Infineon introduces the world's smallest GNSS module

8th October 2013

Nat Bowers

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Today at the European Microwave Week tradeshow, Infineon announced the latest generation of its pico GNSS modules for smartphones. BGM1143N9 is a combination of a low-insertion-loss pre-filter and Infineon’s high performance low noise amplifier in a TSNP-9 package. It is the smallest module worldwide, features very high linearity, lowest noise figure and supports all navigation standards including GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou.

With a footprint of only 1.5 mm x 1.1 mm BGM1143N9 is the smallest GNSS module available in the market today. It requires 60 percent less board space compared to the previous generation. Size is particularly important for smartphones, since PCB space is a premium.

Today’s mobile phones offer a wide range of features. Therefore, transmitter and receiver have to work together simultaneously without degrading each other’s performance. A GNSS receiver co-exists with transceivers in the GSM/ EDGE/ UMTS/ LTE bands that transmit high power in the range of +24 dBm. Due to its very high linearity the LNA integrated in BGM1143N9 effectively prevents interference from higher order harmonics and intermodulation products of the strong signal present in smartphones, thus ensuring reliable navigation.

Furthermore, BGM1143N9 dramatically improves sensitivity compared to other solutions available in the market today. It features the lowest noise figure available in the market (1.45 dB) which increases the GNSS system’s sensitivity and improves time-to-first-fix and time-to-subsequent-fix. This feature results in a much faster and continuous navigation and consequently much higher end user satisfaction.

The new BGM1143N9 supports all navigation standards: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo as well as China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

Samples and evaluation boards of BGM1143N9 are already available. Volume production will start in early 2014.