U‑blox launches multi-band antenna series for high-precision applications

U-blox, a global provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies, has released the ANN-MB multi‑band active GNSS antennas, tailored specifically to the needs of applications requiring centimeter-level positioning accuracies.

The ANN-MB series. (Photo: u-blox)

ANN-MB offers product designers an easy-to-implement and reliable multi-band antenna solution, u-blox said. It is designed for small- to medium-size customers with little experience with GNSS antennas who would like to accelerate their time to market.

The ANN-MB antenna series builds on u‑blox’s two decades’ worth of experience with high-performance antennas for GNSS receivers. Developed in conjunction with the recently announced u‑blox F9 multi-band high precision positioning platform, ANN‑MB receives signals on the L1 and L2/L5 bands of all four global navigation satellite constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou).

The antenna features versatile mounting and connector options (SMA, SMB, MCX) and supports an extended temperature range (up to 105 degrees Celsius), making it suitable for applications subject to extreme temperatures, the company added.

Before the announcement of the u‑blox F9 high-precision positioning platform, multi-band GNSS technology primarily targeted niche industries.

“With the u‑blox F9 platform, we took a major step in bringing down the cost of ownership of high-precision GNSS technology, such as our recently announced u‑blox ZED‑F9P module,” said JunJun Lu, senior engineer of product management, Product Center Positioning at u‑blox. “The ANN-MB multi-band antenna series takes this effort one step further, paving the way for new high precision positioning applications in the consumer and industrial markets.”

A limited number of ANN-MB-00 (SMA) prototypes are available now, with production of the ANN-MB series planned for December.