The world’s smallest GPS module is available now

u-blox has announced its smallest GNSS module series to date, the MIA-M10. Constructed on the ultra-low-power u-blox M10 GNSS platform, it delivers the most power-efficient solution for size-constrained battery-powered asset tracking devices. The module aims to expand the market for people, pets, livestock trackers, industrial sensors, and consumer goods.

Approximately half the size of competing products, the 4.5mm x 4.5mm device’s miniature form factor enables developers to develop more attractive and comfortable solutions, further driving the adoption of positioning technology in consumer and industrial solutions. The module delivers ultra-low power consumption with no compromise to GNSS performance. Furthermore, its power-save modes is able to double the battery life by optimally balancing position accuracy and power consumption.

Like all M10 modules, the new device concurrently receives four GNSS constellations (GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, and GLONASS) for maximum satellite signal availability. Together with its superior RF sensitivity, the module offers robust positioning performance for solutions with small antennas and devices operating in weak signal environments, such as deep urban canyons.

Support for its AssistNow assisted GNSS service, which provides orbital data via the internet, cuts the time it takes the device to determine its initial position at startup, enabling it to immediately track satellites with no wait for slow satellite data downloads to complete. And applications needing extra-long power autonomy can use the company's CloudLocate service, which increases the life of IoT applications by offloading power-hungry position calculation to the cloud.

The chip-sized, ready-to-use GNSS module needs no external components, decreasing engineering and testing efforts, saving costs and resources, and speeding up time to market.

“MIA-M10 is the smallest GNSS module on the market – as small as a chip design, but with all the benefits of a module. Combining the exceptional sensitivity and short acquisition times of the ultra-low-power u-blox M10 GNSS platform, the MIA-M10 series offers a highly attractive solution for power- and size-constrained end devices, in particular in the growing wearable tracking device market,” says Kevin Truempi, senior product manager, Product Center Positioning, at u-blox.

Sensors Converge and Embedded Technologies, San Jose, California, booth 1228.