India’s 'First Fully Designed And Developed' NavIC Chip Promises To Loosen GPS Dependence

A chip capable of powering accurate and high-precision navigation, positioning, and timing applications using NavIC, the indigenous satellite-based navigation system, was showcased at the Defence Space Symposium.

The Bengaluru-based space technology company Elena Geo Systems' chip functions with NavIC or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites, indicating progress towards expanding the use of indigenously developed technology in the navigation space.

Retired lieutenant colonel V S Velan, founder and chief technology officer of Elena Geo Systems, formally handed a chip to Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan.

“We are thrilled to present India’s first fully designed and developed NavIC chip. The processor will give India a huge edge as both the government and private sector can move away from their dependence on the American Global Positioning System (GPS)," Lt Col Velan said.

"Elena is in the process of patenting the technology and the product which has been developed by our dedicated R&D team,” he added.

The "NavIC processor" is said to have numerous cores that cater to different demands, including signal acquisition, regeneration, processing, and output interface, hence its name.

The company plans to make 10,000 chips in the first batch, as revealed to The Hindu. They have already showcased their products to the military, Lt Col Velan told the newspaper, and are supplying 200 NavIC receivers to the Army through Bharat Electronics Limited.

Incubated in 2012 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, Elena Geo Systems is now part of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), which organised the symposium with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

In April 2019, Elena revealed a processor, its first, that could process NavIC S-band, L5 band, GAGAN, GPS, and Russian GLONASS signals.

Over the past two years, Elena has proven its expertise in various devices and applications such as reference stations, DSM map display systems with IRNSS for the military, map display systems for patrol boats, marine NavIC receivers, intelligent vehicle tracking devices, NavIC drone navigation units, and NavIC-based atomic clocks.