Chip unveiled for Beidou Navigation Satellite System

A chip for China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite (BDS) System, which supports the new generation of Beidou-3 Satellites for high-precision positioning and navigation, was unveiled by the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location Based Service Association of China (GLAC) over the weekend, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The new chip, named Soc, is able to reach positioning accuracy at the sub-meter level without ground-based augmentation and at ultra-low power consumption levels, said the report.

The chip, developed by Shenzhen-based Allystar Technology, can also be widely used in autonomous driving vehicles, wearable devices, smart logistics, precision agriculture and engineering investigations, according to the report.

China’s satellite navigation and location-based service industry has boomed in recent years. In 2016, the market was worth 211.8 billion yuan ($32.33 billion), up 22 percent year-on-year, said the Xinhua report. BDS accounted for 70 percent of the industry’s core output.

The applications of the BDS system can be fast-tracked, especially when combined with rising high-technology industries like big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, news website qq.com reported on Sunday.

“In the domestic market, applications that accommodate the BDS system have gradually entered the mainstream, and services based on the BDS system are used by people in their daily lives,” said Yu Xiancheng, president of GLAC, according to the report.

For example, the BDS service network already serves more than 400 cities across China, covering such sectors as urban natural gas, heating, electricity, water supply and transport, Yu said.

The Beidou network has reached a cooperation agreement with China Gas Holdings that "will benefit the gas supplier’s 100 million users,” the report noted.

Yang Changfeng, BDS’ chief designer, was quoted as saying in the Xinhua report that “four Beidou-3 satellites will be launched by the end of 2017, and the satellite system will start providing basic services for countries and regions along the Belt and Road initiative at the end of next year.”

A complete global satellite system is expected to be put into service at around 2020. The scale of the BDS industry will reach 240 billion yuan at that time, said the report, citing Yang.