u-blox, a global contributor in positioning and short-range communication technologies for automotive, industrial and consumer markets, is extending its PointPerfect GNSS correction service to Japan. u-blox is working with SoftBank Corp., a Japan-based telecommunications and IT operator, which provides the ichimill GNSS augmentation service in Japan. This expansion strengthens the availability of high-precision satellite positioning solutions, supporting businesses in Japan that serve global markets and multinational companies operating in Japan.
The demand for high-precision GNSS positioning is accelerating across industries such as autonomous robotics, automotive and logistics. Applications include delivery robots, robotic lawn mowers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), all of which benefit from centimetre-level accuracy. By integrating high-precision GNSS receivers with PointPerfect’s competitively priced correction service, businesses can reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and drive adoption of precision positioning technologies.
u-blox and SoftBank expect their cooperation to have multiple practical results. The availability of PointPerfect in the Japanese market will make it easier for multinational companies who rely on high precision positioning services to simplify global procurement of those services.
The alliance between the two companies will also create the opportunity for Japanese developers to build systems compatible with both u-blox’s and SoftBank’s correction services, making it far easier for Japanese OEMs to target multiple geographic markets with their products.
About PointPerfect
PointPerfect from u-blox is a precise point positioning – real time kinematic (PPP-RTK) service that augments GNSS services to provide improved accuracy to within a few centimetres.
PPP-RTK enables precise and rapid positioning at a competitive price/performance ratio for the growing number of applications, including the variety of outdoor robotics systems noted above.
PointPerfect
- Works with any GNSS RTK receiver, u-blox or non u-blox, or even a mixed fleet
- Offers wide uniform coverage over entire continents, countries and regions
- Has accuracy within 3 to 6 centimetres
- Offers convergence in seconds
- Operates at lower bandwidth, reducing mobile data costs
- The pricing structure is flexible and consistent across geographic regions, an advantage for industries with fluctuating demand, such as logistics or agriculture
The wider availability of PointPerfect enables OEMs to produce a single design of a product that can be deployed and supported in multiple countries.
Background information
Multiple GNSS satellite constellations serve different markets around the world, including GPS (United States), Galileo (Europe) and QZSS (Japan). Their capabilities vary, but GNSS systems generally provide positional information accurate to within a few meters.
There are GNSS service providers around the world, and these service providers typically augment their offerings with correctional services that improve their positional accuracy to within centimetres. One of the standout augmentation services is PointPerfect, which is provided by u-blox and delivers highly accurate GNSS correction data. Similarly, ichimill, offered by SoftBank, is another prominent augmentation service that enhances positional accuracy.
Through this collaboration, u-blox and SoftBank aim to use each other’s GNSS augmentation services—PointPerfect and ichimill, respectively—to provide superior services to their customers across multiple regions. This partnership marks a step forward in the global augmentation service market, making centimetre-level positioning accuracy more accessible to a wider range of applications and industries.
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