Serial connection working

Since the PCB board is pretty much finished and ready for fabrication, I decided to implement some simple code for the iPhone that shows that we can communicate with a GPS module through the serial interface. The code captures NMEA data from the serial port that is sent by the GPS module. Nothing really special here, just a proof of principle to make sure that I implemented the right connections between the dock connector and the GPS module on my PCB board. And it might be educational for people to watch who have no electronics background :) Of course this is just a simple command line program that was drafted up quickly. Further software development can now be done with the new SDK from Apple :)

Some notes on the video: the PCB board on the left is used only as a break-out board for the GPS module that I bought earlier on to play with. The GPS module is powered by the iPhone. When the iPhone goes to sleep, so does the GPS module, but since it is battery backed-up, once you turn the iPhone back on, you will have a GPS lock again within a few seconds (small correction: the date on the iPhone is March 9, and not March 6 as I incorrectly state in the video)

Again, this setup does not compare to the eventual size of the assembled GPS board for the iPhone, which will be about 1 inch by 1 inch and sit in a nicely looking package.