Positioning tech for industrial and automotive applications

22nd February 2018

u-blox

Alice Matthews

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Whitepaper

Global provider of wireless and positioning modules and chips, u‑blox, has announced the u-blox F9 technology platform, delivering high precision positioning solutions for mass market industrial and automotive applications. The platform combines multi-band Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology with dead reckoning, high precision algorithms, and compatibility with a variety of GNSS correction data services to achieve precision down to the centimetre level.

u‑blox F9 paves the way for the next-gen of high precision navigation, augmented reality, and unmanned vehicles.

“High precision is the next frontier in positioning for mass markets, with countless applications in need of a robust and scalable high precision positioning solution. u‑blox F9 provides the hardware and integrated software components to address these needs,” said Daniel Ammann, Executive Director Positioning Product Development, Product Centre Positioning at u-blox.

The u-blox F9 platform will underpin the next wave of u‑blox positioning modules targeting mass market industrial and automotive applications. It uses GNSS signals in multiple frequency bands (L1/L2/L5) to correct positioning errors caused by the ionosphere and deliver fast time to first fix (Fast TTFF). Its ability to receive signals from all GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou) further improves performance by increasing the number of satellites that are visible at any given time. Stand alone u‑blox F9 solutions robustly achieve meter-level accuracy.

To achieve centimetre-level accuracy, u‑blox F9 offers optional on-chip Real Time Kinematic (RTK) technology. In addition to offering an open interface to legacy GNSS correction service providers, it supports the main GNSS correction services, taking RTK high precision positioning to mass markets for the first time.

Optimised for low power consumption, the u‑blox F9 platform sets a high standard for security with built-in jamming and spoofing detection systems that protect against intentional and unintentional interference. Dead reckoning technology based on inertial sensors extends high precision performance to otherwise challenging urban environments.

Automotive applications of the technology include lane level navigation for head-up displays and vehicular infotainment systems as well as for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, a prerequisite for highly automated and fully autonomous vehicles.

In the industrial realm, u‑blox F9 will enable mass adoption of commercial unmanned vehicle applications including drones and ground vehicles such as heavy trucks or robotic lawnmowers.

The u‑blox F9 platform’s technology benefits will be showcased at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany from 27th February to 1st March at booth 3-139. Product samples will be available in the course of 2018.