It combines the proprietary RF IC design technology with the new software GPS technology to develop solutions that fully meet the demanding requirements of mobile and portable products. For example, the combination of Maxim's RF IC design technology and Philips' innovative software GPS technology is a typical example. This can be specified in the following two points.

　　a About the initial design. The first GPS solution based on this new technology is a reference design optimized for USB accessories on laptops. The design enables low-cost/high performance GPS add-ons. In its simplest form, it could be a GPS bar that turns a laptop into a big-screen navigation device. Another application is USB GPS attachment, which is used to connect smart phones with USB OTG. In addition, this small size, low power design can be combined with other devices, such as USB memory drives or USB MP3, to enable GPS functionality in these devices.

　　b Hardware/software integration. The entire reference design is based on GPS receiver front ends, such as the Maxim based MAX2741 GPS receiver front end, which has built-in LNA, adaptive AGC and VCO. In addition, the MAX2741 integrates a 1 -, 2 -, or 3-bit ADC to support reference frequencies from 2 MHZ to 26 MHZ, powered by a 2.7V to 3.0V power supply. Software, such as Philips' Spot software, is 600Kb of program code written in ANSI C and can be loaded and run on a variety of standard processors, such as ARM, Intel Xscale, or TI-OMAP. The software obtains the output of the GPS front-end receiver and the satellite positioning information, and then downloads the satellite ephemeris, uses the new technology to process the signal, extracts the satellite signal, and generates the effective positioning information.

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