The industry's first GNSS SoC for wearable devices

Featuring an on-chip sensor hub, the BCM4771 enables consumers to more accurately track and manage their health and wellbeing by delivering precision activity tracking and location data while consuming less power than traditional architectures. This delivers the extended battery life and greater location intelligence which the growing wearable market is demanding. This sensor hub integrates sensor inputs for its on-chip algorithms to detect the user's context, accurately compute speed and distance travelled and provide fitness applications with the GNSS track.

By constantly monitoring user activity levels and location history, the GNSS SoC improves accuracy and adds advanced features such as location batching. Additionally, the SoC significantly reduces power consumption and board area by combining its location capabilities with an integrated sensor hub, contextual awareness, and GNSS. Broadcom also offers Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) Smart and WICED Direct software development kits to provide additional wireless connectivity to the platform.

According to ABI Research, wearable wireless device revenues are projected to exceed $6bn (USD) in 2018 with sports, fitness and wellness as the largest segment with 50% share of all device shipments.

"Today's wearables like fitness trackers have surged in popularity, but often miscalculate speed and distance. As the largest supplier of discrete GNSS solutions, Broadcom brings its location expertise to deliver more precise fitness and health measurements to the accelerating wearable market," commented Mohamed Awad, Director of Marketing, Mobile and Wireless Group, Broadcom.

Broadcom's BCM4771 GNSS SoC will be sampling by the end of Q1 2014.