GPS World

Tag: OEM

  • Interference? The fiber-optics option

    Interference? The fiber-optics option

    The use of GPS signals is certainly commonplace in today’s technological age. Various locating systems, tracking systems and precision timing applications all use the common decoded NMEA and 1 PPS signals from a GPS satellite in a multitude of different ways.

    When a direct line-of-sight path to GPS satellites is unavailable, the GPS signal must first be received where there is a direct line-sight path, decoded, and then the resulting signals routed to where they are needed. The Luxlink GPSX-1001 has been designed to do exactly that.

    LuxLink GPSX-1001 fiber-optic transceiver.

    The GPSX-1001 is the result of a specific request by a research group of a midwestern U.S. university for seismic studies in an underground mine. More than 20 units were installed in several branches of the mine and have been in continuous operation successfully for two years.

    The GPSX-1001 transceiver is a multifunctional device that can be used as a transmitter or a receiver/repeater. In operation, the NMEA signal and the 1 PPS signal are both multiplexed by the GPSX-1001 (set as a transmitter) and launched into a single optical fiber. The multiplexed signal is then received from the fiber at a second GPSX-1001 set as a receiver/repeater. Here, the NMEA and 1PPS signal are de-multiplexed and available as individual outputs (see Figure 1).

    FIGURE 1. GPSX-1001 block diagram.

    The original multiplexed signal is also then reapplied to another integral optical transmitter for use at a third receiver/repeater. Additional receiver/repeaters can be connected in the same fashion to allow the signals to be transmitted to numerous locations.

    Fiber-optic cable is virtually immune to electrical interference and can be routed wherever convenient without regard to the proximity of electrical noise producers, water or high voltages. Because fiber optic cable is non-conducting, ground loops that can result in loss or corruption of the GPS signals are virtually eliminated. The bandwidth of the fiber and circuitry in the GPSX-1001 is such that the fast rise and fall times of the 1-PPS signal are maintained and the NMEA signal is as noise free as the original input.

    Transmission distances using the GPSX-1001 can extend to a mile or more. For longer distances, additional GPSX-1001 units can be added.

    The GPSX-1001 is user configured by means of front-panel DIP switches. Integral LED indicators are provided to continuously monitor the NMEA, 1 PPS, power and optical link signals. Power is obtained from simple wall type plug-in adapters or low voltages and need not be regulated because the GPSX-1001 units contain internal regulators.

    Figure 2 shows three GPSX-1001 units in a typical GPS signal distribution system. The NMEA interface can be RS-422 or RS-232, depending on the requirements of the signal source. The 1 PPS signal is 50-ohm TTL compatible. Each transceiver pair will produce signals over distances in excess of several miles and will operate from –35° to +75° C (–31° to 167° F), allowing them to be used both indoors and outdoors. Units are available for use with multimode or single-mode fiber and with standard fiber-optic connectors.

    FIGURE 2. GPS NMEA/1 PPS transmission system.

    Irwin Math is president of Liteway Inc. and has more than 30 years of experience in the design and development of fiber-optic transmission systems. He was also the founder of Math Associates Inc., one of the pioneering firms in fiber-optic transmission system technology in the early 1980s.

  • Broadcom launches dual-frequency GNSS receiver for mass market

    Broadcom launches dual-frequency GNSS receiver for mass market

    Broadcom Limited is offering a mass-market, dual-frequency GNSS receiver device, the BCM47755, designed to enhance location-based services (LBS) applications for mobile phones, tablets and fitness wearables.

    Equipped with the latest GNSS innovations, the device is capable of centimeter-level accuracy with minimal power consumption and footprint, enabling an entirely new suite of high-precision LBS applications including lane-level vehicle navigation and mobile augmented reality.

    Until now, mobile location based applications have been powered by single-frequency GNSS receivers operating under stringent battery-power and footprint constraints.

    The expanded availability of L1/E1 and L5/E5 frequencies in satellite constellations enables the use of two frequencies to compute position much more accurately in both urban and open area environments.

