u-blox Integrates Swiss National Time Service into GNSS Lab for Nanosecond-Accurate Validation

u-blox, a global leader in positioning and short-range communication technologies, has announced the integration of Switzerland's UTC-traceable timing infrastructure into its GNSS test laboratory in Thalwil. This collaboration with the Federal Institute of Metrology METAS and Switch, operator of Switzerland's national research and education network, provides u-blox with continuous access to a UTC-traceable reference via an unbroken and documented chain of calibrations, ensuring full measurement traceability.

The service delivers nanosecond-level time synchronization directly within the u-blox laboratory, accelerating the validation of GNSS timing receivers and strengthening the development of next-generation timing products. For GNSS timing technologies, performance fundamentally depends on precise synchronization, timing stability, and validation against trusted UTC references. By integrating the METAS time dissemination service into its laboratory infrastructure, u-blox can rapidly validate new hardware and software releases for GNSS timing receivers in-house, without requiring repeated access to external metrology facilities.

The infrastructure also enables long-term timing stability measurements over extended periods ranging from weeks to months against a stable UTC-traceable reference source. This capability is critical for industries that rely on GNSS timing, such as telecommunications, financial trading, power grids, and data centers, where even microsecond-level inaccuracies can lead to significant operational disruptions or financial losses.

METAS realizes, maintains, and disseminates UTC(CH), Switzerland's contribution to Coordinated Universal Time, while Switch provides the fiber-optic network using White Rabbit technology. White Rabbit, originally developed at CERN for large-scale scientific infrastructure, enables sub-nanosecond synchronization over fiber-optic networks. The technology is increasingly being adopted in advanced industrial and scientific environments.

“High-performance GNSS timing products depend on rigorous and traceable timing validation throughout the development cycle,” said Samuli Pietilä, Director of Product Line Management, Timing and Infrastructure at u-blox. “This infrastructure allows us to validate and continuously improve GNSS timing receiver performance directly in our own laboratory against a UTC-traceable reference.”

Jacques Morel, Head of the Laboratory Photonics, Time and Frequency at METAS, added, “We are pleased to support u-blox with our time dissemination service. This collaboration demonstrates how national metrology infrastructure can support advanced industrial applications requiring highly accurate synchronization, timing precision, and traceable validation against UTC references.”

The collaboration underscores the strength of Switzerland's precision technology ecosystem, bringing together national metrology expertise, optical timing infrastructure, and advanced GNSS timing technologies. The timing infrastructure is now operational in the u-blox GNSS laboratory and will support ongoing development and validation activities for GNSS timing products.

This development is significant as it brings national time standards directly into a private company's test lab, streamlining the validation process and potentially reducing time-to-market for new GNSS timing products. It also highlights the growing importance of traceable timing in critical infrastructure and the role of national metrology institutes in supporting industrial innovation.