u-blox MIA-M10 GPS module

u-blox has announced its smallest GNSS module series to date, the u-blox MIA-M10. Built on the ultralow-power u-blox M10 GNSS platform, the module offers a power-efficient solution for size-constrained battery-powered asset tracking devices. It targets an expanding market for people, pets and livestock trackers, as well as industrial sensors and consumer goods.

Said to be roughly half the size of competing products, the 4.5 x 4.5 mm module should allow developers to design more attractive and comfortable solutions, further driving the adoption of positioning technology in consumer and industrial solutions. It offers ultralow power consumption without compromising GNSS performance, with power-save modes that can double the battery life by balancing position accuracy and power consumption.

The product concurrently receives four GNSS constellations (GPS, Galileo, BeiDou and GLONASS) for maximum satellite signal availability. Combined with its good RF sensitivity, the module offers robust positioning performance for solutions with small antennas as well as for devices operating in weak-signal environments. The ready-to-use module requires no external components, reducing engineering and testing efforts and speeding up time to market.

Support for u-blox AssistNow assisted GNSS service, which delivers orbital data via the internet, cuts the time it takes the module to determine its initial position at startup, allowing it to immediately track satellites without having to wait for slow satellite data downloads to complete. Applications requiring extra-long power autonomy can use u-blox’s CloudLocate service, which extends the life of IoT applications by offloading power-hungry position calculation to the cloud.

The module is available in two product variants. The MIA-M10Q targets size-constrained battery-powered tracking devices, with its small size, low power demand and performance making it useful for wearable devices, small drones, cameras, bike computers and battery-powered sensors. The second variant, the MIA-M10C, targets users requiring more flexibility to combine the module with an active or custom antenna circuit.