Technology overview

Our passion to deliver high-performance, small-profile, low power, and cost-effective embedded satellite positioning and wireless communication solutions to our customers. Whether for professional M2M applications such as fleet management or asset tracking, vehicle services such as eCall, anti-theft systems and road pricing, or consumer products such as tablets and cameras, u-blox has the right technology to deliver the sensitivity, connectivity, noise immunity, and low-power required by today’s and tomorrow’s demanding applications.

Highlights of our technological advantages are:

Automotive Dead Reckoning
As ever more systems (e.g. car navigation, road pricing, fleet management, emergency services, etc.) depend on reliable, uninterrupted positioning and navigation, “Dead Reckoning” GNSS, the ability to calculate a position when satellites signals are blocked or impeded is becoming increasingly important. 

Assisted GPS:
u-blox’s globally available online assisted GPS (A-GPS)  service enables u-blox’s GPS receivers to compute a position within seconds, even under very poor signal conditions.

Bluetooth :
Bluetooth is a short range wireless technology that operates in the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) 2.4 GHz radio frequency band.

CellLocate®
Embedded in u-blox's wireless modules, CellLocate increases reliability and supports indoor positioning based on hybrid GPS and 2G/3G mobile network attributes.

Combined wireless and positioning
By offering embedded semiconductors, software, services and reference designs that support combined wireless and GPS/GNSS applications, u-blox delivers complete solutions for a wide new range of location based services that capitalize on the convergence of 2G and 3G wireless technologies with satellite positioning.

eCall:
eCall is a European Union initiative combining mobile communications and satellite positioning to provide rapid assistance to motorists in the event of a collision. u-blox provides verified wireless modem and satellite receiver components and test environments to support development of in-vehicle emergency call systems for Europe.

High precision positioning:
Used for mapping, agricultural, marine construction, open-sky warehouse management and location-based recreational applications.
RTK high precision positioning - NEO-M8P uses RTK technology
Precise Point Positioning - NEO-7P uses PPP technology

Narrowband IoT:
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) is a new technology that will extend the Internet of Things (IoT) by making it more efficient to connect objects to the internet which are in areas hard to reach by mobile connectivity or that require a long battery life. It is using LPWA technology in a licensed spectrum, enabling deployment over existing mobile networks.

Nested design
u-blox adheres to a core module design philosophy: maintain form factor, layout and software continuity to allow customers to easily upgrade their products with each new generation of u-blox global positioning or wireless modules. 

Precision timing:
u-blox’s GPS clock synchronization technology allows globally distributed computer and telecom systems to synchronize their clocks accurately, continuously and cost-effectively.

Super-E
Manufacturers of portable applications, such as smart wearable watches or trackers, have struggled to find the best balance between size and positioning performance in their products. The resulting products are not small enough and not accurate enough, which has led to a lower‑than‑expected adoption rate.

u-blox M8:
With the launch of the new u-blox M8 semiconductor platform, u-blox once again establishes its leadership in embedded global satellite positioning. Combining advanced chip technology, sophisticated software algorithms, true concurrent GNSS satellite reception and multi GNSS aiding services, u-blox M8 sets the new benchmark for navigation and positioning.

Untethered Dead Reckoning:
Untethered Dead Reckoning (UDR) technology blends GNSS location information with motion sensor data to deliver positional information accuracy that was previously unheard of for GNSS only applications. The technology provides better navigation and positioning in cases of weak or reflected signals or short signal loss, as well as delivers an immediate position fix from switch on. UDR offers not only a better user experience but provides the foundation for enabling a whole new range of business services.

Wi-Fi :
Wi‑Fi (IEEE 802.11) is a short range wireless technology that enables data exchange or internet connectivity over the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.