u-blox news Spring 2013
Previous Issue
Contents Practical considerations when designing M2M applications
Dear Readers, With this first 2013 issue of u-blox news, I’d like to start with a glance back at a very successful 2012. We again achieved a new record, with sales increasing 39% over the previous year. We
Kaga teams with u-blox to launch HSPA M2M card in Japan
launched 8 new positioning and 5 new wireless products, and added 3 new acquisitions to our company, Finnish GNSS module vendor Fastrax, and UK-based 4G chip and software specialists Cognovo and 4M Wireless. We achieved growth in all regions around the world, almost doubling our business in the Americas.
u-blox 3G module certified by SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile provider
Thomas Seiler, CEO u-blox
This fantastic success can be attributed to one thing: making the right products. To do this, we focus on one thing: listening to what you need to make your end-products successful. Our customer focus is what drives us to not only achieve the right product features but also to make it easy for you to upgrade between product generations. This year we will be announcing a lot of exciting new products based on the innovations
Interview with Gordon Aspin, VP Program Management
and acquisitions of last year. With the launch of our latest multi-GNSS chip platform, we now offer you industry leading positioning chips and modules supporting all deployed satellite navigation systems. Our expanding families of 2G, 3G and CDMA wireless modems have achieved global
u-blox demonstrates navigation using Chinese BeiDou satellite system
operator certification and won numerous customers all over the world. We will continue to expand our portfolio with new modem products answering your specific needs, while following our roadmap that will ultimately lead to 4G (LTE) modem products. We intend to maintain our leadership in the automotive, industrial and consumer markets by maintaining industry leading features and quality, the smallest packages, the lowest
Customer focus: Bryton
power consumption, and cost-effective, smoothly adaptable solutions. And above all, we will continue to listen to you, and maintain our rapid pace of innovation based on one thing: what you, our customer, need to be successful in your markets.
Social responsibility at u-blox With kind regards,
u-blox’ GNSS and Wireless module philosophy Thomas Seiler, CEO
Upcoming events
Page 1 | u-blox news
Practical considerations when designing M2M applications 12 points to consider
Herber Blaser VP Business Marketing, u-blox
2013 could be the first year when machine-to-machine (M2M) communications exceed human-to-human communications, with more machines connected to the Internet than people. Mobile resource management systems, meters, robots, vending machines, security systems, vehicles and emergency call systems all belong to this growing population of chatting machines. Equipping devices with M2M communications capability, however, has special requirements, depending on the application. It is important to consider these requirements when thinking not only of the initial design, but also about product lifetime, geographical coverage, or compatibility with unavoidable wireless network upgrades (2G->3G->4G) as well as new emerging positioning systems (eg. GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo). Below are some important technical aspects to consider when designing M2M applications, and how they can affect the design of specific types of devices. 1) Power consumption For portable tracking, security or personal safety devices, time between battery charge is crucial. Particularly for asset tracking systems used at sea, as well as personal tracking devices, long battery life may be the most important feature. Check not only for operating and standby current of both modem and GNSS receiver, but also special modes that allow periodic automatic wakeup, and modes that allow operation (i.e. logging to flash memory) while the host processor is asleep (example: NEO-7N). In general, all u-blox GPS/GNSS modules are designed for the industry’s lowest possible system current consumption. 2) Cellular network compliance In which regions should the device work? With global mobility increasing for both people and goods, it is important to consider that a modem that works in one region, may not work in another. While GSM is supported by 2 main frequency bands worldwide, UMTS utilizes six, and Page 2 | u-blox news
LTE over thirty! The LISA-U2 series, for example, supports all 6 global UMTS bands, while also providing low-cost dual band versions. For more information, read u-blox’ whitepaper “The advantages of global 3G coverage for M2M applications”.
can overcome this problem via a hybrid solution that exploits the visibility of 2G or 3G cells. u-blox’ CellLocate® is precisely such a solution supporting both SARA 2G and LISA 3G modules series. Click here to download the whitepaper “Hybrid Positioning and CellLocate”.
3) Operator approval
7) Positioning system compatibility
Any wireless device that communicates via GSM, UMTS or LTE will require operator certification before it is allowed to access their network. To significantly ease the certification process, the modem embedded in the device should also be operator certified. Be sure you modem vendor can provide you with an official operator-provided certificate of approval(s) for your desired regions of operation. ublox places high priority on global operator certifications, and publishes certifications by modem on our website.
