GPS "Chips"

Out of my league. That's one of the few things I can do with my smart phone.

A smart phone can't help a dumb operator.

1. Positioning chips - u-blox

Single-Chip AGPS Solution - BCM4750 | Broadcom

2. Antenna GPS Chip-Scale - SparkFun Electronics
2. Seven Devices, One Chip to Navigate without GPS
3. From : The tiny chip that can replace GPS satellites | Mail Online - Daily Mail

Google is the answer!

HERE is one simple module.

And HERE is another site for DIY hobbyists.

Search and you will find a vast expanse of different modules. All your answers are there, you just need to do the work.

I'd be a rich man for every time I tell someone to use Google to find something.

It often takes me a couple weeks of fruitless searching to hit on the right keywords for something I'm curious about. This was one such case. "GPS receiver" should get one started.

If this is for a commercial venture then you need to obtain the services of electronic engineers that can design and build printed circuit boards.

If this is for a home DIY project or other small scale application then the hobby electronics market is your only realistic path to consider.

There are demo boards, hobby boards and manufacturer's evaluation boards that are used by many people for both commercial development and hobby fun. These boards will have a microcontroller on them and will typically have an additional board (daughter board or shield) that you will add to obtain the desired functionality. You typically buy the board, plug in the power supply and start writing some computer code. If this is of interest then read on. If you don't want to do a little programming then your only option would be to look at GPS products for hikers or possibly other types of recreation.

Possibly your best start would be to Google "Arduino", "Arduino GPS" and "Arduino GPS Shield".

For sources consider Mouser, Digikey, Sparkfun, www.microcontrollershop.com and others that you find with Google.

Most of the boards will contain microcontrollers from Texas Instruments "TI", Microchip PIC or Atmel AVR. Doing a Google on these words with "evaluation board" or "GPS" added might be helpful.

Bruce

I have a Garmin GPS20x GPS receiver. It plugs into the USB port of my laptop (talk about a big-screen GPS!) and uses the Garmin software. I think the receiver transmits a stream of ASCII lat/long/altitude data called NMEA sentences. Garmin has discontinued it, but they make some modules that are made for OEM devices. Lyn's SparkFun article shows some from other manufacturers.
This looks like a useful article, hopefully it doesn't duplicate one of Lyn's:http://electronicdesign.com/communications/adding-gps-chipset-your-next-design-easy

Since you do not know how it looks like, nor how it is "fed" and interfaced, the best for you to manage is a full GPS device with an interface. You might, or not manage its interface.

These are probably more than you need but they will give you some valuable background. One explains NMEA for GPS and the other explains a Trimble RTK system.

http://www.tronico.fi/OH6NT/docs/NMEA0183.pdf

AgGPS_432_442_542_3 30A_UserGuide_ENG.pdf

Here's a tiny(2.5"x1.5") device that's ready to go, just place it in vehicle....

http://www.skyrc.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=43

http://www.parallax.com/Store/Sensors/tabid/86/Default.aspx

Thank you all for your thoughtful ideas. The links were most helpful in giving me an understanding of something that I have never needed to use or have any knowledge of.

As Lynn Wallace end quote points out "Ignorance is no sin. Willful ignorance is unforgivable."

Leveles; that is why I posted the question.

BruceFlorida; Yes, it is potentially for a commercial venture and I will need the "services of electronic engineers that can design and build printed circuit boards"

Anyone know of a company with the ability to design and take to mass production a device incorporating a GPS unit, small LED display and power supply?

There are scores of such houses around. The choice probably hinges on the annual volume you expect to do. Jabil Circuit, Inc is one such provider, although they tend to do high volume runs.