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u-center
GNSS evaluation software for Windows
User guide

Abstract
This document leads you through the eﬃcient use of the u-center
evaluation software, the powerful and easy to use tool from u-blox forevaluating, performance analysis and conﬁguration of u-blox GNSS
positioning chips and modules.

www.u-blox.com
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Document information
Title

u-center

Subtitle

GNSS evaluation software for Windows

Document type

User guide

Document number

UBX-13005250

Revision and date

R30

Document status

Production information

Disclosure restriction

C1-Public

24-May-2022

This document applies to the following products:
Product name

Type number

Firmware version

PCN reference

u-centeru-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in thisdocument. Copying, reproduction, modiﬁcation or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only
permitted with the express written permission of u-blox.
The information contained herein is provided "as is" and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express
or implied, is given, including but not limited to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and ﬁtness for aparticular purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent
documents, visit www.u-blox.com.
Copyright © 2022, u-blox AG.

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Contents
1 Preface.......................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Overview.................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Using this guide.......................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Technical support....................................................................................................................................5
1.3.1 Worldwide Web............................................................................................................................... 5
1.3.2 By email............................................................................................................................................ 5
1.3.3 Helpful information when contacting technical support....................................................... 5

2 Features.................................................................................................................................... 7
3 Getting started...................................................................................................................... 8
3.1 General information about displayed values..................................................................................... 8
3.2 Connecting an u-blox evaluation kit to the PC................................................................................. 8
3.3 Installing u-center................................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Connect to the receiver......................................................................................................................... 9
3.4.1 Select the port................................................................................................................................ 9
3.4.2 Select the baud rate (only for COM ports)................................................................................9

4 Concept and philosophy................................................................................................... 11
4.1 Color and satellite coding scheme....................................................................................................12
4.2 Operating modes.................................................................................................................................. 13
4.2.1 Online mode.................................................................................................................................. 14
4.2.2 Stop mode..................................................................................................................................... 14
4.2.3 Record mode................................................................................................................................. 14
4.2.4 Play mode.......................................................................................................................................144.2.5 Relations between modes..........................................................................................................14
4.2.6 Database limitations................................................................................................................... 15
4.2.7 Receiver information................................................................................................................... 16

5 u-center menus and windows......................................................................................... 17
5.1 Main frame and toolbars.....................................................................................................................175.1.1 Standard menu bar..................................................................................................................... 17
5.1.2 Standard toolbar.......................................................................................................................... 26
5.1.3 Views toolbar................................................................................................................................ 26
5.1.4 Communication toolbar.............................................................................................................. 26
5.1.5 Logﬁle toolbar............................................................................................................................... 26
5.1.6 Action toolbar............................................................................................................................... 27
5.1.7 Standard statusbar..................................................................................................................... 27
5.2 Views and windows.............................................................................................................................. 28
5.2.1 Packet console..............................................................................................................................28
5.2.2 Binary console...............................................................................................................................29
5.2.3 Text console.................................................................................................................................. 30
5.2.4 Icons and text ﬁeld of console views....................................................................................... 31
5.2.5 Regular expression evaluation.................................................................................................. 31
5.2.6 Messages view..............................................................................................................................33
5.2.7 Generation 9 conﬁguration view...............................................................................................35
5.2.8 Statistic view................................................................................................................................ 38

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5.2.9 Table view...................................................................................................................................... 39
5.2.10 Map view......................................................................................................................................40
5.2.11 Chart view................................................................................................................................... 46
5.2.12 Histogram view...........................................................................................................................49
5.2.13 Camera view................................................................................................................................51
5.2.14 Deviation map.............................................................................................................................51
5.2.15 Sky view....................................................................................................................................... 53

6 NTRIP...................................................................................................................................... 54
6.1 NTRIP client........................................................................................................................................... 54
6.2 NTRIP server/caster............................................................................................................................. 55

7 MQTT.......................................................................................................................................57
7.1 MQTT client........................................................................................................................................... 57

8 Google Earth server............................................................................................................59
9 Tools........................................................................................................................................ 61
9.1 Firmware update................................................................................................................................... 61
9.2 Legacy Firmware update u-blox 5 - 8............................................................................................... 63
9.3 Dump receiver diagnostics................................................................................................................. 64
9.4 GNSS conﬁguration..............................................................................................................................64
9.4.1 Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁles.................................................................................................. 65
9.4.2 Editing conﬁguration ﬁle............................................................................................................ 65
9.5 Preferences.............................................................................................................................................66

10 How To..................................................................................................................................67
10.1 Change baud rate of receiver.......................................................................................................... 67
10.2 Save parameters to receiver non-volatile memory (BBR/Flash)............................................... 67
10.2.1 Saving parameters with UBX-CFG-CFG................................................................................67
10.2.2 Saving parameters with GNSS conﬁguration......................................................................68
10.3 Recording/Playing a log ﬁle.............................................................................................................. 68
10.4 Conduct sensitivity tests................................................................................................................. 68
10.5 Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁles.........................................................................................................69
10.6 Set GNSS conﬁguration....................................................................................................................69
10.7 Change epoch detection method................................................................................................... 69

11 Troubleshooting................................................................................................................ 71
Related documents................................................................................................................ 72
Revision history....................................................................................................................... 73

u-center - User guide1 Preface
1.1 Overview
u-center is u-blox's powerful GNSS evaluation and visualization tool which can be downloaded freeof-charge from our website (www.u-blox.com). This user guide provides a description of the featuresof this software. It allows end users to assess and test u-blox GNSS positioning chips and modules
for navigation and positioning performance.
The purpose of u-center is to enable users to:••••

Conduct performance tests on u-blox and other GNSS devices.
Conﬁgure u-blox GNSS positioning chips and modules.
Update the ﬁrmware on GNSS modules.
Test the added performance provided by u-blox's AssistNow service.

1.2 Using this guideThis guide assumes that the user has basic computer skills and is familiar with the Windows
Graphical User Interface (GUI) and GNSS receiver environments.
The following symbols are used to highlight important information:
An index ﬁnger points out key information pertaining to integration and performance.
A warning symbol indicates actions that could negatively impact u-center behavior.

1.3 Technical support
If you have questions about installing or using u-center:• Read this user guide carefully.
• Check our homepage (https://www.u-blox.com) to ensure that your GNSS device, ﬁrmware andthe u-center software are the latest versions.
• Refer to our web based information service.

1.3.1 Worldwide Web
Our website (www.u-blox.com) is a rich pool of information. Product information and technicaldocuments can be accessed 24/7.

1.3.2 By email
If you have technical problems or cannot ﬁnd the required information in the provided documents,
contact the closest technical support oﬃce. To ensure that we process your request as soon as
possible, use our service pool email addresses rather than personal staﬀ email addresses. Contact
details are at the end of the document.

1.3.3 Helpful information when contacting technical support
When contacting technical support, have the following information ready:• Receiver type (e.g. NEO-M9N), ﬁrmware version (e.g. FW SPG 4.04), u-center release (e.g. ucenter 21.09).
• Receiver conﬁguration and short description of the application.

