Bluetooth AoA antenna board for commercial tracking solutions

u-blox has announced the availability of the ANT-B11, a compact antenna board.

This board delivers high-precision direction finding and 2D indoor positioning and can be integrated into commercial tracking solutions. It is intended for direction-finding applications and indoor positioning in mid-size spaces.

The ANT-B11 looks to help solve the ongoing indoor location challenge, where technologies such as GNSS find difficulties in performing effectively.

It is equipped with the u-blox NINA-B411 Bluetooth 5.1 module and runs the u-connectLocate software, which executes the u-blox angle calculation algorithm. In conjunction with an application board, ANT-B11 functions as an indoor Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) anchor point. The angle calculated by the antenna board does not require any additional processing and so it is ready for use at the application level.

Depending on its orientation, ANT-B11 outputs the final azimuth or elevation angle with high accuracy in fractions of a second. With this information, it is possible to track assets and plot their positions in applications aiming at 2D visualization.

The ANT-B11 combines the accuracy of ANT-B10 with the smallest possible package. Thanks to its 29.5 x 93.5 mm compact size, it can easily fit existing enclosures or casings.

This product can be used to follow assets in indoor areas, grant building access, and avoid collisions, making it suitable for industrial, retail, and medical environments.