World's Lowest Power GPS Module Ready-to-plug

The XEMICS GPS receiver features a power consumption of only 50 mW in tracking mode vs. a typical 100 to 200 mW for the closest competition with a similar level of performance.

NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, and TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 31, 2003 - XEMICS SA and Racewood Technology Company Limited, a leading high-tech manufacturer in Taiwan, today announced the release of the world's lowest power GPS receiver. The device is based on the high performance, low cost chipset from XEMICS, a Swiss fabless semiconductor company. The GPS receiver features a power consumption of only 50 mW in tracking mode vs. a typical 100 to 200 mW for the closest competition with a similar level of performance. This significant power saving is key for the applications targeted by the XEMICS/Racewood module: power-sensitive mobile information devices such as laptops, PDAs, digital cameras, and even wristwatches. Thanks to this ultra low power consumption, the GPS receiver will provide accurate location, speed and timing information to users over an extended period of time. This is achieved without the need of large additional batteries. Another key advantage is the small size of the receiver. It comes in a form factor that matches portable device requirements and can easily be integrated into existing systems.

The receiver includes the necessary resources to provide time, position, speed, and other relevant navigation data through a very simple interface. Racewood will manufacture the receiver based on a XEMICS design and will be purchasing the XEMICS XE1610 GPS chipset. This technology allows high volume manufacturers of consumer products to add GPS location capability with minimal impact on device size or battery life. The chipset from XEMICS is the lowest power implementation of GPS receiver technology to date.

"By partnering with Racewood to deliver fully featured GPS modules to the market place, we are leveraging our advanced semiconductor capabilities" said Remy Pache, XEMICS' Vice President of marketing. "By doing so, our customers can now easily integrate the GPS functionality into their innovative portable & consumer products, where battery size and overall costs were real barrier to entry for this location technology. They will also shorten their time to market, and should they then need to migrate to their own design, XEMICS will offer the full support for that key step."

Several types of the design are being derived to match the specific requirements of demanding applications for use with laptops, notebooks and PDAs, as well as GPS Compact Flash Cards for PDAs. Customized versions are also in the pipeline for consumer products.

About the XEMICS Chipset

The XEMICS chipset offers the lowest power consumption of any GPS receiver on the market today. The baseband advanced channel correlator IC consumes less than 3 milliwatts. The total RF+channel correlator solution is less then 25 milliwatts while doing acquisition and tracking. For a full Position Velocity Time (PVT) GPS platform, it sums up to 50 mW, with a powerful 32-bit ARM7-based Microcontroller on board, with 128kbytes RAM and 512kbytes Flash. It is the ideal solution for power-sensitive applications.

XEMICS' chipset implementation is extremely compact. The baseband chip is packed in a 16-pin SO. The high level of integration translates to lower component count and enables a tiny footprint. This facilitates the integration of GPS functionality into a variety of mobile devices without adversely affecting product form factor and size.

The GPS chipset is available through XEMICS worldwide sales and distribution channels. For more information visit: http://www.xemics.com

ABOUT Racewood

Racewood has a tradition in wireless product R&D and manufacturing, specializing in Bluetooth, WLAN, GPS, wireless audio & video, and CCTV surveillance series products. Racewood has an in-house development team and production line. With a focus on high quality and low cost products, Racewood provides technology support to OEM and ODM customers. Racewood not only manufactures for the customer but also provides the experience needed for optimizing wireless product performance.

For more details please contact:
Racewood Technology Company
5F-2, N° 6 Chung-Hsing Rd,
Section 1, Wu-Gu
Taipei,
Taiwan 248
R.O.C
Phone:    +888-2-8976-9069
Fax:    +888-2-8976-9070
E-Mail: sales@racewood.com.tw
Website : www.racewood.com.tw

ABOUT XEMICS
XEMICS is a privately owned fabless semiconductor company which delivers a range of advanced short-range wireless connectivity solutions to a global customer base. XEMICS is a leading designer and provider of data acquisition and communication products, GPS receivers, Wireless RF transceivers and Bluetooth applications and CODEC's. With a focus on high-quality low cost solutions XEMICS provides a combination of ultra-low power technology and innovative IC design.

For more details of products from XEMICS please contact:
Isabelle Bellaton
Marketing Communications Manager
XEMICS Switzerland
Phone: +41 32 720 5562
Fax: +41 32 720 5770
E-Mail: pr@xemics.com
Website: www.xemics.com