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u-center - User guide• Your complete contact details.

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u-center - User guide2 Featuresu-center evaluation software provides system integrators and end users with a quick and simple
way to interface with u-blox GNSS chipsets, modules and boards. It enables easy evaluation,
performance testing, development and debugging of GNSS positioning chips and modules. u-center
allows easy connection to u-blox products and provides a suite of features to view, log, and analyze
performance. The features include:• Support for u-blox's receivers using u-blox positioning technology. u-center can communicate
with these receivers using either the UBX protocol or the NMEA-0183 standard protocol.
• Support for receivers that utilize standard NMEA strings.
• u-center presents all the information collected during the operation of the GNSS device. All
aspects of GNSS data (position, velocity, time, satellite tracking, etc.) can be monitored andlogged under various test scenarios for the evaluation of a receiver. u-center software allows
analysis of the collected data in order to investigate performance issues such as accuracy, roadtest position and trajectory, satellite tracking, time to ﬁrst ﬁx, etc. All processed data can be
captured in ASCII format and ported into popular spreadsheets for creating additional plots
and statistics.
• Camera View: photographic data can be stored in the log ﬁle together with the navigation data
and later be replayed in the application.
• Export data ﬁles to Google Earth and Google Maps.
• Supports (Multiple GNSS) AssistNow Online and AssistNow Oﬄine.
• Data recording and playback function.
• Structural and graphical data visualization in real-time.
• Export functionality to standard PC applications.
• Docking views (real-time cockpit instruments): Satellite constellation, compass, clock,altimeter, speedometer, GNSS and satellite information views.
• Download ﬁrmware updates to GNSS positioning modules.
• Support for NTRIP server and NTRIP client functionality.
• Support for MQTT client functionality.
• Google Earth server support.
• SQLITE database support

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u-center - User guide3 Getting started
3.1 General information about displayed values• Longitude and latitude are displayed according to the datum selected in the GNSS device(either the default WGS-84 or based on user-deﬁned parameters). This option can be polled
and set using the conﬁguration item group CFG-NAVSPG-USRDAT-*.
• Time is displayed with reference to UTC.
• Elevation is displayed with reference to either MSL (Height above Mean Sea Level orOrthometric Height) or to HAE (Height Above WGS-84-Ellipsoid). The reference is controlled by
the GNSS conﬁguration.

3.2 Connecting an u-blox evaluation kit to the PC
This section assumes that you have purchased an u-blox evaluation kit. Should you try to connect a
module or IC receiver directly to the PC, make sure you use appropriate RS-232 level shifters.
The evaluation kit can be connected to the PC by using either an USB or a serial cable. In case of using
the USB port, a driver is required (installed by the u-center for Windows installer or downloadablefrom our homepage). Be sure to install the driver before connecting the evaluation kit to thecomputer.

3.3 Installing u-center
The installation program guides you through the necessary steps for a successful program
installation. During the installation, you can choose the destination folder for the program.
u-center uses dynamic link libraries (DLL). The installation program will automatically install
the required DLL's into the u-center program directory. Should you try to copy a u-center
installation from one location to another after the installation, make sure you copy the DLL
ﬁles as well.
After a successful installation, u-center can be started from the Start Menu (All Programs > u-blox> u-center > u-center) and will start up as shown in Figure 1.

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u-center - User guide

Figure 1: Start display

3.4 Connect to the receiver
3.4.1 Select the port
Locate the communication toolbar (Figure 2) and click on the arrow beside the icon. This will show
a list with all available COM ports (Figure 3). Select the corresponding COM port where the receiveris connected. If a link could be established, the icon will turn green and the text in the status barchanges fromto(in this example u-center is connected to COM6). This does
not mean that the communication already works but only that the port could be opened.

Figure 2: Communication Toolbar

Figure 3: List of available COM ports

3.4.2 Select the baud rate (only for COM ports)
Again in the communication toolbar, click on the arrow beside theicon. This will show alist with all available baud rates (Figure 4). Select the correct baud rate on which the receiver iscommunicating (typically 9'600 baud). If u-center is able to decode data from the receiver, the status

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u-center - User guidebar begins to blink in green as shown in the following icon: . This means that the connection isestablished successfully and the communication between the receiver and u-center is working.

Figure 4: List of available baud rates

Now you are ready to use the receiver.

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u-center - User guide4 Concept and philosophy
Understanding the basic concept behind u-center is important in order to get the highest beneﬁt outof this powerful evaluation software. Figure 5 depicts the architecture of the software. The program
gets a data stream from either a communication port or a log ﬁle and splits this stream into protocol
messages. From the messages, relevant parameters are extracted and inserted into the current
dataset of the database that is used by the display and analysis features of the application.
In the current dataset, statistical values of the parameters are calculated. Average, minimum,
maximum and standard deviation are calculated for most parameters. If the available messages do
not provide a parameter, u-center tries to calculate the parameter from the ones that are available.
For example if velocity-north and velocity-east are available, u-center calculates the speed overground and course over ground, unless this data is already available in other messages.

Figure 5: Engine architecture

The u-center database size may be adjusted. If the size is exceeded u-center keeps only the latest
data sets and the oldest ones are removed. Refer to Database limitations for the details.
Very long recordings may decrease performance of u-center.
u-center provides various view classes (described below) for display and presentation. Most views
take their data from the database, but some get their data directly from the message without using
the database at all. The other views are updated when the database changes.
• Message Views display and decode a copy of every known message. These views allow observing
a single message in detail and they may also be used to conﬁgure the GNSS device. Refer to

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u-center - User guide

•

•

•
•

Messages view for details. The conﬁguration view is a subset of the message view and only
displays message to conﬁgure the receiver.
Console Views display the messages in text form. There is also a wide range of information
available which is useful for evaluation and testing. Refer to sections Packet console, Binary
console and Text console for details.
Graphical Views display parameters from the database in graphical form. Charts (see Chartview), histograms (see Histogram view) and a map view (see Map view) can be created. There are
two more views (deviation map and sky view, see Deviation map and Sky view) that may be used
for statistical performance and antenna pattern analysis.
Tabular Views show the parameters of the database in tabular form. They can be freely
conﬁgured to allow customized tables. Refer to Table view and Statistic view for details.
Docking Windows can be docked to the frame of u-center. An analog watch, compass, worldmap, altitude and speed meter are available. There are also docking windows showing the current
signal power and the constellation of the satellites received by the device as well as a summaryof the GNSS status.
Displaying various views and docking windows requires computing power. Minimizing or
closing them may signiﬁcantly reduce CPU usage.

