GNSS
Military use cases were the starting point for Navigation and Localisation technologies, starting with GPS (Global Positioning System), which became available to the general public in the 1980s.
However, other prominent military and economical players did not want to depend on this US technology, so Russia developed GLONASS, China established BeiDou, Japan the stationary Satellite using the QSZZ technology and recently the EU launched Galileo.
Today the technology is not only used for military and cars, but for many types of vehicle, in applications such as container tracking, animal and people tracking and logistics.
With a portfolio of Chips and Modules, Avnet Silica can support almost all use cases, we also support all the different Satellite Systems. Additionally, some of the Cellular and LPWAN products support the combinations with GNSS on the module ready to use.
The table will help guide you to the right solution.
| GNSS technology | Chips | Modules | GPS | Glonass | Beidou | Galileo | QZSS | Dead reckoning |
Precision GNSS |
Integrated antenna |
Timing modules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier | |||||||||||
| Antenova | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Quectel Wireless Solutions | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| STMicroelectronics | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| u-blox | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
WiFi
Avnet Silica offers a full range of WiFi products, including chips, modules, and devices, as well as a full technology range from WiFi 4 to WiFi 6e. We also support routers and gateways.
ISM 2.4GhZ and Sub-GHz
ISM radio bands are portions of the radio spectrum reserved internationally for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes. ISM Bands are license free and not available for Telecomm Applications, which are regulated.
ANTENNAS
Avnet Silica offers antennas from specialised suppliers, that focus solely on antenna design and production, such as Antenova and 2J Antenna, along with other suppliers that offer antennas as part of overall portfolio for wireless products, such as Quectel.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is one of the most common wireless technologies in the market, propelled into the consumer world by the smartphone, as well as increased demand for fitness, health, and entertainment devices.
RFID / NFC
Radio Frequency Identification, is a technology that enables simple, secure and fast identification of things, persons and animals. It is mainly made for very short ranges, with one exception, the UHF based RFID called RAIN-RFID for mid range identification, used mainly in logistics.
ROUTER / GATEWAYS / MODEMS
Connecting short range wireless devices, or some wired devices to a wired or wireless infrastructure, requires bridging technologies, such as Modems, Gateways or Routers / Access Points.
Cellular
Evolving from GSM to GPRS then to 3G (UMTS / WCDMA) we are now seeing global coverage with LTE / 4G, with next generation 5G leading the way in applications which require higher data transfer.
UWB / Ultrawide Band
Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that can use a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications (approx. 500 MHz or 20% of the arithmetic center frequency) over a large portion of the radio spectrum. This co-existing with other radio standards is a major advantage.
LPWAN
In Europe, major networks have announced their intention not to support 3G networks across Europe beyond 2020. We offer LPWAN technology from our market-leading suppliers, available in a range of modules.
DECT
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, or DECT, was introduced to the market in 1992. It mainly uses the frequency bands 1880 to 1900 MHz, but due to the extension of the ETSI, also 2010-2025 MHz and 24-00 – 2480 MHz are specified.