u-blox SPG 4.04 User Manual

UBX-20036165 SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products 1/11
C1-Public

Author

Date

Topic

Release note

SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products

UBX-20036165 C1-Public
Mathias Vetter
4 September 2020

Copying, reproduction, modification or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only permitted with the express written permission of u-blox. The information
contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or implied, is given, including but not limited, with respect to the accuracy,
correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u-blox at any time. For most recent documents, visit www.u-blox.com.
Copyright© u-blox AG.

Contents

1 General information 2

1.1 Scope 2

1.2 Related documentation 2

2 Released firmware image 2

2.1 External SPG 4.04 image 2

2.2 ROM SPG 4.04 image 3

2.3 Released software 3

2.3.1 u-center 3

2.3.2 USB driver 3

2.4 Identification 3

2.4.1 USB identification 3

3 Features 4

3.1 Supported GNSS 4

3.2 Feature support 4

3.3 High update rate 4

3.4 Improved BeiDou and Galileo startup sensitivity 4

3.5 QZSS L1S support 4

3.6 BDSBAS L1 C/A support 4

3.7 Firmware update without flash memory 5

3.8 RF spectrum view 5

3.9 AssistNow Offline and Autonomous 5

3.10 Secure boot 5

3.11 Authentication of data output 5

3.12 Antenna supervisor with reduced external circuitry 5

3.13 Location batching 5

3.14 Differential GNSS support via RTCM 3.3 5

4 Dropped or reduced features 5

4.1 Power save mode configuration 5

4.2 Time pulse quantization error 6

4.3 IMES support 6

5 Message interface 6

5.1 NMEA 6

5.1.1 Overview 6

5.1.2 New NMEA messages 6

5.1.3 Modified NMEA messages 6

UBX-20036165 SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products 2/11
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5.2 UBX 7

5.2.1 Overview 7

5.2.2 New UBX messages 7

5.2.3 Modified UBX messages 7

5.2.4 Deprecated UBX messages 8

5.2.5 Removed UBX messages 8

5.3 RTCM 8

5.3.1 Overview 8

5.3.2 New RTCM messages 9

5.3.3 Modified RTCM messages 9

5.3.4 Deprecated RTCM messages 9

5.3.5 Removed RTCM messages 9

5.4 Configuration interface 9

6 Known limitations 10

6.1 Resolved limitations since last release 10

6.2 System 10

6.3 Differences between EXT and ROM version 10

6.4 Power save mode 10

6.5 Navigation 10

6.6 Limitations in u-center support 11

1 General information

1.1 Scope

This release note applies to M9 chipset and module firmware version SPG 4.04.

The document covers the changes in the firmware for M9 chipset and module products
compared to M8 firmware version 3.01.

1.2 Related documentation

[1] NEO-M9N Interface description, UBX-19035940
[2] NEO-M9N Integration manual, UBX- 19014286
[3] u-center v20.06.01 Release notes, UBX-20010557
[4] XPLR-M9 Explorer kit user guide UBX-19041842

2 Released firmware image

2.1 External SPG 4.04 image

Released external firmware image for u-blox M9 products

File

JU_EXT_404.907640e53126add7de4708d754b575ef.bin

Firmware version

EXT CORE 4.04
FWVER=SPG 4.04

Protocol version

PROTVER=32.01

ROM base support

Boot ROM 1.02

UBX-20036165 SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products 3/11
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The image can be used as external image stored on flash or downloaded to the on-device RAM
at every startup.

2.2 ROM SPG 4.04 image

Released ROM firmware image for u-blox M9 products

Firmware version

ROM CORE 4.04
FWVER=SPG 4.04

Protocol version

PROTVER=32.01

ROM base support

n.a.

2.3 Released software

2.3.1 u-center

u-blox recommends using u-center GNSS evaluation software version 20.06.01 (or later) with
the released product.

⚠ A newer version of u-center GNSS evaluation software will be required to support u-blox chips with ROM

SPG 4.04.

Note that u-center support has some limitations, see section 6.6 for details.

u-center GNSS evaluation software

File

u-center_v20.06.01.exe

MD5 sum

15f0b9987a5acb88855856959f05b249

2.3.2 USB driver

USB driver for u-blox M9

Windows CDC-ACM

Version: 1.2.0.8
Available from: https://www.u-blox.com/en/ubx-viewer/view/UBX-GNSS-CDC-ACM-

windows_Driver_(UBX-drv-v1.2.0.8).exe.zip?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.u­blox.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fproducts%2Ftools%2FUBX-GNSS-CDC-ACM­windows_Driver_%2528UBX-drv-v1.2.0.8%2529.exe.zip

Windows Sensor
Driver

Version: 2.40
Available from: https://www.u-

blox.com/sites/default/files/ubloxGnss_sensorDeviceDriver_windows_3264_v2.40.exe

2.4 Identification

2.4.1 USB identification

USB identification of u-blox M9 products

Vendor ID

0x1546

Vendor string

u-blox AG - www.u-blox.com

Product ID

0x01A9

Driver string

u-blox GNSS receiver

UBX-20036165 SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products 4/11
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3 Features

3.1 Supported GNSS

The supported navigation satellite systems are divided into two groups: major GNSS and
augmentation systems. Major GNSS are GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo; augmentation
systems are SBAS and QZSS.

Any combination of major GNSS is supported. The augmentation systems are only supported
in combination with GPS.

3.2 Feature support

The table below shows an overview of the features available in the firmware depending on the
major GNSS configuration.

Feature

Comment

Time pulse

All GNSS configurations supported

PSM

All GNSS configurations supported

AssistNow Online

Supported only for GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS, not for SBAS

AssistNow Offline

Supported only for GPS and GLONASS

AssistNow Autonomous

Supported only for GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo

Weak signal tracking

All GNSS configurations supported

RTCM

All GNSS configurations supported

Interference suppression

All GNSS configurations supported

Logging and batching

All GNSS configurations supported

Unprocessed navigation data

All GNSS configurations supported

3.3 High update rate

The receiver can be configured to produce navigation solutions at up to 25 Hz.

3.4 Improved BeiDou and Galileo startup sensitivity

The cold start acquisition sensitivity for BeiDou and Galileo is improved by 2 dB over M8
receivers. Hot start sensitivity is improved by 4 dB for BeiDou and 3 dB for Galileo.

3.5 QZSS L1S support

The receiver can use corrections provided via the QZSS L1S signal.

Users of the receiver can access the Disaster and Crisis Management report by enabling UBX­RXM-SFRBX and parsing it themselves. There is no dedicated output message for this purpose.

3.6 BDSBAS L1 C/A support

The receiver is prepared to use corrections for GPS L1 C/A provided via BDSBAS L1 signal
(Oct/2020).

These SVs are not enabled by default so the customer will need to do this explicitly.