u-blox accelerates the development of low power location trackers with u-track toolset

Using the u-track and C030-R410M toolset, product designers can have a working prototype of their application up and running in no time.

Thalwil, Switzerland – September 11, 2018 – u‑blox (SIX:UBXN), a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies, today introduced the toolset comprising the u-track software and the C030-R410M application board. The toolset is a rapid-prototyping platform that lets product designers test and optimize the position accuracy and power consumption of wireless location tracking applications that use LTE-M and NB‑IoT cellular networks, as well as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology. The toolset targets product engineers working on battery powered applications such as sport, people and asset trackers.

“With today’s technology, product designers can now include optimized battery life in their applications,” says Florian Bousquet, Product Manager, Product Center Positioning, at u‑blox. “We developed this toolset to give customers a quick and easy way to test the accuracy and the power consumption of their product ideas using the latest generation of our technology,” he says. “In many cases, they can replicate their applications and start testing the performance of different device configurations in under 15 minutes.”

“The toolset offers access to the very latest technologies, from LTE-M and NB-IoT cellular communication to our proprietary Super-E mode that delivers the best balance between power consumption and GNSS positioning performance,” he adds.

The u‑track software runs from embedded firmware on the new u‑blox C030-R410M application board. The board, specifically designed to rapidly prototype applications for the Internet of Things (IoT), includes an ultra-small, low power u‑blox ZOE-M8B GNSS receiver and a size-optimized SARA-R410M LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular communication module.

Additionally, u-track includes a PC software application. Its user-friendly dashboard lets users log, retrieve, and visualize power consumption, accuracy, and other important values, such as the time it takes the GNSS receiver to calculate a position (Time-To-First-Fix, TTFF).

The u-track and C030-R410M toolset will be showcased on September 12-14 at Mobile World Congress Americas, u-blox Booth no S.2702.