Galileo IOV satellite assembly. Photo: Thales Alenia Space

[Via Satellite 06-23-2016] Qualcomm Technologies is supporting the European Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) broadly in its product portfolios. With these optimized software enhancements, the Qualcomm IZat location services platform now uses up to six satellite constellations concurrently without incremental device hardware or cost. Users now benefit from more than 80 different satellites when calculating global position for navigation or location-based applications.

The addition of another GNSS is intended to provide more accurate location performance faster time-to-first-fix, and improved robustness all over the world, particularly in challenging urban environments where the combination of narrow streets and tall buildings can reduce accuracy.

This feature is integrated in the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, 600, and 400 processors and modems. Galileo will be supported on smartphones and compute devices with the appropriate software release on Snapdragon 820, 652, 650, 625, 617, and 435 processors, automotive infotainment solutions using Snapdragon 820A, and telematics and IoT solutions with Snapdragon X16, X12, X7, and X5 LTE Modems, and Qualcomm 9×15 and MDM6x00 modems.

These enhanced processors and modems are designed to enable infotainment and telematics solution providers to satisfy an important component of the European eCall mandate ahead of the March 2018 deadline.