Until recently, GPS was the only system you needed to consider. Now, with Russia’s GLONASS and Japan’s QZSS systems online, plus China’s BeiDou and Europe’s Galileo on the horizon, compatibility with GPS plus at least one other satellite system will be required by many applications. Read more about u-blox’ multi-GNSS support via the whitepaper “u-blox’ comprehensive approach to multi-GNSS positioning”.
4) Assisted positioning For M2M applications requiring reliable position information in urban environments, the availability of an assisted positioning system should be considered. Especially in cities where satellite visibility is often blocked by tall buildings, temporary dropout of positional overview can be quickly overcome by calling up a remote “Assisted GPS” server via wireless modem. Read more about u-blox “AssistNow” A-GPS service here.
When designing systems that will be difficult and expensive to retrofit such as automatic meter reading systems, It may be wise to design with the future in mind. This means either already designing with next-generation modem technology, or design such that modem and/or GNSS receiver upgrade is as cost-effective as possible. For more details about u-blox’ approach to wireless modem and GNSS receiver upgradeability, download the whitepaper “u-blox’ GNSS and wireless module philosophy”.
5) Dead reckoning support
9) Nested modem design
The absence of satellite signals in tunnels or park houses means position must be temporarily generated by a parallel system. An important technology to supplement satellite signals is Dead Reckoning which extrapolates location based on vehicle sensors. For applications where this is important, be sure your GNSS receiver supports this feature via connection to the vehicle CAN bus, or directly to the sensors. Discover more about u-blox’ industry leading Dead Reckoning solutions here, or read the whitepaper “Automotive Dead Reckoning: An intelligent solution for modern urban navigation”.
Your M2M device may need to adapt to a new mobile or GNSS standard, or address a new regional standard. An important design consideration is to use components that have layout compatibility across the entire range of wireless modem or GNSS receiver modules. For modem designs, note that “layout compatibility” is a superior solution to “pin compatibility”, the latter requiring that all modem generations share the same package and pinout, which is both more expensive and requires larger PCB area in most cases. Click here to read more about u-blox nested design and layout compatibility philosophy.
6) Indoor positioning Satellite-based navigation systems do not work when deep indoors. For applications where an approximate position indoors is required, combining a satellite receiver with a wireless modem
8) Wireless modem upgradeability
10) Bandwidth requirements For today’s tracking applications, only a low bandwidth is required. With the rollout of 3G and LTE services, however, both telemetry and telematics applications will
require increasing bandwidth to support new multimedia features. Select your modem based not only on the requirements of today, but also 3-5 years from now, or select a modem where upgrade comes with minimal costs and protects your design investments. 11) Automotive requirements Especially for vehicle, rail or ship mounted systems where temperature, humidity and vibration conditions can be extreme, look for components that are automotive
qualified. All u-blox positioning modules use GPS/GNSS chips qualified according to AEC-Q100 and are manufactured in ISO/ TS 16949 certified sites. Wireless modules are manufactured in ISO/TS 16949 certified sites are qualified according to ISO 16750 – Environmental conditions and electrical testing for electrical and electronic equipment for road vehicles.
specific modem feature called “In-band modem” is required. It enables data to be sent over the modem voice channel. This is required due to the higher prioritization of the voice channel over data in mobile networks. Click here to learn more about u-blox’ eCall and ERA-GLONASS solutions, or download the whitepaper “u-blox’ Solution for European eCall”.
12) Support of emergency call systems
For more information about M2M design considerations, download u-blox’ whitepaper: “The Rise and Challenges of M2M Applications”.
For vehicle emergency call systems such as the EU’s eCall or Russia’s ERA-GLONASS, a
Kaga teams with u-blox to launch HSPA M2M card in Japan Compact U130-KG card based on LISA-U130 gives machines high-speed 3G data and voice connectivity Founded in 1968, Tokyo-headquartered Kaga Electronics has integrated u-blox’ high-speed UMTS modem technology into their U130-KG wireless 3G air-interface card. The card is designed for machines, PoS terminals, meters, signage and security systems used throughout Japan. The card is certified by Softbank Mobile, one of Japan’s main mobile operators.
