u-blox, the Federal Institute of Metrology METAS, and Switch, operator of Switzerland’s national research and education network, today announced the integration of Switzerland’s UTC-traceable timing infrastructure into the u-blox GNSS test laboratory in Thalwil.
u-blox gains continuous access to a UTC-traceable reference via an unbroken and documented chain of calibrations. METAS realizes, maintains, and disseminates UTC(CH), Switzerland’s contribution to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Switch provides the fiber-optic network over which the timing signal is disseminated using White Rabbit technology. This service delivers nanosecond-level time synchronization within the u-blox laboratory.
The integration allows u-blox to validate new hardware and software releases for GNSS timing receivers in-house. It also enables long-term timing stability measurements over extended periods ranging from weeks to months against a stable UTC-traceable reference source.
Samuli Pietilä, Director of Product Line Management, Timing and Infrastructure at u-blox, said: “High-performance GNSS timing products depend on rigorous and traceable timing validation throughout the development cycle. 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.
METAS operates Switzerland’s national time standards and provides traceable time dissemination services supporting research, infrastructure, and industrial innovation.
Jacques Morel, Head of the Laboratory Photonics, Time and Frequency at METAS, said: “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 timing infrastructure is now operational in the u-blox GNSS laboratory and will support ongoing development and validation activities for GNSS timing products.
