CSR debuts SiRFprimaAuto connected, auto-qualified infotainment and navigation platform

“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.”

Because of its integration with CSR Synergy, 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 advanced 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, one of CSR’s landmark, fully qualified Bluetooth v2.1+EDR products. The SiRFprimaAuto platform is designed to support broad range of future CSR auto qualified connectivity solutions including Wi-Fi as these are introduced into the market.

CSR today also introduced an updated version of its SiRFDRive GPS/dead reckoning technology specifically tailored for use with SiRFprimaAuto. The SiRFDRive solution for SiRFprimaAuto leverages CSR’s GPS expertise to create a highly coupled system that incorporates data from the GPS receiver, odometer speed pulses, accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors to provide accuracy for both installed and portable infotainment systems.

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 high-performance 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.

With SiRFDRive technology, SiRFprimaAuto-equipped navigation systems can maintain highly accurate positioning information even in dense urban canyons, tunnels and parking lots. SiRFDRive technology combines with CRS’s SiRFInstantFix fast-start synthetic ephemeris software option to provide SiRFprimaAuto with some of the industry’s fastest and most accurate positioning for the demanding automotive markets.

Because in-vehicle electronics operate under much harsher conditions than typical consumer electronics devices, the automotive-qualified (TT4421-A ) SiRFprimaAuto device undergoes the more exacting AEC-Q100 qualification process as well as stricter manufacturing, assembly and testing procedures to meet the tighter automotive quality and reliability standards, and comes in a 0.65-mm BGA package. The accompanying CSR GRF3i+ GPS radio’s dual-range IF band filter with default 2-MHz bandwidth improves immunity against the near-band RF interference commonly found in electrically noisy vehicle environments, easing the integration into the vehicle platform while preserving GPS signal reception and performance.