Date: 11/10/2010

AEC-Q100 qualified SoC from CSR for automotive apps

CSR has released the SiRFprimaAuto multifunction location platform, the company's first auto-qualified SoC product and a connected infotainment solution meeting the requirements of tier-1 automotive electronics OEMs. The AEC-Q100 qualified SiRFprimaAuto SoC has a built-in GPS/GNSS and is integrated with CSR's automotive-grade wireless connectivity solutions and associated CSR Synergy connectivity host software and SiRFDRive dead reckoning software.

"Integrating automotive-quality, highly interoperable wireless connectivity has always been a challenge for system integrators, in terms of both the time required for integration and also the additional costs associated with developing the upper level software that drives these technologies," said Lars Boeryd, Director of Automotive Marketing for CSR. "CSR simplifies this process with unique pre-integrated connectivity components that have been rigorously tested in the automotive space over many years and are part of the SiRFprimaAuto BSP offerings for Linux, Windows CE and Android."

According to Boeryd, Bluetooth hands-free and contact sync capabilities have become mainstream features found in most in-vehicle infotainment product lines today, while the advent of music-enabled mobile phones is now making Bluetooth streaming through A2DP an increasingly popular way of replacing the CD as the primary way to enjoy personal music collections in the car.

"CSR's system platform allows us to quickly develop feature-rich in-dash navigation and entertainment systems at very competitive price points for both auto makers and the aftermarket," said Masanori Kurosaki, Senior Executive Officer, Car Electronics Business, for Pioneer Corporation. "CSR was able to provide a more highly integrated platform solution along with excellent support to meet the mainstream requirements of the automotive industry."

The SiRFprimaAuto software platform supports all Bluetooth automotive profiles, such as A2DP, HFP, PBAP, SPP, AVRCP, DUN, MAP, HID and more. In addition, SiRFprimaAuto supports other features such as acoustic echo cancellation, noise reduction, voice recognition and text to speech.

"SiRFprimaAuto strengthens our portfolio of automotive-qualified products, and demonstrates not only our increased commitment to the automotive market, but also our focus on providing pre-integrated platform solutions that deliver an enhanced consumer experience and help our customers be more competitive," said Ahmet Alpdemir, Senior Vice President for the Automotive/PND Business Unit of CSR. "SiRFprimaAuto is the latest member of our expanding portfolio of auto-qualified components for leading auto makers and tier-1 suppliers around the world."

CSR's portfolio of auto-qualified connected products for the SiRFprimaAuto platform includes the GRF3i plus GPS front-end radio; the BlueCore6-ROM, fully qualified Bluetooth v2.1+EDR products.

According to Egil Juliussen, Ph.D., Principal Analyst and Fellow for Automotive Research Practice at iSuppli, an automotive industry market research firm, the factory sales of OEM and aftermarket automotive Bluetooth units were 29 million in 2009, and are on track to significantly increase by 2015, with key suppliers such as CSR providing the underlying component technology to make such growth possible.

SiRFprimaAuto combines a GPS/Galileo location engine, fast ARM11 CPU, hardware accelerated 2D/3D graphics and rich multimedia features and extensive peripheral support to provide a robust platform pre-integrated with connectivity components that opens a myriad of connectivity possibilities with little effort. SiRFDRive technology combines with CRS's SiRFInstantFix fast-start synthetic ephemeris software option .