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 significance of this development lies in the critical role of precise synchronization and timing stability in GNSS timing technologies. Performance fundamentally depends on validation against trusted UTC references. By bringing the METAS time dissemination service directly into its laboratory, u-blox can now rapidly validate new hardware and software releases for GNSS timing receivers in-house, eliminating the need for repeated access to external metrology facilities. This infrastructure also enables long-term timing stability measurements over extended periods, ranging from weeks to months, against a stable UTC-traceable reference source, thereby strengthening the development and validation workflow for next-generation GNSS timing products.
The service delivers nanosecond-level time synchronization using White Rabbit technology, an Ethernet-based synchronization method originally developed at CERN for large-scale scientific infrastructure requiring ultra-precise timing accuracy. White Rabbit enables sub-nanosecond synchronization over fiber-optic networks and is increasingly adopted in advanced industrial and scientific environments. METAS realizes, maintains, and disseminates UTC(CH), Switzerland's contribution to Coordinated Universal Time, while Switch provides the fiber-optic network over which the timing signal is disseminated.
“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 highlights 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.
For GNSS timing receivers, the ability to validate against a national standard directly in-house accelerates product development cycles and ensures that devices meet stringent accuracy requirements. This move positions u-blox to better serve industries such as telecommunications, financial trading, and power grid synchronization, where precise timing is essential. The integration also underscores the trend of leveraging national metrology infrastructure to enhance industrial innovation, a model that could be replicated by other technology companies seeking to improve their testing capabilities.