4.1 Color and satellite coding scheme
In the graphical views and some docking windows, colors are used to indicate data quality. Table 1
shows the color codes for graphical views depending on the quality of the navigation solution.
Color

Meaning

Yellow

Current value

OrangeValid 3D navigation ﬁx + Dead Reckoning

Green

Valid 3D navigation ﬁx

Cyan

Valid 2D navigation ﬁx

Magenta

Dead Reckoning ﬁx

Blue

Degraded navigation ﬁx

Red

No or invalid navigation ﬁx

Table 1: Color-coding scheme for graphical views

Table 2 gives the color-coding scheme for the docking windows and sky view. It indicates the stateof each satellite.
Color

Meaning

Green

Satellite used in navigation (with Ephemeris)

Olive

Satellite used in navigation (with Ephemeris and PPP)

Dark Green

Satellite used in navigation (with aiding data: AssistNow Autonomous, AssistNow Online/Oﬄine)

Cyan

Satellite signal available, available for use in navigation

Blue

Satellite signal available, not available for use in navigation

Red

Satellite signal not available

Table 2: Color-coding scheme for the docking windows and sky view

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u-center - User guide

Table 3 gives the satellite-coding scheme for the docking windows and sky view. It indicates to which
GNSS a satellite belongs.
Code

System

Gxx

GPS

Rxx

GLONASS

Bxx

BeiDouExx

Galileo

Sxx

SBAS

Qxx

QZSS

Table 3: Satellite-coding scheme for the docking windows and sky view

Figure 6 shows the Status Color conﬁguration. This is available under: Tools > Preferences > Status
Colors.

Figure 6: Color-coding conﬁguration

4.2 Operating modes
u-center has diﬀerent operating modes (see Figure 7). The mode changes when you open or close
a log ﬁle or when you invoke the player. To be able to use the record mode you have to create a newﬁle, save to a new ﬁle or open an existing ﬁle. The record and play mode are only available if you havecreated a new ﬁle or when you have opened a writable ﬁle.

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u-center - User guide

Figure 7: Relation between operating modes

4.2.1 Online mode
In this mode a GNSS device is directly connected to u-center via a COM port. u-center can control
and conﬁgure the receiver and it will display the data that the receiver is sending periodically.

4.2.2 Stop mode
In this mode no data from a receiver or a log ﬁle is forwarded to the database and views. u-center isin this mode when a log ﬁle is open but player and recorder are not active.

4.2.3 Record mode
Record Mode is the same mode as the Online Mode, except u-center additionally creates a log ﬁle,concatenating all the messages sent by the receiver. You enter this mode by creating a new log ﬁleor opening an existing log ﬁle without write protection and pressing the record button. An example
of using this mode would be to make overnight measurements and evaluate the data at a later time.
u-blox customer support may request a log ﬁle from you when you are experiencing a problem with
one of our receivers and will usually need this to be recorded with debug data enabled (see Receiver).

4.2.4 Play mode
The Play Mode allows replaying a previously recorded log ﬁle step by step, in real-time or at anaccelerated rate. You enter this mode by opening a ﬁle and pressing the play, step or scan button.

4.2.5 Relations between modes
The operating mode depends on the status of the log ﬁle player. Modes are changed by user actions.
Each mode has diﬀerent states that are changed by a user action or by an event (see Figure 7). In
Online mode and Record mode, u-center displays data from the receiver. In Play mode data from alog ﬁle is displayed. Play mode has diﬀerent states:• Play reads and displays messages periodically from the log ﬁle. The user interface is derived fromthat of a CD player. u-center updates the views after each message.
• Step gets one message from the log ﬁle and immediately returns to paused Play state.

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u-center - User guide• Scan reads messages periodically but the display is only updated when paused or by changing
the state.
Position can be set in a log ﬁle. This behaves diﬀerently in Play mode and Stop mode. In Stop modethe position is just set and no data is read and displayed. u-center will start recording or playing fromthat position when changing the mode. If position is set in Play mode, u-center will load the data up
to this position from the log ﬁle and display the contents.

4.2.6 Database limitations
The number of epochs displayed by views that show history (Table, Chart, Histogram, Sky, Satellite
level history etc.) can be limited in order to allow an eﬃcient analysis of large log ﬁles and not to
consume too much disk space. There is a setting which controls this history database limit, whichis available under: Tools > Preferences > General. By default the value for the number of epochs is
set to 0, which means the database size is not limited. Any other number higher than 0 will limit thesize of this history database. When this limit is set, then the oldest values will be discarded after the
database reaches this limit size. Data stored to a log ﬁle is not aﬀected by the database limitation.
Also controlled in Tools > Preferences > General is the max number of messages stored. This limit
applies to how many messages from a log ﬁle can be loaded and are playable. The default value forthis is set very high, but can be reduced to save disk space, or increased if a very large log ﬁle cannot
be fully loaded.

Figure 8: Example of setting maximum number of epochs to keep in database

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u-center - User guide

For long-term observations, it is recommended to record the messages to a log ﬁle.
If a high value of epochs is selected, the display of data in real-time cannot be guaranteed,
especially when graphical views are open.

4.2.7 Receiver information
u-center will try to retrieve some information about what kind of receiver is connected by sending
UBX-MON-VER message on every successful connection. In this way certain functionality can
automatically be disabled if it is not supported by the connected receiver. In some cases this might
not be the desired behavior as it might hinder some other operation where these extra messages
are not desired. There is a setting that controls if receiver information is auto-retrieved or not, andthat is available under: Tools > Preferences > General. By default the auto retrieval is enabled.

Figure 9: Enabling/disabling automatic receiver information retrieval

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u-center - User guide

5 u-center menus and windows
5.1 Main frame and toolbars
The main frame is the primary display screen of u-center. It displays all tool bars and some of theinformation provided by the device. In the standard status bar, information about communication,
UTC time, connection time, used protocol (NMEA or UBX), used ﬁle, etc. is shown.
Button tool tip: A description about each button in the toolbars can be obtained by holding themouse cursor over the button for a few seconds. A tool tip message will appear near the icon withadditional information while a detailed description is displayed in the status display.

Figure 10: u-center main frame and toolbars

5.1.1 Standard menu bar
All u-center functions can be accessed through the standard menu bar. Commands can also beaccessed by shortcuts that are listed in the menus. Some often used operations are also available
in the diﬀerent toolbars.

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u-center - User guide5.1.1.1 File

Figure 11: File menu entries
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

New...

Creates a new log ﬁle. No data is yet written but only the ﬁle is opened. The
duration of the logging time is displayed in the status bar ﬁeld Operating time.

Ctrl+N /Save...

Creates a new log ﬁle, saves the data from the internal database to the log ﬁle andstarts immediately recording all new data from the receiver. This is useful when anerror or an unexpected event occurred and no log ﬁle was recorded. The size of thering buﬀer (4 MB) is large enough to retain the data for the last hour (approx.).

Ctrl+S /Open...

Opens a stored log ﬁle to be replayed.

Close

Closes the active ﬁle.

Database Empty

Deletes the internal database and all saved values.

Database Export

Exports the internal database into HTML or KML data formats for displaying with
Google Map or Google Earth.

Google Map Html...