“Our U130-KG wireless network card is a result of a partnership with u-blox who worked closely with us during the evaluation, design and certification processes. The card is based on u-blox’ advanced 3G module technology, and serves a fast growing market in Japan for high-speed wireless connectivity between machines. It is particularly attractive for financial, security, digital signage and point of sales terminals applications,” said Mr. Hiroshi Shimoji, General Manager, Sales Promotion at Kaga. The card integrates u-blox’ LISA-U130 UMTS/HSPA module to deliver lightning-
fast wireless performance: 7.2 Mb/s download and 5.76 Mb/s upload speeds. The card supports all 6 global UMTS frequency bands. Both data and voice is supported. The compact card measures only 65 x 200 x 12.6 mm and provides UART, I2C, SPI, I2S and analog voice interfaces. Five general-purpose I/Os are provided. For more information about the U130KG wireless network card, contact Kaga Electronics, www.taxan.co.jp/ For more information about u-blox’ LISA 3G modules, visit www.u-blox.com
u-blox 3G module certified by SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile provider Korea’s leading and most innovate mobility enabler endorses u-blox’ LISA UMTS modem u-blox has received approval for its LISAU110 UMTS/ HSPA wireless module from SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile telecom operator with over 50% market share. SK Telecom is the leading provider of multimedia services and connectivity to over 24 million customers throughout South Korea. The certification allows the LISA modem to be used in a wide range of consumer and M2M applications operating over SK Telecom’s nation-wide 3G network including vehicle infotainment, supply chain management, industrial automation, metering, security, and location-based services. The LISA-U110 is a state-of-the-art Page 3 | u-blox news
embedded wireless UMTS/HSPA module delivering high data-rates in 3G networks intended for consumer, automotive and industrial applications. For telematics applications, the series provides easy integration with u-blox GPS, GLONASS and QZSS receivers.
less than 2 mA) and operating temperature –40 to +85 deg. Celsius. RIL software for Android and Embedded Windows is available free of charge. SK Telecom, Korea
LISA modules come in SMT form-factor and have a very small footprint, allowing easy mounting on any application board. The LISA form factor enables easy manufacturing, as well as simple migration from u-blox’ GSM/GPRS modules. Support for A-GPS and u-blox’ unique CellLocate® positioning technology is embedded to facilitate advanced telematics applications including indoor positioning. Features include compatibility with quadband GPRS/EDGE, low power (idle mode u-blox news | Page 3
Interview with Gordon Aspin VP of Program Management for u-blox’ wireless R&D Acquisitions are a complex process. What has been your experience of the acquisition of Cognovo by u-blox?
Gordon joined u-blox as a result of the acquisition of Cognovo in June 2012. With a PhD in Optoelectronics from Cambridge University and over 25 years in the wireless business, Gordon is one of the original founders of Cognovo, a spin-off from ARM Holdings in 2009.
At u-blox, Gordon leads the company’s 4G chip development activities based on Cognovo’s specialty technology: Software Defined Modem. He has overall responsibility for the u-blox’ 4G wireless development program, and spends much of his time travelling between the company’s seven globally distributed wireless R&D sites. We asked Gordon about his role at u-blox, and how he has experienced life during and after the acquisition.
“After experiencing acquisitions at large and small companies alike, and from both sides of the fence, my experience of the acquisition has been 99% positive. Unlike a much larger company where acquisition is delegated to teams of lawyers and administrators based on instructions from a remote headquarter, working with u-blox has been a very direct, personal and transparent process. It has been easy to gain access and establish dialogue with all levels of u-blox’ R&D and management, many who are spread across engineering sites in seven countries. This has made the integration process relatively smooth, and above all, fast, as we have an aggressive schedule to meet.” What do you see as the main synergies between the two companies? “I see the two companies as having very complementary capabilities. u-blox has extensive wireless expertise at the modulelevel in Italy and San Diego, GNSS chip design knowhow in Thalwil, plus years of high-quality manufacturing experience. Cognovo, together with 4M Wireless, brings to u-blox specific wireless chip and software technology and expertise, particularly in the area of 4G. The total package gives us the ability within one company to go from the creation of our
own wireless processor cores through to chips and modules. This is exciting, as at the end of the day it means that we will be seeing our own 4G technology hitting the streets in real products.” Where does Cognovo’s “Software Designed Modem” technology fit into the picture? “Cognovo’s Software Designed Modem (SDM) technology is critical to enable u-blox to respond quickly to the rapidly evolving wireless market. The separation of hardware and software enabled by SDM allows us to design advanced wireless chipsets with features which can be quickly created and validated in software instead of suffering through long, iterative semiconductor design and fabrication cycles. For u-blox’ diverse markets, this flexibility represents a unique capability. Looking ahead to the future, SDM can also be applied to a broader class of applications in wireless than just cellular modems. As u-blox’ business develops, I’d like to see us evolve the technology for application in related areas including for example public safety systems, next generation WiFi, and GNSS. SDM is a very exciting technology, and by joining the u-blox team, we now have the expertise, freedom and resources to pursue the vision that we started at Cognovo four years ago. I am extremely excited to be involved in this bold undertaking.”
