Sports trackers, smart wearables, activity monitors and adult and children trackers all have something in common – they demand GNSS technology that delivers accurate positioning without compromising battery life. Users expect precise metrics including location tracking from devices that are lightweight, comfortable, and capable of lasting through extended activities. The u-blox F11 platform (UBX-F11170-CC) combines ultra-low-power GNSS with selective L1 and L1/L5 advanced positioning technologies to help wearable manufacturers deliver premium user experiences in compact devices.

The challenge

Designing GNSS-enabled wearables requires balancing competing priorities:

• Extremely limited battery capacity and the need for long battery life
• Very small antennas and compact device design-led footprints.
• In urban neighbourhoods and wooded areas multipath interference and signal blockage have a bad impact on the GNSS position accuracy.
• When people move indoors, there is no position reported by the tracker
• Deliver a precise position even under special conditions like arm swing or open water swimming
• Accurate distance metering - for running, hiking and biking exercises
• Consistent tracking throughout long exercise sessions like hiking, where the position update happens only every few minutes.

Meeting these requirements requires GNSS technology that is specifically optimized for wearable applications.

Recommended F11 family products

How u-blox’s F11 helps

Ultra-low-power continuous tracking

u-blox’s LEAP (Low Energy Accurate Positioning) technology minimizes energy consumption during continuous tracking, extending runtime between charges by up to 50%. 

Selective L5 for optimal efficiency while maintaining superior accuracy

The F11 intelligently balances L1 and L1/L5 operation, using dual-band positioning only when it results in a measurable benefit - typically in heavy multipath environments. As soon as the receiver notices a more relaxed environment it scales back to single-band L1 only operation with very little power draw. This results in the most efficient way to maintain high accuracy and low power throughout a complete activity from start to finish

Accurate positioning with small antennas

The F11 takes advantage of Super-S technology for improving position and speed accuracy when antenna size is constrained, or the antenna is not facing towards the sky. In case of most pet trackers collar designs, both challenges can be mitigated.

Improved accuracy in urban environments 

Advanced multipath mitigation algorithms reduce location errors caused by reflected satellite signals, improving tracking reliability where signal data can be lost, including parks and urban environments.

Specialized profiles easily improve performance

The wrist mode optimizes performance for application-specific profiles for arm movement-intensive activities such as running. The swimming mode records speed and distance reliably for open water swimmers.

Accurate distance metering

Distance metering lies at the heart of many endurance activities. Especially, when comparing sequential workouts, relying heavily on recording the same accurate distance every time to gain valuable insights into fitness progress. The odometer function allows easy and reliable tracking of the distance with 99% accuracy. 

Precise position updates every few minutes 

Another way to achieve much longer battery life in wearables is to reduce the position update rate significantly from every second to minutes and let the GNSS chip sleep in between. Sometimes this long update interval is sufficient enough for the purposes of tracking children or for checking-in with lone workers. By using the integrated long interval tracking mode the gain in battery life is substantial with a drop in power consumption to below 1 mW.

Indoor detection 

The F11 introduces a long sought after capability to increase GNSS efficiency and improve user experience. The receiver is now capable of reporting when an indoor environment is detected. With that, unnecessary GNSS activity can be stopped to save power. Or while tracking a child the indoor transition can be reported back to the parent to add an additional layer of information.

Firmware upgradability

Throughout the product lifecycle product features improve and evolve. The F11 offers firmware upgradable products to future proof your design.

 

Use in action 

Consider a child going to school. The F11 adapts to changing GNSS signal conditions, leveraging selective L5 where needed to provide meter-level accuracy while maintaining low power consumption in open sky conditions through LEAP technology.

The parent receives accurate location information while preserving battery capacity for the duration of the day. With the tracker using the F11 indoor detection functionality, the parents will be informed when the kid successfully found the way into the school building.

Frequently asked questions