SiRFstarIIA GPS Makes Auto Navigation and Telematics More Affordable

5/18/2005 - Building on its momentum in the position-enabled silicon business, SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF), a leading provider of GPS-enabled location technology, introduced the SiRFstarIIA GPS System on Chip, a highly integrated and cost-effective solution for creating affordable automotive navigation and telematics systems. The groundbreaking SiRFstarIIA combines the industry-leading SiRFstarII GPS engine, a powerful, 32-bit ARM CPU and virtually all the peripheral interface circuitry required by in-vehicle navigation and telematics systems, and is supported by a robust array of SiRF and partner-provided development tools and applications to help customers reduce product development effort and cost, minimize recurring costs and accelerate time-to-market.

The SiRFstarIIA takes the industry's leading GPS engine and incorporates it into a multifunction system-on-chip (SoC). It starts with SiRF's pioneering SiRFstarIIe architecture, embeds a 32-bit ARM720T CPU into the GPS baseband platform for running applications, and adds an extensive suite of peripheral interfaces - including UARTS, CAN Bus, USB, SPI, ATAPI/EIDE, 16 bit Hi-Fi Audio Digital to Analog Converters, 14 bit precision Digital to Analog Converters, and 34 general-purpose I/O pins - supporting the Man-Machine Interface and Audio functions, as well as all other connection and control of system functions, dramatically reducing total bill of materials costs.

Along with SiRF's suite of support tools for system development, including GPS and dead reckoning applications, SiRF is partnering with QNX Software Systems to provide a complete state-of-the-art system development kit (SDK) and board support package (BSP) based on the QNX® Neutrino® real-time operating system, and with Horizon Navigation to offer its NavMate® software for sample turn-by-turn and map-based navigation applications.

"The SiRFstarIIA is a significant milestone for SiRF SiRF's commitment to making GPS enabled systems affordable to the mainstream. Combined with our SiRFDRive2 software and a comprehensive support environment from SiRF and our world-class development partners, it provides all the elements needed by our customers for launching successful products."

The power and flexibility of the SiRFstarIIA makes it an ideal central component for a variety of automotive telematics products, including emergency and concierge services, road-tolling, security and low-cost navigation and "infotainment" systems. The SiRFstarIIA may also be used as the core processor for marine and hand held consumer navigation systems.

The SiRFstarIIA works with SiRFDRive 1 and the recently announced SiRFDRive2 GPS/Dead Reckoning software (see SiRF's press release dated 5/16/05), an innovative approach to maximizing position availability and accuracy for automotive navigation and telematics applications that significantly reduces overall system costs by tapping the vehicle data bus as a source of distributed sensor information and eliminating the need for a costly automotive gyro.

"QNX is excited by the opportunity to expand its partnership with SiRF to harness the unique capabilities of our products and address stringent automotive requirements in a most cost-effective manner," said Dan Dodge, president and CEO of QNX Software Systems. "Our QNX Momentics® development suite and ARM board support package provide time-saving tools for the entire development cycle to build and optimize applications for the QNX Neutrino® RTOS, all in a single, easy-to-use environment."

"Horizon Navigation, a pioneer and world leader in automotive navigation hardware and software, is proud to partner our robust and proven NavMate® technology with the SiRFstarIIA development environment. We are confident our NavMate technology will allow SiRF's customers to quickly develop cost-effective products with world-class navigation capabilities," said Laura White, president and CEO of Horizon Navigation. "Over the past 15 years, Horizon's engineers have developed navigation systems for all three American automobile manufacturers, as well as European manufacturers, and created the first dynamic route guidance system combining GPS technology with real-time traffic data."

The SiRFstarIIA builds on the performance of the SiRFstarII architecture. With an average cold start time of just 45 seconds, signal acquisition is accomplishing using 1920 time/frequency search channels. SiRF multipath mitigation, FoliageLock^TM and SingleSat^TM deliver optimum tracking performance. The ARM720T 32 bit RISC processor with MMU and 4 channel DMA offers over 65 MIPS, features sophisticated power management control and can address up to 128 MB external SDRAM and 8 MB SRAM/Flash.

The SiRFstarIIA's extensive suite of peripheral interfaces includes:

·        34 GPIO pins for control/display and system interfaces

·        1 CAN V2.0 Part B port

·        2 16-bit extended function timer, or output compare PWM I/Os

·        2 16-word FIFO UARTS

·        2 buffered SPI interfaces

·        USB V1.1 interface

·        EDI/ATAPI interface to external disk drives

·        4 high accuracy, 50-Hz, 16-bit ADC inputs for heading gyro (no gyro needed if using SiRFDRive2), antenna monitoring, touch screen and other functions

·        Enhanced audio serial and dual channel 16-bit digital to analog converter interfaces for Hi-Fi audio support

Availability and Pricing
The SiRF SiRFstarIIA is available now in production quantities. Please contact SiRF for pricing information.

About SiRF Technology, Inc.
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. is a leading supplier of GPS enabled location technology for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. SiRF's technology has been integrated into mobile consumer devices, such as automobile navigation systems, mobile phones, PDAs, GPS-based peripherals and handheld GPS navigation devices, and into commercial applications, such as asset tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in four target platforms: automotive, consumer electronics, mobile computing and wireless devices. Founded in 1995, SiRF is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol SIRF. Additional information about SiRF and its location technology solutions can be found at www.sirf.com <http://www.sirf.com>.

About QNX Software Systems
With millions of installations worldwide, QNX Software Systems is the global leader in realtime, microkernel operating system technology. Companies like Cisco, DaimlerChrysler, Lockheed Martin, Panasonic, Siemens, and General Electric rely on QNX technology to build ultra-reliable systems for the networking, automotive, medical, military, and industrial automation markets. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Visit www.qnx.com <http://www.qnx.com>.

About Horizon Navigation Inc.
Horizon Navigation, Inc. employees have been leaders in the designing of hardware and software for in-vehicle navigation systems for over 12 years. The privately-owned company has been awarded over 90 patents in the United States and Europe, and has approximately 40 patents pending. The team has helped develop navigation systems for all three American automobile manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as the first navigation system used in national car rental chains. While a division of Visteon Corporation, Horizon was named "#1 Navigation Systems Supplier" by a major trade publication, and its navigation system was named "Best of What's New" by a major consumer publication. Horizon management purchased the company from Visteon in March of 2002. To learn more about Horizon Navigation, please visit the Horizon website at www.horizonnav.com <http://www.horizonnav.com>

SiRF Technology and the SiRF logo are registered trademarks of SiRF Technology, Inc. QNX, Momentics, and Neutrino are registered trademarks of QNX Software Systems in some jurisdictions.