u-blox SPG 4.04 User Manual

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

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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 C1-Public

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 C1-Public

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 C1-Public

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.

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3.7 Firmware update without flash memory

It is possible to download the firmware from the host into the RAM of the receiver chip. This offers the possibility of saving BOM by eliminating the need for a flash memory device.

3.8 RF spectrum view

Customers can use the UBX-MON-SPAN message to analyze their design and find interference signals via a simple spectrum analyzer implementation.

3.9 AssistNow Offline and Autonomous

The Offline and Autonomous variants of the u-blox AssistNow services now work alongside each other. The receiver intelligently selects the most reliable source of orbit prediction, eliminating the need for the host to predict access to network and select which system to enable in advance.

Assist Autonomous is enabled by default in SPG 4.04.

3.10 Secure boot

The receiver will only run firmware signed by u-blox. This helps against attacks on the critical systems.

3.11 Authentication of data output

M9 receivers can authenticate all output data using asymmetric key-based cryptographic signatures. Users need to provide a private/public key pair for this communication.

3.12 Antenna supervisor with reduced external circuitry

The firmware supports analog current measurement based-antenna supervisors, offering a trade-off between cheaper supervisor circuits and faster reaction time.

3.13 Location batching

The firmware supports storage of navigation solutions for up to 5 minutes within the receiver even without an external flash. This could be used to reduce system power consumption by allowing the application processor to stay in low-power mode for an extended time.

3.14 Differential GNSS support via RTCM 3.3

With RTCM 3.3 code differential corrections users can achieve improved position accuracy. RTCM 3.3 supports corrections for all GNSS signals. This firmware does not support RTK operation mode.

4 Dropped or reduced features

This section lists features that have been dropped or reduced since M8 FW 3.01.

4.1 Power save mode configuration

The range of configuration options has been reduced compared to earlier standard precision products:

UBX-20036165 SPG 4.04 – firmware for u-blox M9 standard precision products 6/11 C1-Public

• 4 Hz cyclic tracking mode: Users are recommended to use power save modes with longer

periods, or continuous operation.

• Separate update rate in continuous and power-optimized tracking: M8 users needed to be

aware of the different effects of UBX-CFG-RATE and UBX-CFG-PM2 in different phases of

the receiver’s operation when configured to cyclic tracking. Now there is only one setting to

configure the update rate (via the CFG-RATE-* group).

4.2 Time pulse quantization error

This firmware does not support the output of “quantization error” via UBX-TIM-TP2. u-blox recommends using dedicated timing products for applications that require precise time information.

4.3 IMES support

This firmware does not support the QZSS Indoor Messaging System.

5 Message interface

5.1 NMEA

5.1.1 Overview

Four NMEA standards are supported. The default NMEA version is 4.10. Alternatively, versions

4.0, 2.3, and 2.1 can be enabled. The details on the NMEA talker identifier can be found in the Interface description [1].

5.1.2 New NMEA messages

Message

Audience

Description / Comment

NMEA-Standard-RLM

PUB

Return link message

5.1.3 Modified NMEA messages

This table contains a list of messages that have been modified compared to messages also available in protocol version 18.00.

Message

Audience

Description / Comment

NMEA-Standard-GAQ

PUB

It is now possible to poll a standard message if the current Talker ID is GA.

NMEA-Standard-DTM

PUB

The message now supports the display of PZ90 datum (as P90).

NMEA-Standard-GST

PUB

Support the output of the error ellipse as defined by its semi-major and semi-minor axis as well as its orientation.

NMEA-Standard-GSV

PUB

Various implementation errors fixed, e.g. null fields, range of azimuth angle [0..359], etc.

NMEA-Standard-GRS

PUB

Various implementation errors fixed, e.g. null fields, residual ordering.

NMEA-Standard-VLW

PUB

The fields that were only introduced in NMEA version 4.00 have been removed from this message for version 2.30.

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5.2 UBX

5.2.1 Overview

This firmware supports UBX protocol version 32.01.

5.2.2 New UBX messages

Message

Audience

Description / Comment

UBX-CFG-VALDEL

PUB

Part of the new configuration interface

UBX-CFG-VALGET

PUB

Part of the new configuration interface

UBX-CFG-VALSET

PUB

Part of the new configuration interface

UBX-CFG-MSG-UBX_NAV_NMI_

PORT

PUB

Output rate of the UBX-NAV-NMI message per

port

UBX-LOG-BATCH

PUB

Data batching output data

UBX-LOG-RETRIEVEBATCH

PUB

Data batching request for retrieval

UBX-MON-BATCH

PUB

Data batching state monitoring

UBX-MON-HW3

PUB

Replaces and extends part of UBX-MON-HW and UBX-MONHW2 functionality

UBX-MON-RF

PUB

Replaces and extends part of UBX-MON-HW and UBX-MONHW2 functionality

UBX-MON-SPAN

PUB

Crude spectrum analyzer functionality

UBX-NAV-SAT

PUB

Replaces UBX-NAV-SVINFO, contains satellite information but does not contain signal specific information

UBX-NAV-SIG

PUB

Replaces UBX-NAV-SVINFO, contains signal specific information

UBX-NAV-TIMEQZSS

PUB

QZSS time information, QZSS time is estimated when QZSS L1S is used in navigation

UBX-SEC-SESSID

PUB

Session ID for message authentication when locking configuration

5.2.3 Modified UBX messages

This table contains a list of messages that have been modified compared to messages also available in protocol version 27.11.

Message

Audience

Description / Comment

UBX-TIM-TP

PUB

Added “qErrInvalid” flag to indicate when quantization error is

not provided

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5.2.4 Deprecated UBX messages

Message

Audience

Description / Comment

UBX-CFG-ANT

PUB