u-blox Added Gyroscope Sensor into GPS Dead Reckoning Reference Design

u-blox has added the Epson’s gyroscope sensor into its GPS reference design. u-blox' dead reckoning solution is designed for applications that require continuous positioning such as fleet management, toll systems and vehicle navigation. An odometer calculates distance traveled and a gyroscope determines turn rate. This data supplements the GPS data to provide continuous positioning in tunnels, indoor parking facilities, urban canyons and other environments in which it may be difficult to obtain a GPS satellite signal.

Dieter Liesabeths, Epson Europe Electronics, said:

u-blox' choice of our gyro sensor for this reference design underlines our sensors' superiority in key characteristics like linearity, zero-point-drift and temperature stability, as well as small size. The use of the XV-8000CB gyro sensor in u-blox’ dead reckoning reference design is fully in line with our strategy to aggressively address the toll collection and navigation market with the gyro.

Karsten Tietz, u-blox, said:

u-blox' LEA-4R dead reckoning GPS module enables 100% road coverage. Epson's XV-8000-CB gyroscope offers improved temperature, shock and vibration stability…

…The combination of Epson’s high performance gyroscope with our highly flexible and compact LEA-4R module provides engineers with a high performance solution that will significantly speed up their design cycle and ease GPS integration.

The AEK-4R dead reckoning reference design Evaluation Kit is available from October from u-blox official distributors and from u-blox' online shop. The reference design schematics are available upon request. Please contact sales@u-blox.com for details.

About Epson Toyocom Corporation
Epson Toyocom Corporation was formed through the integration of the quartz business of Seiko Epson Corporation and Toyo Communication Equipment Co., Ltd. in October 2005. Epson Toyocom follows a "3D strategy" designed to drive both horizontal growth through expansion in three device categories-timing devices, sensing devices and optical devices-and vertical growth through combinations of products in these categories. With this strategy, Epson Toyocom aims to be the leading company in the quartz device industry, selling a wide range of products to customers worldwide, from cellular phones for consumer fields, to industrial fields such as core network systems and automotive systems. Epson Toyocom has eight production sites and more than 7,000 employees worldwide.

About u-blox
u-blox is an international company headquartered in Switzerland, with sales organizations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1997, u-blox develops leading positioning technology, products and services based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including GPS and Galileo, for the automotive and mobile communications markets.