    BCM47755 uses two different frequency signals from each satellite. (Image courtesy of Broadcom)

    The BCM47755 delivers this higher level of location accuracy while meeting the rigorous battery power and footprint needs in mobile phones.

    The BCM47755’s accuracy allows location-based applications to offer a richer consumer experience. For example, lane-level knowledge of the vehicle’s location vastly improves the turn-by-turn navigation performance.

    Further, combining this accurate location with the lane’s traffic pattern gives consumers a significantly better estimate of arrival times. In the same vein, ride-sharing applications can be enhanced to more precisely pinpoint driver and client location.

    The BCM47755 consumes less than half the power of previous generation GNSS chips. Since GNSS and sensor applications are always on, this power efficiency has a proportional impact on the battery life of the mobile device. So, even while benefiting from a richer navigation experience, consumers will have a longer lasting battery on mobile devices that use the BCM47755.

    Product Highlights

    • Advanced dual-frequency GNSS receiver capable of processing satellite signals in both L1/E1 and L5/E5 frequency bands providing higher level of location accuracy
    • Incorporates new low power GNSS radio and dual-core ARM CM4-CM0 sensor hub
    • More than 50 percent lower power consumption compared to previous generation GNSS receiver
    • Delivers high-quality raw GNSS measurements for both code and carrier phase, enabling advanced location-based applications.

    “With the launch of the dual-frequency GNSS sensor hub, Broadcom continues the tradition of raising the bar for mobile GNSS,” said Vijay Nagarajan, senior director of product marketing of the Mobile Connectivity Products Division at Broadcom. “Location-based consumer applications can be disruptively enhanced with centimeter-level accuracy. On the other hand, lower power consumption and smaller footprint continue to be defining requirements for any mobile phone chip. The BCM47755 achieves these twin objectives for a richer consumer experience.”

  • Big news from Broadcom: 30-cm positioning for consumers

    Big news from Broadcom: 30-cm positioning for consumers

    All the time I was working in the precision GNSS sector, our view of things was that we had an advantage — the technology for dual/multiple frequency was hard to do. It took years to develop and perfect robust L2 codeless tracking to enable its use in everyday challenging applications.

    So we were always looking to see who was claiming what, and waiting for the technology gap to narrow as lower accuracy providers improved performance.

    Then came L2C, which commercial providers seemed to virtually ignore, presumably causing much frustration for the GPS program office. L2C is still not a frequency in the international navigation protected band, so interference from regular commercial sources is unregulated — probably not a good long-term bet.

    But L5? Now that’s protected, and it’s the coming second frequency for not only GPS, but also Galileo (E5a). Even the Indian IRNSS system and Japanese QZSS both use the L5 frequency. So the expectation in high-precision land has always been that soon L1/L5 receivers would start to show up and start to erode the high-end market from the bottom up.

    BCM47755 uses two different frequency signals from each satellite. (Image: Broadcom)

    Well, Broadcom has just announced a new L1/L5 GNSS chip aimed at the mass market for cellphones. The chip incorporates a complete RF-to-pseudorange receiver and dual-core processing engine that currently produces data for positions and velocities, and generates ionospheric corrections from L1/L5 GPS and E1/E5a Galileo.

    Dual-frequency receiver and dual processor in Broadcom’s new L1/L5 chip.

    Why bother, when neither the L5 GPS nor Galileo constellations are fully deployed? It just so happens that there are now around 30 satellites broadcasting both frequencies, so at any one time, according to Broadcom, there are about eight  in view for a large portion of locations around the world.

    That’s plenty from which to gather all the dual-frequency signals and derive the data needed to get to 30-centimeter-accurate positions most of the time. And the chip also digs carrier phase out of these signals for dual-frequency processing and detecting cycle slips to improve positioning reliability — bad satellites are discarded from the position solution.

    So, what does taking positioning from 5 meters with L1-only (Broadcom 4774 chip) to 30 centimeters with L1/L5 (Broadcom BCM47755 new chip) do for OEM manufacturers? Without external sensor aiding, you can get lane-departure warnings for cars; with more satellite visibility, it enables much-improved down-town navigation.

