Host-Based GPS - an Emerging Architecture for High Volume Consumer Applications

Charles Abraham and Frank van Diggelen

Abstract:	The last few years have seen the emergence of GPS devices utilizing a host-based GPS architecture. This is an important trend, but unfamiliar to many. In a host-based GPS architecture, portions of the software that traditionally execute within the GPS chipset are performed in the host software. This architecture can lead to a lower cost, more flexible and more easily integrated system for certain profiles of customers and devices. In this article we explore host-based GPS systems in detail and provide guidance that designers can use in deciding whether this is an appropriate architecture for their application. The objective of this paper is to introduce host-based GPS and explain the architecture in some detail. The concepts are articulated by contrasting the host-based architecture with traditional system-on-a-chip (SOC) GPS and pure software GPS. Different requirements for the different approaches are discussed and compared, including memory, CPU and data communication requirements. The changes in integration considerations from purely autonomous GPS applications to AGPS applications are also analyzed.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007) September 25 - 28, 2007 Fort Worth Convention Center Fort Worth, TX
Pages:	2279 - 2284
Cite this article:	Abraham, Charles, van Diggelen, Frank, "Host-Based GPS - an Emerging Architecture for High Volume Consumer Applications," Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007), Fort Worth, TX, September 2007, pp. 2279-2284.
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