In an exclusive written interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, Qualinx CEO Tom Trill explains how the company’s GNSS chip combines European IP, European manufacturing and hardware-level security — and why ultra-low power, software reconfigurability and system-level simplicity now matter more than ever.
Europe’s debate on semiconductor sovereignty often centres on fabs, geopolitics and scale. Less visible, but equally critical, is whether Europe can deliver market-ready silicon platforms that fundamentally improve how connected devices are designed, built and operated. That is the context in which Qualinx, a Delft-based semiconductor company and spin-out from TU Delft, now enters its industrial phase.
With a recently closed €20 million funding round led by Invest-NL, alongside FORWARD.one, InnovationQuarter and Waterman Ventures, Qualinx is scaling production of its ultra-energy-efficient Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system-on-chip. The chip is manufactured in Dresden by GlobalFoundries, bringing together European intellectual property, European manufacturing and hardware-level security in a single platform.
For Trill, that combination is not a slogan but a practical outcome of architectural choices.
European IP, European production — sovereignty in practice
Qualinx’s GNSS chip is designed in Europe, produced in Europe and incorporates security at the hardware level. In an industry often dependent on globally distributed value chains, that matters.
The company’s proprietary Digital Radio Frequency (DRF) architecture shifts traditionally analog GNSS signal processing into the digital domain. This architectural change underpins not only energy efficiency, but also scalability, integration and security — all critical attributes for devices deployed at the connected edge.
Rather than framing this as a political statement, Trill sees it as an engineering and operational advantage. The result is a single-chip GNSS solution that reduces external dependencies while meeting the needs of OEMs building products for global markets.
Why GNSS power consumption has become a system problem
GNSS tracking is responsible for an estimated 40–45% of total power consumption in wearables and connected devices. That makes GNSS one of the largest contributors to battery drain — and a growing bottleneck as devices shrink and expectations for battery life increase.
Qualinx’s QLX3Gx GNSS chip addresses that problem directly. By redesigning the radio architecture rather than optimising incrementally, the company delivers up to 10× lower GNSS power consumption, while simultaneously improving positioning accuracy.
“The traditional semiconductor challenge is to balance power, performance and cost. There’s always some trade-off – for example, lower power often comes with lower performance, and vice versa,” Trill explains. “Because Qualinx’s DRF enables a paradigm shift in GNSS power consumption, our customers do not need to make trade-offs in the classical sense. They get the benefits of breakaway power without the penalties of high cost or reduced performance.”
This matters most in markets where GNSS is always on, always listening, and expected to operate for days, weeks or months on a single charge.
A single-chip GNSS architecture that simplifies the system
Beyond power consumption, Qualinx’s approach addresses another persistent challenge for OEMs: system complexity.
Traditional GNSS solutions often rely on multiple external components, increasing bill of materials, supply-chain complexity and points of failure. Qualinx takes a different route.
“Our GNSS SoC design philosophy is based on integrating external peripheral components, such as the LNA and ADC.”
By integrating components such as the low-noise amplifier (LNA) and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) directly into the GNSS system-on-chip, Qualinx reduces both hardware complexity and operational friction.
“This integration of external peripheral components takes cost and complexity out of the system, the supply chain and the value chain for our customers.”
The downstream impact is significant, according to Trill.
“Everything improves – from cradle to grave – fewer components to source, fewer suppliers to manage, fewer points of failure in the system, faster manufacturing throughput and overall higher reliability, all leading to lower CoGs, lower Opex, and high margins – for all of us, our customers and Qualinx, to share.”
In practice, that single-chip approach enables smaller devices, simpler designs and more predictable manufacturing — critical factors for high-volume consumer and industrial products.
Software-reconfigurable GNSS: extending device lifecycles
One of the most consequential aspects of the Qualinx chip is not visible in the hardware itself. The GNSS platform is fully reconfigurable through software, changing how OEMs manage products over time.
“Removing cost and complexity from customers’ supply and value chains means Qualinx’s impact extends beyond the product, all the way through to our customers’ operations. Customer R&D, engineering and product dev teams get to iterate in software, not hardware. This is ultimately much more resource-efficient (in time and money). It accelerates development cycles and eliminates hardware design risks.”
Once devices are in the field, software reconfigurability becomes a commercial and sustainability advantage.
“Our customers can design once with our hardware, and use our software capabilities to refresh, update or upgrade those designs – either in the factory or in the field. And our customers’ marketing and BD teams get to sell upgrades more easily – our software reconfigurability is dynamic and over the air; therefore, customers can upsell their GNSS systems at any point in the lifecycle, anywhere in the field.”
Market-ready silicon, scaling to OEM demand
Crucially, the Qualinx chip is no longer a lab-stage technology, so which markets has the company decided to focus on? Trill points out that while GNSS is used across a wide range of applications, they are generally focused on segments where power efficiency, size and lifecycle flexibility matter most.
Wearables are a natural entry point, given their extreme power sensitivity. But the same architecture applies to broader Internet of Things (IoT) applications, including asset tracking, drones and industrial devices.
“What we see is a fragmented market that shares three characteristics – positioning, navigation, and timing. No matter what end-use case, the end user always needs at least one of these features," says Trill.
At the same time, sustainability considerations are broadening adoption.
“Every application is becoming increasingly conscious of power consumption, and more customers are sensitive to SDG goals.”
He adds that automotive, while technically compatible, is not a priority market for them.
“Under the hood, automotive has high barriers to entry and a high cost of entry – so we are not immediately investing in automotive qualifications.”
Redefining the connected edge
Ultimately, Trill frames Qualinx’s ambition not in terms of unit volumes or short-term market share, but in how connectivity itself is delivered at the edge.
“Connectivity is expensive today. Chips are too big, too power hungry, and often application-specific.”
The DRF platform is intended as a structural response.
“Qualinx’s DRF platform delivers a single-chip architecture with seamless, safe, secure universal connectivity.”
The long-term goal is clarity rather than complexity.
“Our goal is to become synonymous with ubiquitous safe and secure connectivity and interconnectivity at the edge.”
And, ultimately:
“We envision Qualinx DragonFly as the de facto edge-connect standard that unifies and harmonizes the IoT.”
With production scaling and OEM demand in place, Qualinx now brings a European GNSS platform to market that combines efficiency, flexibility and security — not as a future promise, but as deployable silicon.