The new and innovative Super-E mode reduces power consumption by two-thirds to just 20 mW with position updates every second, with virtually no loss of accuracy. It delivers exceptional speed and position accuracy, even in tests with applications such as portable and wearable electronic devices, where the antenna is small and movement prevents a constant view of the sky.
Ideal combination for wearable and portable devices:
The UBX M8230 CT's Super-E mode is ideal for devices requiring high levels of speed and positioning accuracy, but where power is limited. In addition to smartwatches, fitness wearables, and activity trackers, it can also be used in asset, person, child, and pet trackers to provide precise and frequent location information with minimal impact on battery life.
“The constant need to know the user’s location on wearables demands a high battery consumption, and this has traditionally limited the adoption of GNSS. The low power consumption of the UBX-M8230-CT, combined with its high positioning accuracy and ultra-compact design of <30 mm²/m², allows GNSS functionality to be added to virtually all wearables,” said Florian Bousquet, Market Development Manager, Product Center Positioning at u-blox.
He added: “The UBX-M8230-CT’s Super-E mode uses concurrent GPS reception with GLONASS or BeiDou. It allows temporary batches of location data on the chip, which helps to further reduce system power consumption and avoids the need to constantly run the main CPU.”.
Thanks to the compact size and power savings provided by the UBX-M8230-CT, designers can add features that the market demands, such as heart rate monitoring, while offering high location accuracy and high speed.
Samples will be available in March 2017, and mass production will begin in summer 2017.