    Probably the biggest gain is in reduced power consumption. With 28 nm geometry, the new chip uses 50 percent less power: “current consumption during GNSS tracking can be lower than 5 mA,” claims Broadcom. The question is will the price for OEMs be similar to what they already pay for L1 chips? Broadcom says this will probably be the case.

    The new chip has already gone through one re-spin as a result of initial testing, and is currently available in sample quantities with production to start “early next year.” Broadcom’s current Tier 1 customers are each at various stages of evaluation, so next year’s cellphones may well incorporate 30-cm positioning.

    Who can say where else this remarkable chip may find a home? Any OEM wanting a quick way to an L1/L5 receiver might want to incorporate it. Or maybe it could aid reliability if added to automotive lane departure warning systems – who knows?

    This is just the first mass-market dual-frequency chip receiver announcement. Could there be other developments already underway by other mass-market chip-makers?

  • Trimble introduces lower power GNSS-inertial boards

    Trimble has introduced a new family of Trimble BD GNSS boards for high-precision guidance and control applications.

    The BD boards’ simple connectivity and configuration allow system integrators and OEMs to easily add GNSS positioning and orientation — with the ability to upgrade its capabilities — using the same board footprint, connectors and software interface for specialized and custom hardware solutions, the company said.

    The compact Trimble BD boards include a broad range of receiver capabilities, from high-accuracy GNSS only to full GNSS-Inertial features for positioning and 3D orientation. Firmware options are upgradeable, allowing functionality to be added as requirements change.

    Product manufacturers in markets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous vehicles, fleet management and aviation now have the ability to offer customers an extensive range of capabilities to meet all their needs.

    According to Trimble, the low-power BD family of boards includes the BD940 GNSS and GNSS-Inertial boards and new top-of-the-line BD990 GNSS, GNSS-Heading and GNSS-Inertial boards, enabling customers to choose the most appropriate receiver for their applications.

    In addition, the BX940 and BX992 are available in a rugged enclosure for applications used in harsh environments.

    Integrating Trimble RTX technology, which enables precise and robust location worldwide without the use of a base station, the BD boards are ideal for flexible positioning. Trimble RTX technology enables users to subscribe to a complete portfolio of real-time correction services that deliver varying levels of accuracy depending on the user’s application requirements.

    The new BD family incorporates the latest Trimble Maxwell technology with advances in high-precision GNSS-Inertial positioning. By integrating inertial sensors onto the GNSS boards, users can experience more robust performance in a variety of challenging environments such as urban canyons, tunnels, heavy canopy or other GNSS-denied environments.

    Robust centimeter-level, real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning is achieved through the combination of multi-frequency GNSS — full triple-frequency support of all available GNSS satellite constellations—and onboard inertial sensors.

    System integrators and OEMS also have the ability to detect interference with the included RF Spectrum Monitoring and Analysis tool embedded in the receiver. The GNSS engine with 336 channels is capable of tracking L1/L2/L5 frequencies from the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou constellations.

    “The OEM and system integrator communities demand high performance, reliability and support for their positioning solutions,” said Elmar Lenz, general manager of Trimble’s Integrated Technologies Division. “The new BD family of boards deliver the latest GNSS and inertial technology in an easy-to-integrate form factor.”

    The new Trimble BD OEM GNSS family is available now through Trimble’s Integrated Technologies Precision GNSS Sales Channel.

  • New LTE tracker platform connects and locates objects

    New LTE tracker platform connects and locates objects

    LTE chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. and semiconductor company STMicroelectronics have introduced CLOE, an LTE-connected tracker platform based on the integration of Sequans and ST technologies.

    An acronym of Connecting and Locating Objects Everywhere, CLOE combines the Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies of two industry manufacturers into one comprehensive platform that simplifies the development of LTE-based IoT tracker devices for the full range of vertical markets, including logistics, consumer electronics and automotive.

    Specifically designed and optimized for OEMs and ODMs to add IoT tracking capability to their product offerings, CLOE integrates Sequans’ Monarch LTE Cat M1/NB1 chip and ST’s Teseo III GNSS chip for communications and satellite-based tracking performance.