u-blox demonstrates navigation using Chinese BeiDou satellite system u-blox now compatible with China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system In January of 2013, u-blox achieved successful satellite positioning using China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. The technical achievement establishes u-blox as the first GNSS (“Global Navigation Satellite System”) component vendor to demonstrate compatibility with all globally deployed positioning systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and now BeiDou. “As the technology leader in global positioning electronics, we are thrilled to have achieved this milestone only 3 weeks after the BeiDou specification was published,” said Thomas Seiler, u-blox CEO, “China will become the world’s most important
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single market for devices relying on embedded satellite navigation, and u-blox plans to be a major player in this market.” BeiDou-2, formerly known as “Compass”, currently has 15 satellites in orbit, offering navigation and positioning services to users in China and Southeast Asia. It will ultimately consist of 35 satellites providing worldwide positioning capability over its open service to within 10 meters accuracy. u-blox successfully demonstrated BeiDou compatibility with their latest GNSS platform at embeddedworld 2013 during 26 - 28 February, 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany. For customers who missed the event, contact u-blox to arrange a demonstration. For more information about the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, visit www.beidou.gov.cn
The 14th and 15th BeiDou navigation satellites ready for launch
Customer focus: Bryton Established in 2009, Taiwan-based Bryton
Our products must be compact, handheld
Which product did you decide for, and
Incorporated provides a complete line of
or worn on the wrist. Consumers want
what other value did u-blox provide?
Sports GPS products that fulfills consumer
sleek, compact products that fit easily in
needs in four main sports activities: Cycling,
their pockets. u-blox’ extremely small GPS
“Bryton integrates u-blox’ UBX-G6010 GPS
Fitness, Outdoor Adventure and Athletic-
chip solution requires very few external
single chip to give all its products location-
Training. Bryton’s sports electronics leverage
components, meaning we don’t need to
aware features. Small space requirements,
u-blox’ advanced GPS technology to pro-
allocate much space in our products to
low power consumption, high sensitivity
vide rich, attractive and useful applications
achieve state-of-the-art, extremely sensitive
and easy upgrade with each new product
that bring fun and enjoyment into everyday
GPS positioning capability.
generation were key to our decision for
fitness, exercise and mobility sports. With
u-blox. The local presence of u-blox in
business partners around the world, Bryton
Another primary selling feature of our prod-
Taiwan was also important for us. The
has established its brand of electronic
uct is long battery life. Thanks to u-blox’
complete line of u-blox support tools and
sports equipment on 5 continents.
low power chip design with sophisticated
evaluation kits greatly simplified evaluating
power saving modes, the GPS receiver,
and designing our first prototypes. u-blox
Mr. Wolf Lin is President at Bryton, and is in
which must be active much of the time,
local field application engineers made sure
charge of product definition and develop-
requires only a small fraction of the device’s
we were on the right track, providing help-
ment. u-blox interviewed Mr. Lin recently
power. Perhaps most importantly, u-blox’
ful tips and practical considerations during
to ask about why they selected u-blox as
rapid and continuous product upgrade
the design phase. This allowed us to meet
their preferred partner for embedded GPS
cycle means that for every new generation
our aggressive time-to-market deadline.”
electronics. The two companies have been
of our products we can count on attractive
working together since 2010 when the
new features and capabilities.”
