The GPS/Beidou receiver module contains SkyTraq’s high-performance Venus 8 positioning engine, 0.5ppm TCXO, 32kHz crystal, SAW filter, LDO regulator, and all R/L/C passive components in a thin 10mm x 10mm x 1.3mm 69-pin LGA form factor; requires only antenna and power supply to work.

Venus868F features -161dBm tracking sensitivity, -147dBm cold start sensitivity, 29sec cold start TTFF, active antenna detection and short circuit protection. Its NMEA output is compatible with GPS NMEA output; user’s GPS application software requires no modification to work with Venus868F GPS/Beidou receiver module.

Due to GPS and Beidou frequencies are only 14MHz apart, GPS antenna and LNA circuit are typically wide-band, by replacing GPS module with Venus868F, user’s GPS system immediately upgrades to GPS/Beidou dual-satellite navigation system without needing any additional change, and enjoys benefit of more satellites used for more accurate position fix.

The Venus868F module is an ideal solution for device manufacturers seeking a very low-cost, complete drop-in receiver module solution for a wide range of embedded GPS/Beidou applications, including vehicle navigation, automatic vehicle locator, vehicle blackbox, personal tracker, tablet, smartphone, and mobile terminals. It also offers GPS product manufacturers unparalleled new feature advantage of dual-satellite navigation technology in the crowded GPS market.

Venus868F related engineering sample, datasheet, and reference design are available in latter half of July. Volume production delivery to customer begins in August, 2014.