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 time reference that is traceable to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) through an unbroken chain of calibrations.
METAS realizes, maintains, and disseminates UTC(CH), Switzerland's contribution to UTC, while Switch provides the fiber-optic network over which the timing signal is disseminated using White Rabbit technology. This 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 directly 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.
“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.”
White Rabbit is an Ethernet-based synchronization technology originally developed at CERN for large-scale scientific infrastructure requiring ultra-precise timing accuracy. The technology enables sub-nanosecond synchronization over fiber-optic networks and is increasingly being adopted in advanced industrial and scientific environments.
METAS operates Switzerland's national time standards and provides traceable time dissemination services supporting research, infrastructure, and industrial innovation. “We are pleased to support u-blox with our time dissemination service,” said Jacques Morel, Head of the Laboratory Photonics, Time and Frequency at METAS. “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 also 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.
