U-Nav Makes GPS Even Smaller
u-Nav, developer of the world’s smallest and ultra- low-power Global Positioning System IC solutions, has successfully taped out a 50mW, 0.18-micron CMOS GPS single chip design using Blast Fusion, Blast Power and Blast Rail. Targeted for use in a variety of consumer products including cell phones, the device has multiple power domains and tight area requirements.
With its ability to concurrently address critical design considerations including power, timing and area, the Magma software enabled u-Nav to achieve a 22 percent power reduction while reducing die size. In addition, u-Nav utilized Magma’s built-in extraction engine for design sign-off. This integrated flow allowed u-Nav to make changes and turnaround the design in less than a day, significantly reducing the design cycle.
“As the complexity of our GPS solutions increases, power management and optimization become critical,” said Pete Maimone, u-Nav vice president of Product Development. “This design had three power domains. If we had used a point-tool flow we would have had to handle them hierarchically. The Magma system enabled a virtually flat multi-Vdd methodology in which power was optimized within and across each domain. Magma’s integrated approach, advanced technology and committed application engineers were all critical to our design success.”
“Creating optimal low-power designs requires the ability to make accurate and efficient tradeoffs such as timing-versus-power and area-versus-power at different stages of the design flow,” said Premal Buch, general manager of Magma’s Design Implementation Business Unit. “We’re pleased that u-Nav was able to leverage Magma’s low-power design methodology for this important design.”
