离线
#4
发表于 2007-6-27 21:00 资料 个人空间 短消息 加为好友
huangjt2 20:59:29
GPS接收机射频芯片
摘要:本文讨论利用Maxim的高性能CMOS和硅锗(SiGe)射频芯片构建GPS RF至IF接收器的方案.
更多信息请查询:
无线产品网页
应用技术支持
AN3242: GPS和DGPS概述和完整的RF前端设计
AN3447: 用MAX2742构建GPS接收机
AN1985: 应用于优化GPS的低噪音放大器(REP024)
AN3248: MAX2653 LNA具有增益步进控制,可重新调谐用于GPS应用
AN1749: MAX2655 GPS LNA稳定性测试
AN890: 用于GPS接收机的硅锗(SiGe)下变频器
AN957: 调谐于GPS前端的MAX2681 SiGe下变频混频器
AN2242: MAX2538使用优化的183.6MHz GPS中频LC滤波器
AN640: A Single Chip Silicon Bipolar Receivers for GPS/GLONASS Applications
目前存在许多用于GPS应用的商用中频-基带芯片解决方案,好多公司选择自行设计具有自主产权的ASIC芯片,但是缺少将发射的GPS频率下变频到低中频频率的射频-中频前端芯片.Maxim已经生产好几款射频芯片,为完成这些任务提供了优异的选择.
MAX2741/MAX2742/MAX2744/MAX2745为高性能CMOS单芯片GPS前端下变频器,这些已投向市场器件消耗非常低的功耗,不需要昂贵的IF SAW滤波器或大尺寸的分离IF带通滤波器.所有器件均包含了低噪声放大器、混频器、BPF、自动增益控制放大器、本振合成器、时钟缓冲器及数字取样器.产品选型指南如表1所示.有关这些产品的详细信息,请访问以下数据资料、应用笔记链接.
表1. CMOS GPS RF前端接收器IC选型指南
Part Supply Voltage (V) Supply Current (mA) Reference Clock (MHz) IF Frequency (MHz) Conversion Gain (dB) Noise Figure (dB) IIP3 (dBm)
MAX2741 2.7 to 3.0 30 2 to 26 37.38 (first)
3.78 (second) 32 (first)
47 (second) 4.7 (first)
12 (second) -30 (first)
-36 (second)
MAX2742 2.4 to 3.6 14 18.414 1.023 117 4.5 -32
MAX2744 2.4 to 3.6 21 16.368
32.736 4.092 120 3.5 -25
MAX2745 2.4 to 3.6 21 16.368
32.736 4.092 120 3.5 -25
MAX2654/MAX2655 1575MHz SiGe低噪声放大器具有高增益、低噪声和高线性.这两款射频芯片集成了50 输出匹配网络,减少了外部元件数目.MAX2654射频芯片提供15.1dB的增益,1.5dB的噪声系数和-7.8dBm的输入三阶交调点(IIP3).为了改善线性,MAX2655射频芯片提供14.1dB增益、1.45dB的噪声系数以及从+2.2dBm至+3.8dBm可调整的IIP3性能.MAX2654供电电流为较低的5.8mA,而MAX2655的供电电流为从5.9mA至10.1mA可调整.两款芯片也具有0.1μA低功耗关断模式.MAX2641 SiGe LNA也是另一优秀的选择,它提供15.7dB的增益、1.2dB (于1575MHz)超低噪声系数以及+1.4dBm的IIP3.供电电流为较低的3.5mA.MAX2641没有提供低功耗关断模式以及片内集成的输出匹配网络.
Maxim目前尚未推出独立的支持增益步进控制的GPS LNA,但可利用MAX2563,将其调谐在GPS频段可以获得一个出色的解决方案.MAX2563是针对US PCS和欧洲DCS接收频段设计的SiGe LNA,更换匹配元件后,MAX2563能够提供19.2dB的增益、1.57dB的噪声系数和-5.2dBm的IIP3指标.详细信息请参考应用笔记3248:MAX2653 LNA具有增益步进控制,可重新调谐用于GPS应用.
MAX2680/MAX2681/MAX2682是SiGe下变频混频器的一个系列,可接受的RF频率范围为2.5GHz至400MHz,该系列最适合1575MHz的GPS应用.中频输出在10MHz至500MHz中频频率之间可调谐.MAX2680、MAX2681和MAX2682的性能见下表:
表2. GPS SiGe下变频器芯片选择指导
Part Supply Current (mA) Frequency
900MHz 1950MHz
IIP3 (dBm) NF (dB) Gain (dB) IIP3 (dBm) NF (dB) Gain (dB)
MAX2680 5.0 -12.9 6.3 11.6 -8.2 8.3 7.6
MAX2681 8.7 -6.1 7.0 14.2 +0.5 11.1 8.4
MAX2682 15.0 -1.8 6.5 14.7 +4.4 10.2 10.4
以下框图概述了Maxim各种GPS射频芯片的主要性能特点.
用于GPS接收机的射频芯片