Qualcomm Technologies has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to support India’s Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), in select chipset platforms across the company’s upcoming portfolio. This will help accelerate the adoption of NavIC and enhance the geolocation capabilities of mobile, automotive and the Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in the region - with the backing of engineering talent in India. The solution is built on Qualcomm Technologies’ leading foundational inventions in location-based position technology.
The Qualcomm Location Suite now supports up to seven satellite constellations concurrently, including the use of all of NavIC’s operating satellites for more accurate location performance, faster time-to-first-fix (TTFF) position acquisition, and improved robustness of location-based services. These enhancements will enable select mobile, automotive and IoT platforms to better serve key industries and technology ecosystems in the region and will help improve the user experience for location-based applications especially in dense urban environments where geolocation accuracy tends to degrade.
This collaboration is the result of the long-standing presence and investments in the region, including a substantive local engineering force and ongoing initiatives aimed at empowering India’s technology and innovation ecosystems, such as the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge and Qualcomm Innovation Lab. NavIC will enhance the navigation experience of Indian consumers via high accuracy and greater reliability.
The companies delivered the first-ever NavIC demonstration using the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platforms on September 19th. Support for NavIC will be available in select Qualcomm Technologies’ chipset platforms starting in late 2019 and commercial devices with NavIC support are expected to be available during the first half of 2020.
Qualcomm Technologies and ISRO are demonstrating NavIC support in the Snapdragon Mobile Platforms at India Mobile Congress from 14-16 October in New Delhi.