For more information about Bryton sports
decision was made to integrate u-blox’ GPS
products, visit www.brytonsport.com
semiconductor technology into their wide
range of sports monitoring equipment. What types of features do your customers look for? “At Bryton, we understand the mindset of sport enthusiasts, and know exactly what they are looking for when they shop for electronic equipment to enhance their exercise experience: it must be smart, attractive, accurate, dependable, and packed with interesting and useful features that make their workouts more fun and informative. Leveraging location information into their exercise routines such as route, history, speed, elevation, distance and stride rate not only enhances their activities, but encourages them to train longer, and more often.” Are there specific reasons why you chose u-blox for GPS? “Bryton initially evaluated all leading vendors of GPS technology but selected u-blox’ GPS single-chip based on 4 key product features: small size, high sensitivity, low power consumption, and upgradeability.
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u-blox news | Page 5
Social responsibility at u-blox At u-blox, we do not operate in isolation. Everything we do as a company and as individuals affects our customers, employees, shareholders, partners, communities and ultimately everyone on the planet through our impact on the environment. We are therefore committed to creating value for all our stakeholders through the implementation of sustainability practices. Our sustainability strategy rests on four pillars – Environment, Employees, Communities and Marketplace. It acknowledges our ambition to include sustainability in all parts of our business, minimize environmental impact, attract and retain employees, support the less fortunate in our society, and to be a responsible business partner.
1
Sustainability: Employees
As a company dedicated to bringing continuous innovation to our markets, we recognize the importance of creating a working environment that attracts and retains talented people and fosters their ongoing development. Our employees come from diverse backgrounds and bring a rich variety of skills and experiences. We support their safety, health, and wellbeing, and provide employment conditions that enable them to balance work and personal commitments.
2
Sustainability: Community
An essential component of our corporate social responsibility is to care for communities where we are both directly and indirectly involved. Education and health have been identified as the primary areas of activity. We engage with projects to ensure education for children and improvement of general health for underprivileged. In 2011, we started our education initiatives and provided funding to the programs mentioned below.
3
Sustainability: Environment
u-blox is committed to ensuring that the company’s products are as green as possible. u-blox and its manufacturing partners comply with environmental regulations and meet the environmental demands of industry regulations as well as the demands of our customers. We especially support power-saving and environmentally conscious products. We seek to reduce energy consumption, prevent pollution, minimize the use of hazardous materials and continually communicate with employees and suppliers on the company’s policy and commitment to the environment, safety and health (ESH) management.
4
Sustainability: Market place
Over the past year, focus on dialogue has become central to our vision and strategy for responsible supply chain manage-
u-blox news | Page 6
ment. We engage our suppliers in an open conversation about sustainability practices, challenges and opportunities. By sharing our experiences and working together, we believe we can help the organizations that supply us with their products to improve overall environmental sustainability. Responsible supply chain management was identified as one of four areas for sustainability development. u-blox wants to make sustainability issues an integral aspect of our choice of suppliers and our relationship with them, and we have charted a clear course towards this goal. The main target set for 2013 is to incorporate industry best practices for responsible supply chain management, and develop a suppliers’ Code of Conduct. To read more about u-blox’ Corporate Social Responsibility program, visit www.u-blox.com/sustainability.html
u-blox’ GNSS and Wireless module philosophy Focus on compatibility and upgradeability
Thomas Nigg VP Product Marketing, u-blox
In today’s electronics industry, particularly for industrial machine-to-machine (M2M) applications such as fleet and asset management systems, product cycles are short, typically one to two years for each product upgrade cycle, with overall product life-span lasting up to 10 years. During this time, designers must continuously improve their products to meet emerging new technologies as well as address regional markets beyond the scope of their original design. For a typical system that incorporates both global positioning and embedded wireless communications, there are challenges on two fronts: Global positioning - a moving target: • Until very recently, GPS was the “only game in town”, and designers could focus on incremental improvements such as upgrading to receivers with higher sensitivity or incorporating assisted-GPS functionality. That is no longer the case. With the Russian-based GLONASS satellite system now fully operational since end of 2011, a second navigation system now functioning in parallel to GPS means designers must cope with regional demands for GLONASS compatibility (for example the vehicle emergency call system in Russia, “ERA-GLONASS”, for which the Russian government mandates GLONASS compatibility). On top of this, tracking applications are now calling for parallel GPS/GLONASS satellite tracking capability to improve performance in high-rise urban areas where buildings often block satellite signals (under the philosophy “the more satellites the better”). • The future will bring more complexity! The above situation is compounding itself as China and the EU deploy their own satellite navigation systems – China’s BeiDou-2 (formerly known as “Compass”) and the EU’s Galileo. Japan has also launched the first of a 3-satellite GPS augmentation system, QZSS, to aid navigation in high rise areas such as Tokyo. In the near future, interoperability with 2, 3, 4, or even 5
How many different GNSS and mobile standards should a tracking system support? Answer: as many as possible!
