Introducing u-blox 7, the world’s lowest-power multi-GNSS platform

Thalwil, Switzerland, June 4, 2012 – u-blox, the global leader in positioning and wireless technology for the machine-to-machine (M2M), automotive and consumer markets, is proud to announce the launch of its next generation core positioning technology platform u-blox 7. Supporting all deployed as well as soon-to-be deployed Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), the platform is based on the UBX-G7020 multi-GNSS receiver IC which boasts the lowest power consumption on the market by at least a factor of three as compared to other standalone solutions.

 

With only 7 mW power consumption during continuous navigation, u‑blox’ UBX-G7020 is perfect for small portable and power-sensitive devices requiring long battery life, high sensitivity, small size and fast positioning. US, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and EU satellite positioning systems plus all Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) are supported.

 

“As the satellite systems expand beyond GPS, u-blox 7 is an important step for our customers to design systems that work with all available global navigation standards, particularly GLONASS which is now fully operational. Our multi-GNSS UBX-G7020 integrated circuit does exactly that while achieving two of the most important features that our customers demand: minimum power consumption and small size” said Andreas Thiel, Executive Vice President R&D Hardware, and Co-founder of u-blox.

 

The chip has been designed to support the lowest cost stand-alone solution via minimum eBOM; only 8 external components are required resulting in a receiver occupying only 30 mm² on a 2-layer PCB.  Standard crystal and TCXO are supported. The chip also provides low-power, autonomous log data output of position, velocity, and time. Support for A-GPS and u-blox’ unique CellLocate^TM hybrid GNSS/cellular positioning technology is embedded to facilitate advanced telematics applications including indoor positioning. Standard and automotive grade are supported.

 

First samples of the multi-GNSS receiver chip UBX-G7020 are available for customer evaluation. Shortly afterwards, module customers can easily migrate to the MAX, NEO, and LEA form factors, u-blox’ popular module series which will all be upgraded to the new u-blox 7 platform.

 

u-blox 7 maintains software compatibility with u-blox 5 and u-blox 6, and modules provide drop-in compatibility. Both previous generation platforms remain fully supported. u-blox’ capability of delivering GNSS technology in both integrated circuit and module form provides maximum design flexibility for a wide variety of applications. To evaluate the performance of the u-blox 7 multi-GNSS platform, evaluation kits supporting all u-blox 7 based chips and modules can be ordered.