New L-band receiver enables centimetre-level positioning for the mass market

U-blox has released a cost-effective approach to bringing centimetre-level accuracy to GNSS receivers. Its new NEO-D9S GNSS correction data receiver module receives GNSS correction data from correction service providers broadcast on the L-band (at 1525–1559MHz). A host processor is then able to decrypt this correction data and present it to a high precision GNSS receiver, merging corrections directly with readings from the satellite constellations to facilitate much more accurate position readings than those provided by GNSS signals alone.

Employment of the device will also improve the availability of high precision GNSS positioning data in regions with limited connectivity and decrease the amount of cellular data used by positioning receivers. Key customers are anticipated to comprise carmakers - Tier 1 and OEMs, industrial system integrators that give position-correction services, and any other applications that rely upon extremely accurate positioning at low cost.

The module is a correction-only receiver, based on the company's latest 9th generation (D9) platform. This means that it will integrate easily with the F9 RTK GNSS receivers from the company or can be employed as part of a modular product roadmap. The module also integrates a TCXO and SAW filter to provide good RF sensitivity and resilience to interference from adjacent channels.

The module incorporates the algorithms required to decode satellite data broadcasts. It is configured to operate initially with whichever correction service has been set as default but can be configured for any L-band data broadcast. The device stores its configuration settings in non-volatile memory.