Markets 

As the only frequency control company to specialise in solutions for GPS and positioning, Rakon has led the way in the GPS industry since commercialisation in the early 1990s. We maintain a technology and market leadership position with over 50% market share in GPS and 80% in EPIRB. Higher performance and lower costs mean volumes are continuing to grow and more uses are emerging with applications such as geotagging and location based social networking.

Rakon first entered the positioning market in 1991 with what was, at the time, the world’s smallest 1ppm (part per million) stability oscillator for emerging handheld and marine GPS applications.

Through close partnerships with our customers, Rakon quickly learnt just how critical the frequency reference (oscillator) was to GPS. Its stability affected the system’s ability to locate, track, maintain lock and acquire weak satellite signals. Through many years of collaboration with leading manufacturers in the industry, Rakon has found the optimal way to design and manufacture oscillators that address the unique requirements of GPS systems.

Even with GPS volumes growing from a few thousand to tens of millions a month, Rakon continues to lead the world in the supply of specialised GPS oscillators. We do this through carefully listening and developing an innate understanding of the application’s requirements, and backing this with unique proprietary processes,innovations and technology.

Rakon continues to work closely with the industry and continues to develop next generation solutions for both conventional and emerging applications for positioning. For example, the integration of GPS into cellular phones and cameras is posing interesting challenges for GPS designers and Rakon is well positioned to assist them.

Rakon is the only frequency control company to specialise in GPS solutions and still has the world’s smallest GPS oscillator. These days, it is more than twice as stable and measures about 0.25% of the size of the original GPS oscillator from the 1990s.

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With an increasing number of services being delivered to the phone, including GPS, solutions are required to enable cellular phones to perform as well, or better than current models for little or no extra cost. Rakon is the expert in taking high performance solutions and making them affordable for high volume manufacturing.

Rakon first entered the cellular phone market in the 1990s supplying TCXOs to some of the original mass market cell phones. Since those days, Rakon has turned its focus to the more demanding and booming GPS market, although it has always kept a presence in the phone market.

The introduction of Location Based Services (LBS) into the cellular phone signals an ideal time for Rakon to re-enter the market in a stronger way.

Rakon is the leader in creating high volume, low cost, high performance solutions that enable GPS to work in difficult environments. The cellular phone is one of the most difficult environments in which GPS can operate with high interference, small antennae and challenging operating environments.

Rakon has taken the understanding and expertise we possess in GPS applications and developed solutions designed specifically to address the unique needs of GPS in the handset market.

Although available now, GPS phones will require higher performance in order to be widely adopted; people want their location to be available anywhere they use their phone. However, this must be achieved without impacting cost. Rakon has proven expertise in taking high performance solutions and making them viable for mass volume manufacturing.

Rakon’s Mako™ IC, being released in 2008, enables TCXOs with up to five-times better performance than conventional cellular phone oscillators and is designed to ensure minimal cost implications for the handset developer. Technology like the Mako™ ASIC is enabling GPS to be more accessible, more reliable and more useful for consumers.

There is no doubt that having a location based service available on your phone is a valuable feature. Rakon is working with the industry to ensure that features such as these can become a reality for as many people as possible.

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In an environment where people are demanding faster, cheaper and more reliable communications, Rakon continues to provide some of the most advanced timing solutions for telecommunications applications.

The world’s telecommunications infrastructure is in a constant state of change. Modern, fast-paced lifestyles are changing the way we communicate; people are demanding higher data speeds and connectivity anywhere, any time.

New technologies such as 3G, 4G, WiMAX, and femtocells are being deployed, all with the goal of giving us better access to communications with faster and more reliable connections anywhere we want them.

At the heart of all telecommunications is the need for timing. Accurate and reliable time gives the network the speed and reliability it needs. Rakon is the expert in delivering this and has been working with telecommunications providers for many years to offer some of the most advanced timing solutions for communications applications.

Rakon has developed several unique and world leading solutions to address the needs of the telecoms market, with single Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillators (OCXOs) which perform better than much more expensive competitor’s double oven solutions, through to Ultra Stable Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillators (TCXOs)that push the boundaries of conventional performance limits.

Rakon’s Pluto® TCXO products are at the heart of many of the stratum 3 timing networks and are the TCXO of choice for most of the emerging femtocell applications.

Rakon continues to stay at the forefront of technology with solutions for this continually evolving industry, precisely understanding the market requirements, developing innovative product designs and combining this with a cost effective global manufacturing base.

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We all regard aspects of technology to be critical but in some organisations high performance is critical and a single, minor failure can have catastrophic results. These organisations generally provide goods or services that are important to society as a whole (e.g. medicine, power, defence, research) and engage in sophisticated technologies that are intrinsically complex.  Rakon stakes its reputation on unprecedented levels of quality assurance, testing and research that enables its 'high-reliability' customers to have absolute faith in Rakon's product delivery.

It is an industry that is challenging Rakon to develop new technologies and applications to meet increasingly exacting requirements. The vast majority of high reliability customers have unique requirements. Rakon has been working with aerospace and military GPS manufacturers since 1991 and is a supplier to major government contractors. Rakon has a range of products that are space qualified (ESA and ISRO) and can test to military standard processes (such as MIL-STD-202).

Typically Rakon's high-reliability customers have close working relationships with Rakon product engineers. Technical issues are worked through together, enabling unique requirements and customised solutions to be realized.

Click here for Rakon's high reliability product range.

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