Swiss Army Chip (SAC) Development
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Magellan GPS
setName: label: See more items in
content: Magellan Systems Corporation GPS Records
label: See more items in
content: Magellan Systems Corporation GPS Records / Series 3: Engineering and Product Development Materials
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1987-1995
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1214, Subseries 3.8
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Subseries 8 consists of technical notes, diagrams and drawings, and specifications for the development of a digital chip used in Magellan GPS products.  Don Rea and Norm Hunt of Magellan are credited with naming the chip.  The chip combined several elements--GPS DPS channels, correalators, real time clock,  alarm timer, interval timer, keyboard interface, display interface, precise timing, power sequencing, memory decoding, code generators, and beeper driver, to name a few--which allowed the development team reduce the overall power, size, and cost of the chip.  Magellan outsourced the manufacture of the SAC.