GNSS Provides Catalyst for Highly Automated Driving
When you sit in a self-driving car, have you ever thought about how the car helps you determine which lane the vehicle is traveling in, and how it determines whether you should get on the elevated road ahead or continue straight? In other words, how to realize the high-precision positioning of self-driving vehicles?
The answer is clear: your vehicle uses a GNSS high-precision positioning system.
As a company specializing in wireless communications and positioning products, u-blox wireless solutions are designed to connect machines, vehicles and people, and have developed a complete and highly mature package of GNSS, V2X, sensor and cellular connectivity technologies.
On August 26, 2019, Mr. Thomas Seiler, CEO, President of Marketing and Sales of u-blox, gave an exhaustive overview of u-blox's product portfolio and China market strategy at the u-blox 2019 China Media Communication Conference, with GNSS related to autonomous driving being a top priority.
Mr. Thomas Seiler, CEO, President Marketing & Sales, u-blox
GNSS positioning system with centimeter-level accuracy
An interesting question is how accurate is the u-blox GNSS positioning system? The answer Thomas Seiler gives is centimeter-level. u-blox multi-band GNSS modules provide stable, high-precision positioning with centimeter-level accuracy within seconds.
Thomas Seiler explains that the GNSS module is based on top of the u-blox F9 technology platform and is combined with waypoint projections and high precision algorithms for more advanced analysis of signals from the sky; the use of dual-frequency satellites also serves as a good calibration; and the u-blox F9 platform integrates real-time kinematic (RTK) technology to support and provide mainstream GNSS calibration services, while also providing an open interface to receive services provided by traditional GNSS calibration service providers.
Thomas Seiler further explains that customers can either create their own calibration data or purchase calibration data from established third parties, such as Sapcorda's Authorized Data Service, which provides calibration data directly from satellites.
It is the combination of multiple technical factors that enables u-blox GNSS modules to achieve centimeter-level accuracy, providing a critical foundation for highly automated and fully self-driving vehicles. The standalone u-blox F9 platform, which itself achieves sub-meter accuracy, receives signals from all GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) and further improves performance by increasing the number of satellites visible at any given time.
Reducing Costs for the Mass Market
Having achieved high accuracy in technology, how does the marketability of products and technologies work? Thomas Seiler says that the popularization and expansion of high-accuracy GNSS has always faced great difficulties due to the high cost of devices and the reliance on high-priced calibration services.
Further, it is the inability of traditional GNSS positioning service solutions to meet the needs of the emerging mass market. It is with this in mind that Sapcorda, a joint venture led by u-blox with a total of four companies, Bosch, Mitsubishi Electric and Geo++, has been formed with the aim of combining their efforts to provide affordable global GNSS calibration services compatible with mass market applications, which undoubtedly provides a strong impetus for the accelerated adoption of autonomous driving.
An up-to-date, application example from July 2019 can prove it. That is Siemens' successful integration of the ublox ZED-F9K high-precision positioning module in the Toyota Prius V2X test fleet.
V2X test vehicles typically use high-precision GNSS receivers for positioning. However, traditional receivers are expensive and not intended for the mass market. By applying the ublox ZED-F9K solution to high-precision positioning projections, Siemens not only obtains the actual situation of the test fleet in real time, but also reduces the cost and workload required for vehicle development.
Win-win, deep-rooted development strategy in the Chinese market
With regard to the strategic layout of the Chinese market, Thomas Seiler mentioned that the Chinese market accounts for up to 50% of u-blox's performance in Asia, and 25% of u-blox's overall business revenue comes from China, so the Chinese market occupies an extremely important position. u-blox hopes to continue to strengthen the collaboration with business partners, and at the same time, conduct more business expansion to seek new opportunities for cooperation. u-blox hopes to continue to strengthen collaboration with its business partners, while expanding its business and seeking new opportunities for cooperation.
With the explosive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the advancement of automated driving technology, u-blox has unlimited potential, and the booming Chinese market will provide fertile soil for u-blox, while also allowing u-blox to fully utilize its products and solutions.