    “CLOE targets multiple vertical markets with best-in-class performance for all of the important tracking measures: battery life, location accuracy, reachability, mobility and reporting periodicity,” said Antonio Radaelli, infotainment BU director at STMicroelectronics. “’Componentizing’ ST’s navigation technology and Sequans’ LTE modem technology makes CLOE an ideal platform to build trackers of all types — anything a developer can think of.”

    “The tight integration of ST’s latest-generation Teseo chip with our Monarch LTE chip results in a power-optimized, cost-effective, all-in-one solution to speed new IoT tracker devices to market in a very short time,” said Danny Kedar, vice president of Sequans’ IoT business unit. “CLOE delivers ultra reliable LTE connectivity with ultra-low-power consumption, and high performance GNSS and accelerometer performance, including lowest time to first fix.”

    CLOE Key Features

    • Turnkey cellular tracker solution for OEMs and ODMs, anywhere in the world
    • Chipset integrates PMU, LTE, GNSS, memories and MCU
    • First-to-market, operator-certified
    • LTE Cat M1/NB1 dual-category
    • Covers all worldwide LTE bands with a single hardware design
    • High GNSS accuracy and short time to first fix
    • Support for autonomous or server-based Assisted GPS (AGPS) for optimal time to fix
    • Designed to address multiple track & trace segments, including
      • Logistics
      • Consumer electronics
      • Automotive
    • Optimized for low power consumption and cost
    • Modular design includes GNSS, cellular connectivity, MEMS; can be expanded to include other sensors, Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi.

    CLOE is designed and optimized for production based on a full bill of materials (BOM) that includes LTE, GNSS, accelerometer, power supply, battery management, LED and button management. The modular design enables copy/paste and optimizes BOM cost. CLOE is easily customizable.

  • Tersus launches new version of Precis-BX306 RTK board

    Tersus launches new version of Precis-BX306 RTK board

    Tersus GNSS Inc. has released a major upgrade to its Precis-BX306 RTK board with new and improved GPS/GLONASS functionality. Tersus GNSS is a manufacturer of high-precision GNSS real-time kinematic (RTK) boards, receivers and systems.

    Precis-BX306 Board Easy Kit.

    The new version of Precis-BX306 supports up to 20-Hz RTK solution and raw measurement output, which can be integrated with autopilots and inertial navigation units.

    With improved algorithms, the new Precis-BX306 demonstrates its ability that the 30-km baseline can be fixed quickly, the company said.

    Moreover, the dynamic fix rate shows an advantage comparing to the majority of competitive solutions. Stable fix rate is achieved when it is working under city valley, tree, and other challenging environment.

    “The technology changes made in this version give a whole new user experience for our customers,” said Xiaohua Wen, founder and CEO. “With the updated capabilities, the Precis-BX306 is particularly useful for drones, surveyors and geographic information system data users interested in an affordable RTK solution.”

    This latest version of Precis-BX306 is pin-to-pin compatible with major GNSS boards in the market, offering a flexible interface. Event mark and PPS are supported as always. All enhanced features demonstrate Tersus’ commitment to the needs of customers who value dynamic accuracy and stability.

    The new Precis-BX306 is available for order and delivery immediately, and it will be shown at Intergeo in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 26-28.

  • Unicore launches high-precision GNSS receiver module

    Unicore launches high-precision GNSS receiver module

    Unicore has launched its next-generation quad-system GNSS module, the UM482.

    The UM482 is a multi-frequency high-precision heading module with a small footprint, supporting the satellite signals BDS B1/B2, GPS L1/L2, GLONASS L1/L2, Galileo E1/ E5b and SBAS.

    The module is designed for applications such as robotics, drones, intelligent drives and mechanical control.

    Unicore’s UM482 high-precision heading/positioning module.

