GPS Power Requirements

[Marcus Bauer]

On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 10:23 -0600, Jonathon Suggs wrote:
> There has been a lot of talk about GPS recently.  There are some really
> good ideas floating around, but before people start getting really
> excited the BIG question is what is the power draw on the device?  Will
> you be able to keep the GPS receiver on constantly without having the
> battery get drained in a few hours?  If so, then *most* of the ideas are
> going to be pointless.
> 
> For instance, having the device be able to do specific things when you
> come into a certain area (100m from home = queue up music, 100m from
> school = turn off cell phone or just mute, etc).  Those are amazing
> ideas that could make this platform really stand out (if the interface
> is done correctly).  But if you have to remember to turn on the GPS when
> you get close to those areas for that feature to work will completely
> defeat the point.
> 
> So, what is the power requirements for GPS.  Is it a constant draw or
> can it be improved via advanced/better  drivers (polls less frequent if
> stationary, etc).

5mW if you get a fix every ten seconds.