Exports the internal database into HTML data format for displaying with Google
Map.

Google Earth Kml...

Exports the internal database into KML data format for displaying with Google
Earth.

Google Earth Server...

Starts u-center's Google Earth server which allows continuous and real time
tracking to be visualized in Google Earth.

Print...

Prints the active document.

Print Preview

Shows a preview of the print output.

Print Setup...

Shows the setup dialog of the printer.

Recent Files

Lists all recently used ﬁles.

Exit

Exits u-center.

Ctrl+O
Ctrl+E /Ctrl+F4

Table 4: File menu entries

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u-center - User guide5.1.1.2 Edit

Figure 12: Edit menu entries
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Cut

Cut the current selection and put in to the clipboard.

Ctrl+X / Shift+Del /Copy

Copy the current selection to the clipboard.

Ctrl+C / CtrlInsert /Paste

Paste the clipboard content to the current position.

DeleteDelete the current selection.

Del

Select All

Select all in the current view.

Ctrl+A

Clear All

Clear all in the current view.

Ctrl+Del

Ctrl+V / Shift+Insert /Table 5: Edit menu entries

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u-center - User guide5.1.1.3 View

Figure 13: View menu entries
Function

Description

Packet Console

Opens the packet console.

F6 /Binary Console

Opens the binary console.

F7 /Text Console

Opens the text console.

F8 /Messages View

Opens the dialog with all supported messages.

F9 /Conﬁguration View

Opens the dialog with all conﬁguration messages. This is a subset of the
Messages View.

Generation 9
Conﬁguration View

Opens the dialog for Generation 9 Advance conﬁguration view. All the Generation
9 receivers should be conﬁgured with this new dialog.

Statistic View

Opens the statistic view with all data from the internal database.

F10 /Table View

Opens the empty table view. All values from the internal database can bedisplayed individually.

F11 /Recent Table View

Lists all the table views that have been opened. This information comes from theWindows registry and is also valid after a restart of u-center.

Map View

Opens a window allowing to display a map.

Recent Map View

Lists all the maps views that have been opened. This information comes from theWindows registry and is also valid after a restart of u-center.

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u-center - User guide

Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Chart View

Opens a window with chart functionality. All values from the internal database canbe displayed individually.

Recent Chart View

Lists all the chart views that have been opened. This information comes from theWindows registry and is also valid after a restart of u-center.

Histogram View

Opens a window with histogram functionality. All values from the internal
database can be displayed individually.

Recent Histogram View Lists all the histogram views that have been opened. This information comes fromthe Windows registry and is also valid after a restart of u-center.
Camera View

Opens a window allowing to connect to a web cam and visualize and save theimage.

Deviation Map

Opens a window with a position deviation map.

Sky View

Opens a window with the sky view. The current position of the satellites and theirvalues from the internal database are shown.

Docking Windows

Opens a list with all available docking windows that can be shown.

Satellite Position

Shows or hide the current satellite positions.

Satellite Level

Shows or hide the current satellite levels.

Satellite Level History

Shows or hide the history of the satellite levels.

World Position

Shows or hide the current position on the world map.

Data

Shows or hide data from the navigation solution (like position, TTFF, accuracy andDOPs).

Altitude Meter

Shows or hide the altitude meter.

Compass

Shows or hide the compass.

Speed Meter

Shows or hide the speed meter.

Watch

Shows or hide the clock.

Toolbars

Opens a list with all available toolbars that can be shown.

Standard Toolbar

Shows or hide the standard toolbar.

Views Toolbar

Shows or hide the views toolbar.

Receiver Toolbar

Shows or hide the receiver toolbar.

Player Toolbar

Shows or hide the player toolbar.

Action Toolbar

Shows or hide the action toolbar.

F12 /Table 6: View menu entries

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u-center - User guide5.1.1.4 Player

Figure 14: Player menu entries
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Eject

Closes the active log ﬁle.

Ctrl+E /Pause

Pauses reading or recording from the active log ﬁle.

Ctrl+P /RecordStarts recording to a new or already opened log ﬁle. Any data in the internal
database will not be written to the ﬁle. If you want to save this data into a log ﬁle,open the File menu and click Save. To stop recording, press the same button.

Ctrl+R /Stepback

Single step function. The previous message is read.

Step

Single step function. The next message is read.

Play

Starts reading from the active log ﬁle. The speed of the action can be chosen on
the sub-menu.

Ctrl+G /Scan

Reads the entire log ﬁle into the database and updates the display at the end of
the scan period.

Ctrl+F /Goto Begin

Sets the read position to the beginning of the log ﬁle.

Goto End

Sets the read position to the end of the log ﬁle.

Ctrl+B /Ctrl+Space /Table 7: Player menu entries

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u-center - User guide5.1.1.5 Receiver

Figure 15: Receiver menu entries
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Connection

Deﬁnes the port u-center connects to. The list is generated automatically using
the enumeration method under Tools > Preferences > Generic > Serial ports. The
currently used port will be indicated.

Disconnect

Disconnects from a connected receiver.

COMx

Connects to COMx with the current baud rate.

Ctrl+[1...9](if available)

Network connection

Connects to a receiver through network.

Location API

Connects to the receiver using the Location API available in windows 7 onwards.

Sensor API

Connects to the receiver using the Sensor API in Windows 7 and Windows 8 (theUSB Sensor driver is required in this case) but not in Windows 10.

Baud rate

Deﬁnes the baud rate of the communication. The list is predeﬁned and cannot bechanged. The currently set baud rate will be indicated.

NTRIP Server/Caster

Enables u-center to act as a NTRIP server.

NTRIP Client

Enables u-center to act as a NTRIP client.

Autobauding

Enables or disables autobauding for the current communication with the receiver.

Debug Messages

Enables all debug messages in the receiver. Can be requested from u-blox
support.

Generation

Deﬁnes the generation of the attached u-blox GNSS receiver. u-center also tries todetect automatically the correct generation.

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Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Protocol Filter

Sets the message ﬁlter against versions of protocol speciﬁcation.

ActionLists all possible actions that can be performed with the u-blox GNSS receiver.

Hot start

Sends a hot start command to the receiver. No data is deleted in the receiver.

Warm start

Sends a warm start command to the receiver. Only the ephemeris are deleted
from the memory.

Cold start

Sends a cold start command to the receiver. All information is deleted from thememory.

Save Conﬁg

Saves the current receiver conﬁguration to the memory so that it will be loaded
after a restart.

Load Conﬁg

Loads the last saved conﬁguration from the memory.

Revert Conﬁg

Deletes all conﬁgurations in the memory and reverts the receiver to the default
conﬁguration.

Auto Detect

Enable/Disables the automatic polling of the UBX-MON-VER message to allow ucenter to obtain information about the receiver. On receiving the message, thereceiver information contained within the message is extracted, stored and usedby u-center for any receiver speciﬁc features. Having this feature enabled allows
u-center to automatically be aware of the type of receiver attached. Disabling
this feature might be useful when the random appearance of UBX-MON-VER
messages could interfere with the current users task.

