Swift Navigation Starling GNSS engine tested with Broadcom BCM47755 chip

An open-sky freeway environment on Interstate 280 in California where Starling + the BCM47755 were tested and data collected and processed in real time. (Image: Swift Navigation)

Swift Navigation has announced that its Starling positioning engine is available with Broadcom’s dual-frequency GNSS receiver chip, the BCM47755.

The new solution is capable of delivering centimeter accuracy with minimal power consumption and small footprint for rapidly expanding precise positioning applications, the company said.

The Starling Positioning Engine is a modular and portable GNSS high-precision positioning engine that leverages Swift’s Skylark Cloud Corrections Service. Platform independent, Starling is an advanced GNSS processing engine that enhances the measurements from commercially available GNSS receivers to provide true precision and integrity capabilities.

Swift’s Starling software is GNSS receiver agnostic and works with a variety of GNSS chips and inertial sensors. According to the company, Starling features multi-band, multi-constellation support to provide centimeter-level accuracy and supports the calculation of integrity outputs to provide absolute position, velocity and time (PVT).

Broadcom’s BCM47755 chip now works with Starling. (Image: Broadcom)

Swift showcased the integration of Starling with the Broadcom BCM47755 chip — the latest generation of Broadcom GNSS receiver chip — during a recent test drive in California. The synergistic benefits of integrating Starling with the BCM47755 measurement engine include low system-level power consumption and a smaller PCB (printed circuit board) footprint.

The successful integration illustrated the accuracy of the combined solution and forthcoming offerings for autonomous vehicles including unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics, asset tracking, fleet management and other applications requiring precise positioning.

The BCM47755 simultaneously supports GPS and GLONASS in the L1 frequency band or GPS and Galileo in both the L1/E1 and L5/E5a frequency bands, the company added. Starling combines the GNSS raw observations from the BCM47755 with corrections from Swift’s Skylark Cloud Corrections Service to deliver centimeter-level positioning.

Horizontal Position

Horizontal CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function). (Chart: Swift Navigation)

“Broadcom is delighted to work with Swift in their integration of Starling and Skylark with our BCM47755,” said Vijay Nagarajan, senior director of product marketing for the Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division at Broadcom. “This is an exciting development for Swift and Broadcom, bringing together innovative hardware and software for the precise positioning market.”

​​“Swift has taken its mature Starling positioning engine that has long been powering Swift’s Piksi Multi and Duro receivers and made it interoperable with other industry leading chipsets to provide customers with a broader selection of precise autonomous navigation solutions,” added Samir Kapoor, executive vice president of engineering and product at Swift Navigation. “We are excited to offer an integrated solution with the Broadcom BCM47755 GNSS receiver chip.” ​

Evaluation Kit

Swift has developed an out-of-the-box evaluation platform for the combined Swift/Broadcom solution, called the Starling + BCM47755 Evaluation Kit, which will be available to order in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Evaluation Kit includes:

• Starling Evaluation Board
• Cortex-A7 Processor Running Starling Positioning Engine on Linux
• Broadcom BCM47755 Chip
• I/O – RS-232, Ethernet, USB, CAN
• Supports SBP, NMEA and RTCM3 Protocols
• Built in NTRIP Client
• Built in Client for Skylark, Swift’s Cloud-Based GNSS Corrections Service
• Dual Frequency, Multi-Constellation Antenna
• External Cell Modem
• Power Supply, Cabling and Accessories
• Evaluation Kit Hardware Design Documentation, including Schematics and Layout
• Evaluation Kit User Manual, Swift Console PC Application and Firmware Image