Current u-blox GNSS platforms — from u-blox M8 and beyond — support the recently completed BeiDou navigation satellite system modernizations, improving the availability of GNSS positioning services.

The opening ceremony of the BeiDou-3 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) was held in Beijing on July 31, officially celebrating the expansion of coverage offered by the critical Chinese space infrastructure to a global user base.

As a global supplier of GNSS positioning and wireless communication technologies, u-blox has been driving technological innovation and deeply involved in the Chinese market for many years.

Tests conducted across China and Europe have shown that including the BeiDou system can improve the positioning accuracy of GNSS receivers when multiple navigation satellite systems are tracked concurrently. When signals are partially obstructed, positioning accuracy can be significantly improved by incorporating the BeiDou system.

Data shows that in 2019, the overall output value of the Chinese satellite navigation and location service industry reached nearly 345 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4% over 2018, with the output value expected to exceed 400 billion yuan in 2020.

Graphic: China Satellite Navigation System Management Office Test Evaluation Research Center

Additional Services Provided by BeiDou

The BeiDou system provides a suite of additional services, including satellite and ground-based augmentation services, precise single-point positioning, precise timing and global short message services, laying a solid foundation for BeiDou’s ubiquitous navigation and tracking applications.

Applications of GNSS technology continue to diversify, leveraging the all-weather, all-time, tracking, navigation and timing services it offers. GNSS technology is penetrating deeper into traditional industrial verticals, such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, power and energy, as well as in railway and air transportation, including their infrastructure construction and management.

At the same time, GNSS technology has become an indispensable and “smart” factor in emerging application fields such as the internet of things and the “internet of vehicles,” as well as in innovative applications such as autonomous driving, automatic parking and automatic logistics, and is now commonplace in many industrial and consumer use cases.

“U-blox has been closely following the modernization of the BeiDou navigation system and is ready to work with partners in various industries to promote the expansion of industry applications, expand emerging markets and jointly create a green industry ecosystem,” said Hamilton Chen, China country manager at u-blox.