Tag Archives: u-blox

The path to high GNSS accuracy

For fully autonomous driving to become reality, several technologies will have to reach maturity and be rolled out in concert. One of them is affordable, scalable, and reliable high precision positioning.

The past decades have seen substantial improvements in the performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology. In the early 2000s, the time it took to get a first accurate position went from minutes to under thirty seconds. In the latter half of the decade, receiver sensitivity improved dramatically – from -130 dBm to -167 dBm. By 2015, the number of functional positioning satellite constellations had gone from one global constellation in 2000 (the USA’s GPS) to four (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo). This opened the doors to multi-constellation GNSS receivers. The satellite signals, too, have been modernized, and as of 2018, multi-band GNSS will become affordable. These advances set the stage for the next big theme in GNSS: achieving decimeter- or centimeter-level accuracy. Read more…

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Mobile World Congress Report: European GNSS answers the call for solutions

Several new chipsets and smartphones announced during MWC 2018 feature Galileo capability

Several new chipsets and smartphones announced during MWC 2018 feature Galileo capability

Whether it is dual frequency chipsets or new smartphones, European GNSS was behind many of the technology announcements made during Mobile World Congress 2018.

As the world’s premiere mobile technology trade show, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is traditionally technology driven. But, according to Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research, this is starting to change. “The mobile community continues to peddle technology rather than offer holistic solutions,” he says. “But enterprises want solutions, not an alphabet soup of three letter abbreviations.”

Answering this call for solutions are the GNSS mass market innovations on display in Barcelona during MWC 2018. Whether it is chipsets, smartphones, drones, robots or autonomous vehicles, most depend on GNSS – including Galileo – to translate this technology into actual solutions. Read more…

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u‑blox and Galileo – advancing accuracy over 20 years

Two decades after it was first conceived, the Galileo global navigation satellite system is raining down its signals across the globe. u‑blox, one of the few European‑based manufacturers of GNSS receiver chips, also twenty years old this year, has been closely keeping apace with Galileo’s development through their joint history.

Galileo_sat_constallation

But first, why yet another GNSS constellation? What does Galileo offer that GPS, GLONASS, and BEIDOU didn’t provide? Read more…

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u-blox launches ultra-small multi-GNSS module

ZOE-M8Gu‑blox (SIX:UBXN), a global leader in wireless and positioning modules and chips, announced the launch of ZOE‑M8G, an ultra‑compact GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver module, especially designed for markets where small size, minimal weight and high location precision are essential.

ZOE‑M8G offers exceptionally high location accuracy by concurrently connecting to GPS, Galileo and either GLONASS or BeiDou. It also provides industry‑leading -167 dBm navigation sensitivity. This makes the ultra‑small ZOE‑M8G perfect for wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and asset tracker applications. Read more…

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