u-blox
More info
- Released
- 1997
- Type
- Positioning and wireless modules
The Swiss GPS module inside a surprising share of everything that knows where it is.
u-blox began in 1997 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich and is based in Thalwil. It makes receiver chips and ready-made modules for GPS, Galileo and the other satellite systems, and over time added cellular and short-range radio.
In hobby electronics the name is close to a synonym for GPS: drones, Arduino shields and trackers often carry a NEO module. The industrial value lies in services such as RTK correction, which can get a position down to centimetres. The cellular modules for IoT and NB-IoT have been a harder sell – there u-blox competes with Chinese makers offering much the same thing for less.