Qualcomm has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch the chipsets that will support the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which also goes by the name NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation).
The company, in its press release, announced that the support for the NavIC navigation system would be released in only a few selected chipsets during the first half of 2020. As NavIC is an India centric navigation system, it is more accurate than the other navigation system such as GPS, GLONASS, BDS, among others.
As per Qualcomm, the company has updated its Qualcomm Location Suit, which now supports seven constellations, including the NavIC constellation with all of its satellites. Navic will help in improving the location-based services — both for the general population as well as for the industries — allowing for a more robust, accurate and faster-time-to-first-fix (TTFF) position acquisition.
Update [21/01/2020]: Qualcomm has announced three chipsets — Snapdragon 720G, 662 and 460 — which will sport the NavIC navigation system.
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ISRO is particularly pleased with the new development, and it seems that the hard work of our scientists has finally paid off.
“NavIC is a critical step forward in our pursuit of harnessing space technology for national development, and we are eager to make it accessible to everyone for their day to day use. ISRO is very happy to be working with Qualcomm Technologies to enable NavIC on Mobile platforms,” said Dr Sivan, Chairman ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space.
“Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership and support for NavIC on their mobile platforms will bring the benefits of this indigenous solution to every Indian. ISRO appreciates Qualcomm Technologies for enabling the technology demonstration of NavIC support on the mobile platform for the very first time.”
The company is showcasing the live demonstration of the technology at the Indian Mobile Congress. With Qualcomm announcing its support for NavIC, other chipset manufacturers may follow suit.
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