New NavIC-supported chip goes for mass production

India’s GPS alternative NavIC is slowly but steadily getting adopted. Back in 2020, with Qualcomm in the picture, some phones with Snapdragon chips arrived with NaVIC support alongside GPS and other global alternatives.

Still, there’s a lot to catch up on. Interestingly, at a recent conference held in Ahmedabad, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar unveiled a new chip with NavIC that’s just gone into mass production.

What this means is ISRO’s NaVIC implementation will be quicker.

New NaVIC-supported chip goes for mass production at GlobalFoundaries

The new chip called “AST-500” or “Kaveri” is a System on Chip (SoC) that comes with multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) receivers.

India's n @isro 's alternative to GPS is NavIC from @Accord_GNSS @Accord_GNSS is gettng half a million NavIC Chipsets produced at @GlobalFoundries.

This big milestone is just 12 months from first ever @Semicon_India conf launched by PM @narendramodi ji & six months of NavIC… pic.twitter.com/BFLkJr7yaw

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) April 13, 2023

It has Accord Software and System Pvt. Ltd’s in-house GNSS receiver as well as OEM’s own high-performance GNSS receiver.

AST-500 is an upgrade from AST-200, which lacked multi-receiver support. The new chip by Accord is compatible with India’s NaVIC.

Kaveri with the multi-GNSS receiver is now being manufactured by GlobalFoundaries, which is one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers.

“Kaveri chipsets will leverage India’s Satellite constellation to decode position, velocity and timing coordinates for automotive applications including public transportation, passenger safety, emergency services, traffic monitoring, biometric, logistics & supply chain, railway,” tweeted Chandrasekhar.

Hopefully, this will speed up the implementation of NaVIC in the country.