CellGuide announces CLIOX-C MEMS-enhanced GPS chip using Baolab's CMOS 3D compass

REHOVOT, ISRAEL & BARCELONA, SPAIN: CellGuide has announced the selection of Baolab's award winning NanoEMS technology as a companion to its location and positioning solutions.

CellGuide will add Baolab's recently launched 3D NanoCompass IC to their GPS chip, to create the CLIOX-C, the world's first fully integrated GPS and compass device. Integrating the Compass and GPS together enables 'point and identify' augmented reality features to be easily incorporated in mobile devices, tablets, and cameras. The compass function further enhances the GPS system by providing immediate tunnel-exit and dead-reckoning features to assist in situations where the GPS signal is intermittent or not available.

The CLIOX-C co-packaging of compass and GPS functions creates a highly complementary, Location Based Service enabling solution, which is offered at a very competitive price point and footprint. While the GPS and compass functions can operate simultaneously, they can also be accessed independently by the host device's application processor, enabling efficient power management for demanding mobile applications.

The CLIOX-C GPS solution is based on CellGuide's proven host-based SNAP technology providing highly competitive performance, while minimizing system power consumption at an excellent cost/performance point. Baolab's electronic 3-axis CMOS MEMS NanoCompass technology inside the CLIOX-C is the first product made using its patented NanoEMS technology, to create nanoscale MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) within the standard metal structure of a CMOS wafer using standard, high volume CMOS lines, that significantly reduces the cost of the compass by up to two thirds.

"Baolab's 3D NanoCompass extends the capabilities of our GPS product so that it can cope with challenging situations and still continue to deliver reliable positional information," said Adina Shorr, CellGuide's CEO. "Baolab's technology enables its NanoCompass IC to be integrated with our product in a very cost effective manner to create a unique solution that gives an extra level of detail to location services of not only where you are but also your orientation. The integration of the two technologies enhances the user experience, so for example you would know whether to turn left or right when coming out of an underground parking lot whilst the GPS is still trying to pick up the satellites."

Dave Doyle, Baolab's CEO, added, "NanoEMS now makes it much easier and more cost effective to integrate MEMS sensors into high volume, consumer electronics products so that they can become pervasive, meeting the increasing demand for smarter, more intuitive devices."

Baolab has developed an innovative technology called NanoEMS that enables MEMS to be created inside the CMOS wafer using standard manufacturing techniques. This enables them to be made an order of magnitude smaller than existing techniques of building MEMS on the surface of the wafer and also at a fraction of the cost. Privately owned, Baolab is based in Barcelona, Spain.