Hughes Network Systems Selects Motorola as Provider
19 October 1998
Hughes Network Systems Selects Motorola to Provide Advanced GPS Chipset for Satellite Phones; Combined Design Effort Sets New Standard for Fully Integrated GPS Chipsets
AUSTIN, Texas--Oct. 19, 1998--Hughes Network Systems, a division of General Motors' Hughes Electronics, has awarded Motorola a contract for providing Global Positioning System (GPS) chipsets to be utilized in the company's new satellite phones which offer personal location/communication-based features in small, next-generation portable products.
This allows designs teams, for the first time, to incorporate this next generation of GPS capabilities into phone handsets, an option that previously could not be utilized due to cost and size limitations.
The highly integrated chipset selected by Hughes incorporates the recently introduced MRFIC1504 module and a new GPS microcontroller designed for engineers requiring navigation or remote tracking capability in their system design.
The new GPS microcontroller is based on Motorola's ultra low-power, low-cost embedded microprocessor architecture that can vastly improve and shorten development cycles for low-voltage GPS-enabled electronics. Additional details regarding the GPS microcontroller will be made in conjunction with the Embedded Systems Conference on Nov. 1-5, 1998, in San Jose, Calif.
"Combining the technologies of Motorola and Hughes enables us to bring an advanced and competitively priced product to market," said Graham Avis, assistant vice president and manager for Geo-Mobile Satellite User Terminals at Hughes Network Systems.
"This alliance sets the new size and cost standard for new, fully integrated chipsets. Customers will now be able to utilize GPS solutions in applications that were previously limited by cost and size."
The integrated GPS chipset from Motorola represents Motorola's DigitalDNA strategy -- providing system solutions for innovative, new products that make life better. Development teams from Motorola and Hughes Network Systems merged to develop a world-class system design that tightly integrates the Motorola GPS chipset with the Hughes satellite phone technology.
"GPS is an emerging market that represents significant potential for Motorola and our customers," said Mike Ferrel1, market development manager of GPS technology with Motorola's Transportation Systems Group.
"Hughes, like others, has recognized that the highly integrated Motorola GPS solution provides leadership functionality for the design of any product -- automotive position/location instrumentation, satellite phones, survey instrumentation -- regardless of size."
Availability
Initial shipments of the GPS chipset to Hughes are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 1999, with the new phones from Hughes expected to be available in the second half of 2000.
About Hughes Network Systems
With headquarters near Washington, D.C., and international sales and support offices worldwide, Hughes Network Systems (www.hns.com) is a leading provider of wireless communications, satellite communications and enterprise network solutions. Hughes Network Systems is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp.
Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector
As the world's No. 1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector offers multiple DigitalDNA solutions that enable its customers in the consumer, networking and computing, transportation and wireless communications markets to create new business opportunities. Motorola's semiconductor sales were $8.0 billion in 1997.
Motorola is a global leader in advanced electronic systems and services. It creates software-driven products that provide integrated customer solutions and Internet access via wireless and satellite communications, as well as computing, networking and automotive electronics.
Motorola also liberates the power of technology by providing essential digital building blocks in the form of embedded semiconductors, controls and systems. Sales in 1997 were $29.4 billion.