Shenzhen Giant Microelectronics (GiantSemi) has launched an ultra-wideband (UWB) system-on-chip (SoC) GT1000. The chip successfully passed FiRa™ Consortium conformance testing, achieving FiRa Certified™ status in June 2022. The FiRa certification includes a Physical Layer (PHY) conformance test, Media Access Control (MAC) conformance test, and an interoperability test. GiantSemi is among the world’s first IC companies to pass FiRa certification. The GT1000 chip has been in mass production since May 2022 and will start volume shipments in September 2022.
The GT1000 is a fully-integrated UWB SoC including RF, analog, baseband, protocol and embedded MCU. Its main features are as follows:
- Compliant with the latest IEEE 802.15.4, IEEE 802.15.4z and FiRa standards
- One transmitter and three receivers (1T3R) in single chip, supporting 3D AoA (Angle-of- Arrival) and 2D AoA
- 4.0 ~ 9.0 GHz frequency range
- Data rates from 31.2 Mbps, 27.2 Mbps, 7.8 Mbps, 6.8 Mbps to 850 Kbps
- Embedded MCU with clock up to 124.8 MHz, rich on-chip SRAM and NVM resources
- Integrated protocol and software, no need to run protocol or software on external processor
- Various interface including SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO
- Supporting single-sided and double-sided two-way ranging (TWR), AoA measurement and time difference of arrival (TDoA)
- Receiver sensitivity: -94 dBm @ 6.8 Mbps, -103 dBm @ 850 Kbps
- Ranging accuracy ±6 cm, AoA accuracy ±3°
The GT1000 achieves extremely low power consumption. Peak power consumption of the receiver is 71 mW, peak power consumption of the transmitter is 37 mW, and deep sleep mode current is 0.8 uA. Compared with current UWB solutions in the market, the power consumption of GT1000 has been significantly reduced, which is very beneficial to battery-powered UWB end products. Since the maximum data rate of UWB is around 16 times of Bluetooth® Low Energy, the power consumption of the GT1000 is already at a similar or even lower level than Bluetooth® LE in terms of power consumption per Mbps.
The GT1000 adopts a one transmitter and three receiver (1T3R) architecture which is ideal for low-cost 3D AoA implementations. Current UWB solutions in the market may require two UWB chips or complex RF front-end components (such as RF switches) to achieve 3D AoA. The GT1000 can support 3D AoA in a single chip and its RF front-end scheme is very simple; therefore, the BOM cost is significantly reduced.
UWB technology provides a secure, accurate, fast, and energy-efficient ranging and positioning capability. This ranging and positioning capability do not depend on any infrastructure, and it can be used outdoors and indoors. At the same time, UWB also provides wireless connectivity with a configurable data rate. UWB is playing an increasingly important role in application scenarios such as mobile phones, wearables, smart homes, tags, trackers, digital keys, access control, payment, industrial and commercial indoor positioning, and smart cities. UWB brings convenience, comfort and efficiency for personal life, industrial and commercial activities around the world.
About Shenzhen Giant Microelectronics
Shenzhen Giant Microelectronics Company Limited is a high-tech fabless IC design house that designs innovative ranging, positioning and wireless connectivity chips and provides system solutions. The Company has R&D offices in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The Company has excellent experience and expertise in wireless algorithm, baseband, protocol, RF transceiver and SoC design and owns a number of UWB patents. The Company’s major business activities are to develop and sell a series of UWB chips and chiplets for ranging, positioning and short range connectivity markets. The Company is a member of FiRa Consortium and Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC).
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