of these “Global Navigation Satellite Systems” will be a standard requirement! Mobile communications – a regional “mixed salad”: • For legacy reasons based on individual government policies, politics, and avoidance of already occupied spectrum, as well as the never-ending introduction of new standards supporting higher speeds, the world has devolved into regions and countries using multiple different mobile communication standards occupying many different frequency bands. Often multiple standards co-exist such as GSM (2G), CDMA2000, UMTS (3G) and LTE (4G). All four of these standards now operate simultaneously in North America, China and India! As supply chains for products ranging from cars to consumer goods typically span multiple countries or continents, tracking and asset management systems must overcome multiple regional compatibility issues in order to remain wirelessly, and economically connected. As GNSS receiver and wireless modem components emerge to address these technological developments, the primary challenges to end-device designers is shifted towards more practical issues when considering the next product generation:
• Preserving R&D investment: Does the module vendor protect my investment in my products? Do they provide backward compatible products and form factors so I can re-use my existing software and hardware R&D efforts when designing the next generation? • Delivery relilability: Does the vendor guarantee a safety stock for all products? Is the stock kept in multiple locations? What is their delivery performance and can they provide documented proof? • PCB redesign costs: How can I keep my PCB layout changes and re-design costs to a minimum? • Sustainable business: Will my selected GPS/GNSS receiver or wireless modem products, or even the vendor itself, be around in the next few years? This is a real concern in the current economic environment where many component manufacturers are operating at razor thin margins, or even at a loss. • Innovation: does my vendor consistently keep pace with market innovation cycles so that my end-products can offer the latest features, also in the future? • Quality: does my vendor maintain an adequate quality system with thorough product qualification and worldwide certifications? Are the products environmental friendly and fully documented for compliance with hazardous substance regulations? • Environmental durability: Do they provide products with suitable qualifications for my products operating environment? This is particularly important for vehicle-based devices, as well as devices which must operate reliably in humid conditions (e.g. at sea), or endure high-vibration such as within shipping containers or railcars. Products qualified according to ISO 16750 or AEC-Q100 are the right choice for such conditions. To address all these issues, when it comes to modules, u-blox adheres to a core design philosophy: maintain form factor and software continuity to allow customers to easily upgrade their products with each new generation of u-blox global positioning or wireless modules. The key benefit is simple: customers do not need to keep changing their PCB designs whenever ublox introduces an improved version of its module products. Simply drop in the next generation module on the existing PCB footprint and start testing! u-blox news | Page 7
Positioning modules Series
Package/dimensions
Features
MAX
18-pin LCC1 9.7 x 10.1 mm
High-performance, compact GPS/GNSS2 modules
NEO
24-pin LCC1 12.2 x 16.0 mm
Flexible, configurable GPS/GNSS2 modules
28-pin LCC1 17.0 x 22.4 mm
Feature-rich GPS/GNSS2 modules
Series
Package/dimensions
Features
SARA
96-pin LGA3 16.0 x 26.0 mm
Small, scalable, low-power GSM/GPRS modules
LEON
50-pin LCC 18.9 x 29.5 mm
Full-featured GSM/GPRS modules
LISA
76-pin LCC 22.4 x 33.2 mm
Universal UMTS/HSPA(+) and CDMA200 modules
LEA Wireless modules
) Leadless Chip Carrier ) GPS, GLONASS, QZSS; Galileo and BeiDou ready 3 ) Land Grid Array 1 2
Since 2002 u-blox has established these compact Leadless Chip Carrier (LCC) form factors as de-facto industry stand-
ards for both GNSS (supporting GPS, GLONASS, and QZSS; ready for Galileo and BeiDou) and mobile communication modules (supporting GSM, UMTS, and CDMA2000). These SMT form factors are the packaging foundation on which u-blox’ positioning and wireless module families are based. This form-factor continuity philosophy has been consistently applied throughout all product generations for over a decade. In addition to providing a smooth upgrade path for designs, form factor consistency allows for easy interchanging of module family members to adapt to end-product variants targeted at specific regions or feature-sets. This philosophy is especially relevant for the wireless module products where mobile communication standards can vary significantly as well as co-exist on a regional basis.