Get Information

Manually polls the receiver for a UBX-MON-VER message. On receiving themessage, the receiver information contained within the message is extracted,
stored and used by u-center for any receiver speciﬁc features. Typical use would
be when the users need auto detection disabled, but would like u-center to beaware of the connected receiver's details.

Diﬀerential DGNSSInterface…

Allows the streaming of RTCM messages to the receiver for high precisionapplications.

Epoch detection…

Deﬁnes which time information determines the boundary of an epoch detection in
u-center (see Change epoch detection method).

Table 8: Receiver menu entries

5.1.1.6 Tools

Figure 16: Tools menu entries

Some of the menu items will only be displayed when the correct receiver generation is connected
and identiﬁed by u-center. If you cannot select one option, change the receiver generation under
Receiver > Generation.
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Firmware Update u-blox Opens the ﬁrmware update dialog for u-blox 5 - 8 generation receivers.
5 - 8...

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Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Dump ReceiverDiagnostics...

Tool to create the receiver diagnostic. Can be requested by the u-blox support
team.

u-blox 7/8/M8 Retrieve Opens the dialog to download log information from the receiver. This is supported
Log...
only since u-blox 7 receivers.
AssistNow Oﬄine

Opens the AssistNow Oﬄine dialog. Please switch over to AssistNow Oﬄine as
the Legacy AssistNow Oﬄine service is marked deprecated.

AssistNow Online

Opens the AssistNow Online dialog. Please switch over to AssistNow Online as theLegacy AssistNow Online service is marked deprecated.

GNSS Conﬁguration...

Opens the dialog to save the receiver conﬁguration to a ﬁle on the PC or to restore
a conﬁguration from a ﬁle on the PC.

File transfer...

Opens the dialog to transfer a ﬁle to the receiver.

Preferences...

Opens the dialog for the u-center preferences.

Table 9: Tools menu entries

5.1.1.7 Window

Figure 17: Window menu entries
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

CascadeArranges all open dialogs cascaded.

Tile Horizontally

Arranges all open dialogs horizontally.

Tile Vertically

Arranges all open dialogs vertically.

Close All

Closes all open dialogs and windows.

Save Workspace As...

Saves the position of the open dialogs and windows to a ﬁle on the computer.

Restore Workspace
From...

Restores the position of the dialogs and windows from a ﬁle on the computer.

Recent Workspace

Lists all recently used workspace ﬁles.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons at the bottom of the window.

List of dialogs andwindows

Lists all visible and hidden dialogs and windows in u-center.

Table 10: Window menu entries

5.1.1.8 Help

Figure 18: Help menu entries

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u-center - User guide

Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Contents...

Gives a reference to this user guide.

About u-center...

Shows the about dialog with the software version and the used libraries and theirversions.

F1

Table 11: Help menu entries

5.1.2 Standard toolbar
The standard toolbar gives access to standard operations like opening and saving ﬁles, print thecurrent view or empty the database.

5.1.3 Views toolbar

5.1.4 Communication toolbar

5.1.5 Logﬁle toolbar

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5.1.6 Action toolbar

5.1.7 Standard statusbar
The standard status bar is updated automatically and shows the information about the opened ﬁle,the connection and the time. The following ﬁelds are available:
Status display: Displays the current action or the function of a button if the mouse cursor is overthe button.
NTRIP client information: Shows the connection to an NTRIP caster (only when activated throughReceiver > NTRIP Client...). Clicking on it will show up to 100 of the last errors between u-center andconnected NTRIP caster.
NTRIP server information: Shows the status and number of clients currently connected to ucenter's NTRIP caster (only when activated through Receiver > NTRIP Server/Caster...). Clicking on
it will show up to 100 of the last errors between u-center's NTRIP caster and connected clients.
DGNSS information: Shows the connection to a DGNSS source (only when activated throughReceiver > Diﬀerential GNSS Interface...).
Receiver generation: u-center tries to automatically detect the type of device connected andactivates the appropriate mode of operation in order to take optimal advantage of the features. The
mode can also be manually selected through the menu bar (Receiver > Generation).
Port information: Shows the active COM port and baud rate. Color coding of the icon:
Disconnected
Waiting for ﬁrst data
Data is being received but errors are detected (mostly because of wrong baud rate settings)
Last data received was valid but there is no data to collect at this time
No data is being received but errors have been detected in the past

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u-center - User guide

Data is being received and collected at the correct baud rate

File: The ﬁle opened in the u-center player.
Protocol information: This box indicates the current message set that is being used tocommunicate with the device.
Operating time: The time elapsed since you started u-center.
UTC time: The current time sent by the device. This ﬁeld is only updated if a receiver is connected.
Receiver status: Shows the last known status of the receiver. Color coding of the icon:
Power status of receiver is unknown
Receiver is powered on
Receiver is powered oﬀ

5.2 Views and windows
5.2.1 Packet console
The packet console lists all incoming and outgoing messages, and provides information about
message length and type. The direction of the message is shown in the following way:
R <-Indicates the message was sent to the receiver

R ->Indicates the message came from the receiver

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u-center - User guide

Figure 19: Packet console

Refer to Table 12 for an explanation of the icons and text ﬁeld.

5.2.2 Binary console
The binary console lists all incoming messages in binary and ASCII format.

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u-center - User guide

Figure 20: Binary console

Refer to Table 12 for an explanation of the icons and text ﬁeld.

5.2.3 Text console
The text console displays the content messages in textual form such as UBX-INF or NMEA
messages.
NMEA messages are shown with heading $Gxyyy, where x stands for the satellite system (P = GPS,
SBAS, QZSS, L = GLONASS, A = Galileo, B = BeiDou, N = Any combination of GNSS) and yyy for thetype of message (e.g. ZDA=Time & Date).

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u-center - User guide

Figure 21: Text console displaying UBX-INF and NMEA messages with "Show PC Time" and "Show/hide epoch markers"
enabledRefer to Table 12 for an explanation of the icons and text ﬁeld.

5.2.4 Icons and text ﬁeld of console views
Element Name/

Description

Lock / Locked

Prevents the console from being updated with new data when locked. Pause key canbe used to Lock/Unlock the current console window.

Clear All

Erases all data in the console.

Show/Hide PC timeShows/Hides the PC time in the console.

Show/Hide epoch
markers

Shows/Hides text for every new epoch with enumeration.

Filter on/oﬀ

Filters unwanted data from the data stream. This allows searching for certain
expression, e.g. all RMC messages.

Pause player

Pauses the player when the search expression is found. Only works in playback mode.

