LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual
GPS.G6-HW-09007-A Preliminary Design-in
Page 18 of 62
2 Design-in
For migrating existing ANTARIS
®
4 product designs to u-blox 6 please refer to Appendix B.
In order to obtain good performance with a GPS receiver module, there are a number of points that require
careful attention during the design-in. These include:
• Power Supply
Good performance requires a clean and stable power supply.
• Interfaces
Ensure correct wiring, rate and message setup on the module and your host system.
• Antenna interface
For optimal performance seek short routing, matched impedance and no stubs.
2.1 Design-in checklist
Good performance requires a clean and stable power supply with minimal ripple. Care needs to be exercised in
selecting a strategy to achieve this. Series resistance in the Vcc supply line can negatively impact performance.
For better performance, use an LDO to provide a clean supply at Vcc and consider the following:
• Wide power lines or even power planes are preferred.
• Place LDO near the module.
• Avoid resistive components in the power line (e.g. narrow power lines, coils, resistors, etc.).
• Placing a filter or other source of resistance at Vcc can create significantly longer acquisition times.
2.1.1 Layout design-in checklist
Designing-in a u-blox 6 module is easy, especially when based on a u-blox reference design. Nonetheless, it pays
to do a quick sanity check of the design. This section lists the most important items for a simple design check.
The Layout Design-In Checklist also helps to avoid an unnecessary respin of the PCB and helps to achieve the
best possible performance.
Follow the design-in checklist when developing any u-blox 6 GPS applications. This can significantly
reduce development time and costs.
Have you chosen the optimal module?
u-blox 6 modules have been intentionally designed to allow GPS receivers to be optimally tailored to specific
applications. Changing between the different variants is easy.
Do you need Kick-start performance – Then choose an H
1
, S
2
, Q
3
or G
4
Do you want to be able to upgrade the firmware or to permanently save configuration settings? Then you
will have to use a Programmable receiver module: choose an H
variant.
1
variant.
Do you need USB? All LEA-6 and NEO-6 modules support USB.
Do you need Precision Timing – Then choose a LEA-6T.
Check Power Supply Requirements and Schematic:
Is the power supply within the specified range (see data sheet)?
Is the voltage VDDUSB within the specified range?
Compare the peak current consumption of your u-blox 6 module (~70 mA) with the specification of the
power supply.
1
LEA-6H.
2
LEA-6S
3
NEO-6Q
4
NEO-6G