Upgrade smoothly with nested GSM / UMTS / CDMA designs When designing wireless modem products that must accommodate GSM, UMTS, and/or CDMA2000 variants, or when region-specific versions require different frequency bands, PCB layout issues can generate a long list of expensive design and logistics problems. The best way to avoid this issue is simple: layout compatibility across the entire range of wireless modems. With this solution, a single PCB layout can be designed for use by all end-product variations. This is why u-blox has maintained form-factor compatibility throughout its GSM/GPRS (SARA/LEON) and UMTS/ HSPA and CDMA2000 (LISA) wireless module families.
Examples of 2G/3G layout compatibility: nested design accommodates both LEON/SARA GSM and LISA UMTS/CDMA modules on the same footprint.
To facilitate nested designs, u-blox provides an application note and PCB reference designs with schematics, Gerber files and bill of materials for both 1.8 V and 3.0 V systems.
Nested design combination chart for u-blox wireless modules Layout compatible with
LISA-U2 series UMTS/HSPA(+) modules
LEON-G1 series GSM/GPRS modules LISA-U1 series UMTS/HSPA modules SARA-G3 series GSM/GPRS modules
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LISA-C200 CDMA2000 1xRTT modules
Note that “layout compatibility” is a superior solution to “pin compatibility”, the latter requiring that all modem generations share the same package and pinout. Although this may seem convenient at first glance, it by definition requires that all modems are housed in the largest, most expensive package which increases both cost and PCB board area. Focus on quality u-blox places extraordinary emphasis on delivering high-quality, reliable GPS/GNSS receivers and wireless modules based on stringent standards and industry-recognized certifications. The company’s internal quality system accompanies each product from early concept phase to a well managed product change and end-of-life process. It extends to all its manufacturing partners who adhere to strict processes for high yield and reliability guided by ISO9001 and ISO/TS16949 compliance.
All u-blox automotive-grade GNSS integrated circuits (ICs) are qualified according to AEC-Q100, the automotive standard that includes the requirements of the common JEDEC standard JESD47 for ICs. u-blox GPS/GNSS single-chip and chipset receivers are manufactured by the following Tier 1 suppliers, chosen for their reputation and market-leading expertise in semiconductor manufacturing: • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), Taiwan • GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Singapore • Amkor, Philippines Module manufacturing For the u-blox positioning and wireless modules, u-blox has selected Flextronics Corporation as our main manufacturing partner with factories located in Austria and Brazil. Flextronics is a world leader in electronic manufacturing services (EMS) with large production capacity, global presence and excellent quality.
Wrapping up… The above approach to GNSS and wireless module-based designs for M2M applications allows developers to achieve the desired results when developing their next generation products: • Protect investment in existing software and hardware R&D designs • Avoid expensive PCB layout changes and hardware re-design costs to maintain product flexibility • Partner with a financially solid, innovative vendor • Keep an innovate edge by taking advantage of the latest positioning and mobile communication standards • Capitalize on quality by using components that conform to industryrecognized automotive-quality grade programs and quality grades
Upcoming events
Imprint: Publisher / Copyright: April 2013 u-blox AG, Thalwil, Switzerland.
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Machine-to-Machine 2013 Exhibition - Conferences - Workshops Date: 10 - 11 April 2013 Place: Paris, Porte de Versailles, France Stand: Pavillon 7.1 - u-blox F8 To set up a meeting in advance, please contact: info@u-blox.com
M2M Forum 2013 Date: 14. May 2013 Place: Milanofiori Congress Centre, Milan, Italy Stand: Meeting Desk To set up a meeting in advance, please contact: info@u-blox.com
CTIA 2013 Advances intelligence for those serious about wireless Date: 21 - 23 May 2013 Place: Las Vegas, Nevada USA Stand: u-blox 4938 To set up a meeting in advance, please contact: info_us@u-blox.com
Wireless Japan 2013 The largest and the only specialized exhibition in Wireless technologies, solutions and services in Japan. Date: 29-31 May, 2013 Place: Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan Stand: SM-14 To set up a meeting in advance, please contact: info_jp@u-blox.com