Table 12: Description of the buttons and text ﬁeld of the console views

5.2.5 Regular expression evaluation
Normally, when you search for a sub-string in a string, the match should be exact. So if we search
for a sub-string "abc" then the string being searched should contain these exact letters in the same
sequence for a match to be found. We can extend this kind of search to a case insensitive searchwhere the sub-string "abc" will ﬁnd strings like "Abc", "ABC" etc. That is, the case is ignored but thesequence of the letters should be exactly the same. Sometimes, a case insensitive search is also notenough. For example, if we want to search for numeric digit, then we basically end up searching foreach digit independently. This is where regular expressions come in to our help. Regular expressions

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u-center - User guideare text patterns that are used for string matching. Regular expressions are strings that contain amix of plain text and special characters to indicate what kind of matching to do. Here's a very brief
tutorial on using regular expressions.
Suppose, we are looking for a numeric digit then the regular expression we would search for is "[0-9]".
The brackets indicate that the character being compared should match any one of the characters
enclosed within the bracket. The dash (-) between 0 and 9 indicates that it is a range from 0 to 9.
Therefore, this regular expression will match any character between 0 and 9, that is, any digit. If wewant to search for a special character literally we must use a backslash before the special character.
For example, the single character regular expression "\*" matches a single asterisk. In the table below
the special characters are brieﬂy described. A regular expression search is case-sensitive.
Character

Description^

Beginning of the string. The expression "^A" will match an "A" only at the beginning of the string.

[^

The caret (^) immediately following the left bracket ([) has a diﬀerent meaning. It is used to exclude theremaining characters within brackets from matching the target string. The expression "[^0-9]" indicatesthat the target character should not be a digit.

$

The dollar sign ($) will match the end of the string. The expression "abc$" will match the sub-string "abc"only if it is at the end of the string.

|

The alternation or logic OR character (|) allows either expression on its side to match the target string. The
expression "a|b" will match "a" as well as "b".

.

The dot (.) will match any character.

*

The asterisk (*) indicates that the character to the left of the asterisk in the expression should match 0 or
more times.

+

The plus (+) is similar to asterisk but there should be at least one match of the character to the left of the +sign in the expression.

?

The question mark (?) matches the character to its left 0 or 1 times.

()

The parenthesis aﬀects the order of pattern evaluation.

[]

Brackets ([ and ]) enclosing a set of characters indicates that any of the enclosed characters may match thetarget character.

Table 13: Regular expression syntax

5.2.5.1 Examples
Let's assume that the lines in Figure 22 would appear in the NMEA console without ﬁltering.

Figure 22: Regular Expression Template

5.2.5.1.1 Example 1
Searching for the RMC with a valid position and all GGA Messages:

GP(GGA|RMC,.*,A,)"UBX-13005250 - R30
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Figure 23: Regular Expression Example 1

5.2.5.1.2 Example 2
Searching for all GSV with the message index of "2" or "3":

GSV,.*,[2-3],

Figure 24: Regular Expression Example 25.2.5.1.3 Example 3
Searching for all messages starting with $GP, which have a "G" in the message identiﬁer but not at
the ﬁrst position:^\$GP.+G.*,

Figure 25: Regular Expression Example 3

5.2.5.1.4 Example 4
Searching for all messages having a checksum of which the higher nibble is 3\*3.$

Figure 26: Regular Expression Example 4

5.2.6 Messages view
The messages view is utilized to communicate with the device. Receiver output messages (e.g.
navigation output, status and debug information) are displayed; input messages (e.g. conﬁguration
messages) can be sent. There are diﬀerent sections for NMEA and UBX protocol. See Figure 27 foran overview of the diﬀerent elements in the messages view.

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Figure 27: Messages view/

Lock /
LockedPrevents the message view from being updated with new data when locked. Pause key can be used
to Lock/Unlock the current view window.

Clear All

Erases the entire message view.

Send

Sends the current message to the device.

Poll

Polls the selected message once.

Auto poll

Automatically polls a newly selected message once.

Message Assigns a hotkey to the selected message.
HotkeyTable 14: Description of the buttons in the messages view toolbar

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5.2.6.1 Receiver output messages

Figure 28: Message display of an output message

Double-clicking on an output message enables or disables the periodic message update if
the communication protocol is active. This feature is currently only supported for the UBX
protocol.

5.2.7 Generation 9 conﬁguration view
The new u-blox Generation 9 conﬁguration view allows the users to check the current conﬁgurationof the receiver and change it if needed. This view can only be used to conﬁgure u-blox 9 generation
receivers.
By default, the conﬁguration values being edited come from (and can be written back to) an
attached receiver. This view consists of two diﬀerent sub-views, GNSS Conﬁguration and Advanced
Conﬁguration.
5.2.7.1 GNSS conﬁguration
This GNSS conﬁguration sub-view enables the users to poll and conﬁgure the basic and advanced
GNSS system conﬁgurations of the attached receiver. This sub-view describes sections below:

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Figure 29: u-blox Generation 9 Advanced Conﬁguration View
BasicThis section shows the GNSS constellation conﬁguration of the receiver by pressing
Poll Active Conﬁguration. The receiver’s GNSS constellations can also be conﬁgured
by enabling/disabling the required satellite constellations, and then pressing Send
Conﬁguration. See position a.

Advanced

This section shows the GNSS constellation signal information conﬁgured in thereceiver by pressing Poll Active Conﬁguration. The receiver’s GNSS signals can also
be conﬁgured by enabling/disabling the required signals, and then pressing Send
Conﬁguration. See position b.

Show Hex/ Hide Hex

Shows or hides the hex values that make up the messages describing the receiverconﬁguration just sent or received. See position c.

StatusShows the status of the action taken. See position d.

Write to layer

Once selected the desired layer, Send conﬁguration button sends the GNSS
constellation and signal information to the receiver. See position e.

Poll Active Conﬁguration (RAM
Layer)

Polls the GNSS constellation and signal conﬁguration from RAM layer of the attachedreceiver. See position f.

Table 15: Description of the buttons and sections in the GNSS Conﬁguration sub-view

5.2.7.2 Advanced Conﬁguration
In the Advanced Conﬁguration sub-view, all groups of conﬁguration items are displayed in a tree
structure. Expanding a group will show the RAM layer values for all readable conﬁguration items inthat group. Each item is read individually from the receiver as the group is expanded. Some item
values may not be known to the receiver in which case the value will be shown as "-".
If no receiver is attached or if the receiver does not support the new conﬁguration concept then novalues will be visible. If the receiver is not responding for some reason then close the group and open
it again to retry.

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Figure 30: Advanced Conﬁguration view

Users can expand items of interest and u-center will attempt to read values for all the other layers
such as BBR, ﬂash, ROM, pin, etc. and display any that it ﬁnds. This sub-view contains sections
below:
Conﬁguration item search

To search for an item by name, type into the search text box just above the tree. The
search is case-insensitive. See position a.

Conﬁguration item tree viewAll entries that contain the search text will be highlighted in red. The search will checkfor a match in group and item names, titles and descriptions. If a group contains an
item which matches then the group will be highlighted as well. See position b.

Selected Conﬁguration Item

This section describes the selected item in more detail. The ﬁeld having the searched
item is shown in red. See position c.

