The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is in talks with two major chipmakers to integrate mobile phones with Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), a satellite navigation system under the Make in India initiative, according to reports.
Discussions between ISRO and few original equipment manufacturers, including US-based company Qualcomm and Singapore's Broadcom, are being held for the development of a chip that will include NavIC technology in phone devices, the Chairman of the ISRO, K Sivan told TOI.
Sivan claimed the initiative will be "game changer," but revealed that the talk is ongoing and nothing is confirmed yet.
ISRO's multi-chip module (MCM) that enabled Indian companies to manufacture NavIC-related technology was developed by Taiwan based company SkyTraQ, the report said.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) also called NavIC, has launched eight indigenous navigation satellites under its Make in India initiative. Around seven satellites provide Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services and IRNSS-1A provides messaging services, according to the Department of Space. Apart from standard positioning services, it also provides encrypted data for military use.
Last month the Indian Department of Space announced all commercial vehicles registered from 1st April 2019 onwards to have mandatory NavIC enabled vehicle trackers.
The official statement revealed more than 30 companies are manufacturing NavIC-enabled vehicle trackers in India approved by research facilities including Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT).