    Key features of the UM482 module:

    • Tiny 30 × 40 millimeter footprint, all-system multi-frequency high-precision heading module, surface-mount (SMD) packaging
    • Supports GPS L1/L2, BDS B1/B2, GLONASS L1/ L2, Galileo E1/E5b
    • 1-cm RTK positioning accuracy and 0.2-degree heading accuracy with 1-m baseline
    • Dual antenna input with support of antenna signal detection
    • Supporting simultaneous output of heading and positioning, 20-Hz data output rate
    • Adaptive recognition of RTCM input data format
    • On-board micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) integrated navigation

    The UM482 GNSS RTK module adopts Unicore’s new-generation Nebulas II chip and UGypsophila real-time kinematic (RTK) algorithm.

    Based on high performance data-sharing technology and the simplified operation system of the Nebulas II chip, the UGypsophila RTK algorithm dramatically optimizes matrix processing, the company said. It can involve all satellites from GPS, BDS, GLONASS and Galileo in RTK and heading processing, shorten RTK and heading initialization time to 5 seconds and significantly improve the reliability and accuracy of RTK and heading.

    Furthermore, the UM482 integrates the onboard MEMS chip and U-Fusion integrated navigation algorithm, resulting in optimized continuity and reliability of accurate heading and positioning output in tough environments such as city canyons, tunnels and overpasses. Inputs of odometer and external higher performance inertial components are supported.

    The UM482, along with all the UM and UB family of receivers, will be on display at booth B4018 for the duration of the Intergeo 2017 trade show, which takes place Sept. 26-28 at Berlin Exhibition Center, Berlin, Germany.

  • Taoglas launches RF filter division for IoT, mobile apps

    Taoglas is launching a new RF Filter division specifically developed for Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile applications.

    Taoglas, a provider of IoT and M2M antenna products, made the announcement at at Mobile World Congress Americas this week.

    Taoglas aims to provide high-quality, small-form-factor, cost-effective and easy-to-implement RF filters.

    The new filter division will feature a range of off-the-shelf filters for a variety of applications, including filters for emerging license-free bands used for IoT, L1/L2 and L1/L5 GNSS applications.

    Taoglas can also work with customers to develop custom filter solutions.

    “Today’s mobile and IoT applications require high-performance RF filters, in a form factor and cost that makes sense for our customers,” said Dermot O’Shea, co-CEO at Taoglas. “We’ve seen the frustrations our own engineers have had in quickly sourcing reliable components for active antenna and electronic designs. Taoglas is eliminating that frustration with its own filter division, applying the same principles for success that we’ve demonstrated with our antenna business.”

    The filters are manufactured in Taoglas’ purpose-built production facilities in Taiwan, and shipped immediately anywhere worldwide. Support is available from any Taoglas location globally. Filters are available through regular Taoglas sales and distribution channels.

  • Skydel’s latest SDX release features new jamming option

    Skydel’s latest SDX release features new jamming option

    Skydel Solutions has released SDX Release 17.8, which offers a host of improvements, according to the company. The 17.8 release offers an advanced jamming feature, as well as improvements for Gaussian noise, spectrum view and the graphical user interface (GUI).

    The new advanced jamming option provides unique interference testing capabilities for SDX users. It leverages the power of the GPU/SDR combo to create a new way to simulate interferences, enabling transmitter trajectories and user-defined waveform creation.

    Skydel Solutions will be exhibiting at ION GNSS+ in Portland, Oregon, in booth #100. Attendees can learn about the new system and watch a demonstration of SDX’s latest features. Also, Skydel’s Iurie Ilie will host a technical session about spoofing on Friday, Sept. 29, at the conference.

    With SDX’s Advanced Jamming package, users can:

    • Create user-defined waveforms. Chirp, CW, BOC, AWGN, BPSK and pulse interference modulation are supported and can be combined at will to create custom, complex interference waveforms.
    • Create multiple real-time jammers. Users can create a single or multiple jammer transmitters with user-defined waveforms. Up to 100 interferences can be generated in real time.
    • Add dynamics to transmitters. Users can create more realistic jammers for simulations; SDX’s dynamic jammers can change position relative to the receiver as the simulation progresses. Their power levels are defined from the transmitter’s point of view. During the simulation, SDX automatically calculates the resulting signal at the receiver antenna in real-time and takes into account the transmitter antenna pattern, the propagation loss and the receiver antenna pattern. The transmitter, like the simulated receiver, has six degrees of freedom. Furthermore, the trajectory may even be defined in real-time using the hardware-in-the-loop API.