Load diﬀerences from default

Click on Load receiver diﬀerences from default to read the conﬁguration values
set in the receiver. This can be used to duplicate the current settings in anotherreceiver. The operation depends on the working mode of the tool. If used in thenormal, attached to receiver mode then the "writes" list will be populated with any
settings in the FS or BBR layers. See position d.

Send conﬁg changes"Send conﬁg changes" will send the current set of settings to the attached receiver.
A tick will appear next to the items which were successfully altered in the receiver.If
the receiver does not acknowledge the request, a cross appears. If there is no tick or across, the receiver does not respond to the request. Items are sent in groups of values
to be sent to the same layer. If one value for a layer cannot be written, then all values
for that layer will fail to be written and will show a cross. See position e.

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Items to delete

If an item that can be deleted from the receiver (if it is in the BBR or Flash layers) is
selected from the tree, then a button Delete will appear. If that button is selected
then it will be added to the list of deletions shown in the "Items to delete" section on
the right of the tree. See position f.

Items to set

If a writable layer item is selected, then press one of the layer buttons to add write
operations to a list of item writes. A value can be changed by clicking on it in the top
left sub-view area before writing. If two values for the same item are selected in thesame layer, then the earlier one will be highlighted in red to show that it will be ignored
as a duplicate setting. See position g.

Remove from list

Removes the selected item from one of the lists. See position h.

Clear lists

Removes all the items from all the lists. See position i.

Load from ﬁle...

Loads a group of settings from a readable text ﬁle. See position j.

Save to ﬁle...

To save the current list of settings to a readable text ﬁle, click Save to ﬁle... andchoose a ﬁle path. This will produce a ﬁle in the ASCII format. See position k.

Message hex codes

Lists the hex values for the UBX-CFG-VALSET message that will be constructed forsetting the selected conﬁguration properties. See position l.

Table 16: Description of the buttons and sections in the Advanced Conﬁguration sub-view

5.2.8 Statistic view

Figure 31: Statistic view

All available database values (transmitted from the device or calculated by u-center) are displayed.
The following statistics are displayed:• Current value• Minimum value

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u-center - User guide• Maximum value• Average value• Standard Deviation
The following color scheme for the values is applied:• Grey color: The value was not set for the current epoch• Blue color: The value was calculated by the application from other data
• Empty ﬁeld: No data is available
Choosing "Database Empty" in the ﬁle menu or pressing the button
view.

clears the statistic

The content of the statistic view can easily be exported to other programs using Copy/
Paste.

5.2.9 Table view

Figure 32: Table view

All values from the database can be displayed in a tabular form (Figure 32). This is very useful whenanalyzing the log ﬁle in detail.

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u-center - User guideTo add a new column, ﬁrst select the desired value (Figure 33) and click the button. To remove adisplayed value, click the button. To see the table header click the button. Statistical information
will be shown for 4 seconds.

Figure 33: Selecting a new value

The number of displayed epochs is set to 1800 by default.
Choosing "Database Empty" in the ﬁle menu or pressing the buttonclears the table view.

The content of the table view can easily be exported to other programs using Copy/Paste.

5.2.10 Map view
u-center can display positions on pre-calibrated or Google online (dynamic) maps (see Figure 34).

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Figure 34: Map view with Google online map

5.2.10.1 Using map view
If you want to use the Google online maps you have to enter an API key in Tools > Preferences >Access Tokens. A missing API key can lead to the output shown in Figure 35.

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Figure 35: Missing online map API key

Please go to https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/static-maps/?hl=en to
get a valid Google Static Maps API key.
You can access the view speciﬁc commands in two diﬀerent ways:• Using the command in the tool bar below the map view.
• Holding the cursor inside the map view and pressing the right mouse button. This will open thefollowing context menu (see Figure 36).

Figure 36: Map view context menu
Function

Description

Cursor

The position of the cursor is shown on the lower left edge of the u-center screen(Longitude, Latitude and Pixel-Position). By holding the left mouse button andmoving the cursor over the map you can measure distance from one position toanother.

Move

The map inside the map view window can be moved.

Zoom InThe map is enlarged by selecting a rectangle.

Zoom OutThe size of the map is decreased.

Zoom

Zoom the map to a speciﬁed level.

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Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Fit Map

The map size is adjusted to ﬁt the Map Window.

Markers

Add or remove the deﬁned markers (see also section Map calibration)

Meter

Show or hide the ruler.

Speedvector

Show or hide the speed vectors, and select where they are drawn from.

Follow

Centers the map on the current GNSS position.

Drawing Mode

The size and form of the displayed position can be changed in the menu Points;
the connection line between the points can be selected in the menu Connect. To
see statistical values (average, minimum, maximum, standard deviation) directlyin the map, select the menu entry Statistic.

Open Map... / Recent
Static Maps

Open a new or one of 8 recently used static maps.

Online Maps

Use online maps. Select the type in the menu and also if they should be
automatically downloaded when the current position moves out of the current
map tile (Auto Reload). The menu option Show Map Scales allows you to select a
diﬀerent scale of the tiles. The menu option Show vector from reference to rover
will show the vector pointing from reference to rover if such conﬁguration exists.
In this case, auto zoom capability exists to track the two by selecting the option
Auto zoom on reference and rover.

Save map (only intoolbar)

Save the current map view to a ﬁle (combined with all visible elements or only themap).

Image settings (only intoolbar)Brightness, contrast and color saturation of map can be adjusted by moving theglides.

///Table 17: Description of the buttons and context menu entries in map view

Map Views can be copied to the clipboard using the "Print Screen" function.
Choosing "Database Empty" in the ﬁle menu or pressing the button
view.

clears the statistic

5.2.10.2 Map calibration
To create your own map you will need a digitized map or a picture with orthogonal projection in oneof the following pixel graphics formats.
png

Portable Network Graphics

bmp

Windows Bitmap

dib

Device Independent Bitmap

gifGraphics Interchange Format

jpg/jpeg

Jpeg File Interchange Format

pcx

PC Paintbrush

tif

Tag Image File Format

If your map is not in one of the above formats, you can simply convert it in one of the supported
formats by a third party program.
To use a map in u-center, three calibration points are needed. For these points you have to know the
pixel coordinates and the according WGS84 coordinates in the latitude/longitude format in degrees(longitude: -180.0° to 180.0°, latitude: -90.0° to 90.0°). These points are stored in the map calibrationﬁle. The calibration ﬁle must be stored at the same location as the bitmap itself. It has the same
name but a diﬀerent extension (*.mcf). The format of the calibration ﬁle is very simple and can beedited in a simple editor like notepad.

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u-center - User guide5.2.10.2.1 Example
As an example we will have a look at the virtual map ﬁle world.png and its calibration ﬁleworld.mcf.

