Alpha Micro Components has launched the u-blox EVA-M8Q, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver module. The EVA-M8Q achieves superior positional accuracy by combining signals from up to three navigation satellite constellations simultaneously, but it still fits in a miniature, cost-effective EVA 7×7 mm package.
This module’s sensitivity, low power consumption, incredibly small size and thermal stability make it ideal for general mobile applications and also for overt or covert asset and vehicle tracking.
“The EVA-M8Q brings the superior performance of the u-blox M8 concurrent positioning engine, with simultaneous support for multiple independent global satellite navigation systems, to designs that demand a small antenna or covert installation and the solid reliability provided by a temperature compensated crystal oscillator,” said Lorna Lawson, Sales & Supplier manager at Alpha Micro Components.
With its impressive accuracy and sensitivity, the EVA-M8Q stands out among the various competitively priced EVA-format positioning modules on offer from Alpha Micro. The module tracks its location from four separate satellite networks, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo, and can receive signals from three out of those four networks concurrently.
In the field, this means that the module could potentially have a line of sight to more than 50 satellites above the horizon – providing a rapid and accurate positional fix worldwide. Building on the robustness provided by access to multiple satellites, the module further ensures uninterrupted coverage and resistance to counter-surveillance with a suite of anti-spoofing and anti-jamming features.
The EVA-M8Q’s intrinsic high acquisition and tracking sensitivity mean that it can be equipped with a small antenna, but still determine its geographic location quickly and accurately. The twin benefits of both a compact antenna and the module’s small 7×7 mm footprint lend themselves to applications in which a small device is more easily concealed and less prone to accidental loss or damage, such as covert operations, asset tracking, and stolen vehicle recovery – as well as being perfect for portable devices.
This module variant features a Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillato (TCXO), to provide far better reliability over a wide temperature range than other oscillator designs. For a compact device, the primary benefit of a TCXO is to keep performance stable – and prevent frequency drift and loss of signal– in cramped or environmentally-exposed environments, where thermal control and heat dissipation are a challenge. Without the rock-solid thermal stability of a TCXO, a tracking device may work normally under test, but still fail unexpectedly in the field, exhibiting hard-to-diagnose intermittent faults.
The EVA-M8Q is packaged in a compact QFN style (Quad Flat No-leads) format, making it suitable for medium to high volume production. The extensive support and documentation from u-blox for the EVA-M8 series helps OEMs accelerate time-to-market.
For more information about Alpha Micro’s new u-blox EVA-M8Q positioning technology module with GPS, BeiDou, Galileo and GLONASS support – as well as other modules in this series, please click here.
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