    Read more on Skydel’s blog.

  • Low-power GNSS module targeted at small consumer devices

    Low-power GNSS module targeted at small consumer devices

    u‑blox has introduced a new member of its ZOE‑M8 series of ultra-small GNSS system‑in‑package (SiP). The ZOE‑M8B is a power-efficient GNSS SiP designed available for small battery-powered consumer devices. It combines superior performance with ultra-low power for portable and wearable devices in the fitness, health monitoring and personal tracker markets, the company said.

    The ZOE-M8B by u-blox is designed for small consumer products. (IMAGE: u-blox)

    Small battery-powered devices are defined by their limited size, weight and power — any GNSS solution targeting this application space must provide exceptional performance while consuming minimal system resources.

    The ZOE‑M8B has been designed for this class of applications. It consumes 25 mW on average in most environments (including urban), and as little as 12 mW during instantaneous tracking. This is a three-fold improvement in power efficiency when compared with other variants in the ZOE‑M8 series.

    “The ZOE‑M8B SiP offers the best trade-off between power consumption and location accuracy,” said Uffe Pless, u-blox positioning product manager. “This will enable manufacturers to develop entirely new battery-powered devices that integrate GNSS functionality, without comprising performance or the user experience.”

    The ZOE‑M8B uses u-blox’s proprietary Super‑E mode of operation, which automatically adjusts the power consumed by the system components based on the external conditions.

    The footprint of a design with a chip and individual external components is about 50 percent larger than the printed circuit board (PCB) footprint of the ZOE-M8B. Measuring 4.5 x 4.5 x 1.0 mm, the ZOE‑M8B integrates a GNSS receiver, TCXO, SAW and LNA, making it easy to add accurate location and positioning functionality to almost any device, u-blox said.

    The ZOE-M8B is the latest addition to the ZOE-M8 GNSS module family, which consists of the ZOE-M8G for 1.8- powered devices and the ZOE-M8Q for 3.0-volt devices, both focusing on maximum accuracy.

    u-blox will display the ZOE-M8B at MWC Americas in booth N.352 (M2M Zone). The show takes place Sept.12-14 in San Francisco.

  • Taoglas launches comprehensive range of high-precision GNSS antennas

    Taoglas launches comprehensive range of high-precision GNSS antennas

    The BOLT A.90.A.10451111. (Image: Taoglas)

    Taoglas, a provider of IoT and M2M antenna products, has launched a range of high-performance GNSS antennas specifically designed to power the next generation of applications that require highly accurate location capabilities.

    These applications include navigation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), surveying, agriculture, connected cars and autonomous vehicles.

    The new antenna range is Taoglas’ most comprehensive series of high-precision GNSS antennas and incorporates new form factors and use of multiple RF bands.

    Taoglas’ new range includes systems and antennas that use Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou, as well as GPS L2 or L5 bands.

    “Today’s connected devices and applications demand new ways of approaching the age-old problem of location accuracy,” said Dermot O’Shea, co-CEO for Taoglas. “In certain applications, there is simply no room for positioning errors — location accuracy is an absolute requirement.”

    The GRS.10 smart antenna. (Image: Taoglas)

    The new antenna range includes:

    • The GRS.10, a smart antenna that includes a high-performance Taoglas GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) ceramic patch antenna module integrated with a u-blox NEO-M8U GNSS receiver.
    • The Torpedo series GNSS quadrifilar helical antennas, extremely high-performance wideband satellite antennas for position-information-critical applications. It provides high circularly polarized antenna gain across a wide beamwidth. These are available in a passive (QHA) or active (AQHA) versions.
    • The BOLT A.90.A.10451111, a new GNSS timing antenna that includes lightning-induced surge protection. It is designed for the base station market. The advantage over other timing antennas is the addition of GLONASS and BeiDou frequencies.

