New GNSS platform for enhanced positioning accuracy in urban environments

u-blox has announced F10, the company's first dual-band GNSS platform combining L1 and L5 bands to offer enhanced multipath resistance and metre-level positioning accuracy. The platform caters to urban mobility applications, including aftermarket telematics and micromobility.

Applications that use GNSS receivers for accurate positioning are on the rise. Yet, current receivers still need to perform fully in urban areas. Accurate and reliable positioning in dense urban environments, where buildings or tree foliage can reflect satellite signals, needs GNSS receivers to mitigate multipath effects. The L5 band's resilience to these effects greatly improves positioning accuracy. Combined with the well-established L1 band, an L1/L5 dual-band GNSS receiver can deliver <2m positioning accuracy (CEP50) against about 4m with the L1 band only. The company team has conducted driving tests in several urban areas, confirming a considerable improvement over GNSS L1 receivers.

The platformF10's firmware algorithm prioritises L5 band signals in weak signal environments, ensuring reliable positioning accuracy even when paired with small antennas. The platform also provides protection-level technology that supplies a real-time trustworthy positioning accuracy estimate.

When a cellular modem is extremely close to a GNSS receiver, it can interfere with the receiver's reception. Some F10 module models (NEO-F10N, MAX-F10S, and MIA-F10Q) are supplied with a robust RF circuit that enables the GNSS and the cellular modem to operate without interference.

The platform is pin-to-pin compatible with the previous u-blox M10 generation for easy migration. It also supports u-blox AssistNow, which offers real-time online A-GNSS service with global availability to lower GNSS time-to-first-fix and power consumption.