    The complete range of precision GNSS antennas also includes:

    • The MAT.12A. (Image: Taoglas)

      The ASFGP.36A.07.0100C, a ceramic GPS L1/L2 low-profile, low-axial-ratio, embedded stacked active patch antenna.

    • The MAT.12A, a GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou dueling-loop chip antenna evaluation board, which delivers the advantages of a circularly polarized patch antenna with two miniaturized low-profile chip antennas on a smaller PCB footprint at one-fifth the weight.

    This week, Taoglas also launched small form-factor ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas designed to work with DecaWave’s chipset and module solutions for applications including asset tracking, follow-me drones, healthcare monitoring, smart home services and other applications that demand high-performance indoor localization capabilities.

    Taoglas’ complete range of GNSS and UWB antennas will be on display in Booth N.614 at Mobile World Congress Americas, Sept. 12-14, in San Francisco.

  • Taoglas launches ultra-wideband antennas for indoor positioning

    Taoglas launches ultra-wideband antennas for indoor positioning

    Taoglas has launched a range of small-form-factor ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas specifically designed to enable centimeter-level positioning and angle-of-arrival applications.

    The FXUWB10, UWC.01 and UWCCP.01 ultra-wideband antennas by Taoglas.

    Applications include asset tracking, follow-me drones, healthcare monitoring, smart home services and other applications that demand high-performance indoor localization capabilities, the company said.

    The antennas offer high efficiencies across a wide spectrum of frequency bands, from 3 GHz to 10 GHz.

    Indoor wireless positioning has long been hampered by technologies that were not designed for this purpose, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and assisted GPS.

    Taoglas will be exhibiting in Booth 614 at Mobile World Congress Americas, Sept. 12-14, in San Francisco.

    Ultra-Wideband. UWB is a low-power digital wireless technology that offers significant increases in location precision and range while transmitting large amounts of digital data short distances over a wide spectrum of frequency bands. UWB’s low-power requirements offer increased battery life of sensors and tags, leading to reduction in overall operational costs.

    Taoglas’ range of UWB antennas, designed in Taoglas’ Munich, Germany, engineering center, features both state-of-the-art flexible embedded UWB antennas and UWB embedded SMT chip antennas. According to the company, the flexible FXUWB range of antennas were developed utilizing a “peel and stick” assembly process, attaching securely to non-metal surfaces via 3M adhesive with a flexible micro-coaxial cable mounting.

    The UWB chip antennas are designed to be surface mounted directly onto a printed circuit board (PCB). Both series of antennas help designers future-proof devices, keeping costs low while covering all common UWB commercial bands.

    “Today’s emerging applications require very precise indoor localization of assets, objects and people,” said Ronan Quinlan, co-CEO for Taoglas. “UWB can work as a type of ‘indoor GPS’ to help solve the precision dilemma for indoor applications, bringing much greater levels of precision than current technologies. We optimize complex antenna performance parameters such as the Group Delay, Polarization and Fidelity Factor. Taoglas’ first-to-market line of UWB antennas are designed to help our customers capitalize on this need for real-time precision localization.”

    Autonomous Antenna. One antenna that Taoglas co-developed exclusively with DecaWave is the UWCCP.01 circularly polarized chip antenna, a mass-market antenna specifically designed to enable a new generation of autonomous applications.

    The DecaWave DW1000 chip.

    The UWB antennas were designed for use with the DecaWave DW1000 chip and are also compatible with any other UWB sensor modules on the market, the company added. Since its launch in December 2013, more than 3.5 million units of the DW1000 have shipped across multiple industries.

    From real-time location of people and assets in factories, hospitals and mines, to automotive keyless entry systems, to drones, connected home and sports, the accurate location and secure communications capability of the DW1000 has already taken numerous applications to new heights.

    “Antennas play a key role in our customers’ applications. Performance is a given for customers but the capability to adapt to the constraints of the applications — size, shape, electronics environment — is equally important as end products get smaller and smaller,” said Ciaran Connell, CEO and co-founder, DecaWave. “DecaWave is really pleased to partner with Taoglas, as their expertise is not only in delivering high-performance, off-the-shelf antennas, but also to provide customization services that will be highly beneficial to our customers.”