Figure 37: Digital map ﬁle: world.png

The Map has 1765 pixels (0 to 1764) in the horizontal and 1046 pixels (0 to 1045) in the verticaldirection. The origin is the upper left corner. To calibrate this map we will use the following threecalibration points (#1 to #3).
Pixel

WGS84
Coordinate

Reference Point

#

X

Y

Longitude Latitude

Upper Left Corner

1

0

0

-180.0

90.0

Lower Right Corner

2

1764

1045

180.0

-90.0

Upper Right Corner

3

1764

0

180.0

90.0

Table 18: Calibration reference points

To determine the exact pixel position you can use Microsoft Paint (mspaint.exe) or any other pixelediting program.
The calibration ﬁle is a plain ASCII text ﬁle. The ﬁle may contain comments. The ﬁle consists of two
sections, which start with keywords encapsulated in braces.
The REFERENCE section, which is mandatory, contains the three points used to calibrate a map.
Each reference point is on a single line and has the following syntax: # = <x>, <y>, <lon>,<lat> where• # is the index of the reference point• <x> is the horizontal image coordinate• <y> is the vertical image coordinate• <lat> is the latitude in degrees and WGS84• <lon> is the longitude in degrees and WGS84.
The optional MARKER section deﬁnes additional points on the map. Each point is on a single line withthe syntax: # = i, <x>, <y>[, <text>] or # = c, <lat>, <lon>[, <text>] where• # is the index of the marker point• i indicates that the coordinates relate to the image• c indicates that the coordinates relate to the world

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u-center - User guide• <x> is the horizontal image coordinate• <y> is the vertical image coordinate• <lat> is the latitude in degrees and WGS84• <lon> is the longitude in degrees and WGS84.
• <text> is a optional string in quotes labeling the marker point.
The points must have a unique index from 1 to <num>. The maximum marker point index <num> iswritten to the same section on a separate line with the syntax Count = <num>.

Figure 38: Map calibration ﬁle: world.mcf

5.2.10.2.2 Map calibration toolu-center includes a built-in calibration tool for providing coordinates to maps and photographs insupported data formats to create u-center maps. To use the tool open the map view window as seenin Figure 39 and then open the ﬁle of the map to be calibrated.

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u-center - User guide

Figure 39: Opening map view window

If the ﬁle to be opened has not been calibrated, the message in Figure 40 will appear.

Figure 40: No calibration information foundSelect three points on the map and enter the calibration coordinates in the speciﬁed format as seenin Figure 41.

Figure 41: Calibrating a map using calibration tool

Following these steps the map is now calibrated and can be used with u-center.

5.2.11 Chart view
Chart view allows you to conveniently view GNSS data records in graphical form. The data can bescaled in many diﬀerent ways and formats. It's even possible to print the entire chart. The examples
below illustrate two diﬀerent typical applications.

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Figure 42: Altitude as a function of Index (X = Index, Y = Alt)UBX-13005250 - R30
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Figure 43: Latitude as a function of longitude (X =Longitude, Y = Latitude)
Function

Description

Cursor

The position of the cursor is shown on the lower left edge of the u-center screen(Longitude, Latitude and Pixel-Position). By holding the left mouse button andmoving the cursor over the chart you can measure distance from one position toanother.

Move

The chart inside the chart view window can be moved.

Zoom In

Drawing a rectangle enlarges the chart to the new view. To zoom in the chart
double-click on the chart.

Zoom Out

Drawing a rectangle decreases the chart to the new view. To zoom out the chart
double-click on the chart.

Drawing Mode

The size and form of the displayed values can be changed in the menu points;
the connection line between the values can be selected in the menu connect. For
viewing the statically values (average, minimum, maximum, standard deviation)
directly in the chart select the statistics menu.

Fit Y range

Fits the Y range.

Follow Y

Follow the most current Y value (the most current Y-value is always in the middleof the chart).

Index or Y value

Switch between the index and the Y value.

Y value

Select the Y value to be displayed.

Fit X range

Fit the X range.

Follow X

Follow the most current X value (the most current X value is always in the middleof the chart).

Index or X value

Switch between the index and the X value.

X value

Select the X value to be displayed.

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Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Moving average

Adds a moving average. The average is calculated over the number of most recent
values, speciﬁed with the parameter.

Table 19: Description of the buttons in the chart view toolbar

The number of displayed epochs is set to 1800 by default.

5.2.12 Histogram view
Histogram views allow you to view GNSS data and probability distributions (see Figure 44) and print
the entire histogram if desired. The number of bins (storage containers) can be set by you.

Figure 44: Altitude Histogram View

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Figure 45: Probability chart
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Cursor

The position of the cursor is shown on the lower left edge of the u-center screen(Longitude, Latitude and Pixel-Position). By holding the left mouse button andmoving the cursor over the histogram you can measure distance from one
position to another.

Move

The histogram inside the histogram view window can be moved.

Zoom In

Drawing a rectangle enlarges the histogram to the new view. To zoom in thehistogram double-click on the histogram.

Zoom Out

Drawing a rectangle decreases the histogram to the new view. To zoom out thehistogram double-click on the histogram.

Drawing Mode

The size and form of the displayed values can be changed in the menu points;
the connection line between the values can be selected in the menu connect. For
viewing the statically values (average, minimum, maximum, standard deviation)
directly in the histogram select the statistics menu.

Probability

Fit the Probability range.

Fit Probability

Fit the Probability range

Y value

Select the Y value to be displayed.

Bins

The number of bins.

Table 20: Description of the buttons in the histogram view toolbar

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The number of displayed epochs is set to 1800 by default.

5.2.13 Camera view
The camera view function enables photographs, taken during recording of log ﬁles, to be linked to
the GNSS data stored in the corresponding log ﬁles. This allows a video depiction of the test, witha picture assigned to a speciﬁc point of GNSS data.

Figure 46: Camera view

Using Camera View can result in very large log ﬁles and can slow down u-center whenplaying such ﬁles.

5.2.14 Deviation map
The deviation map displays positions in longitude and latitude relative to a deﬁned reference
position.

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Figure 47: Deviation map
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Properties

The reference position can be deﬁned as:• The average of all previously measured positions• The current position• A ﬁxed, predeﬁned value• The radius of the outer circle can be adjusted with the Max. Deviation parameter.

Fit

Automatically adjusts the reference position and the maximum deviation to ﬁt all
positions into the deviation map.

Track

Show track of values from the internal database.

Statistics

Show statistics of the values from the internal database.

Maximum deviation
shortcut

Shortcut for changing the scale of the deviation map to preﬁxed values. The icons
represent Roman numerals, with "I" corresponding to a 1 m radius of the deviation
map, and "V"= 5 m, "X"= 10 m, "L"= 50 m, "C" = 100 m, "D" = 500 m, and "M" = 1000m.

Reference position
shortcut

Shortcut for setting the reference position:• A = average position• C = current position

Table 21: Description of the buttons in the deviation map toolbar

The number of displayed epochs is set to 1800 by default.

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u-center - User guideYou can use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in/out on the deviation map. Holding down the
Shift key allows you to zoom in beyond the default 1 m maximum zoom.

5.2.15 Sky viewSky view is an excellent tool for analyzing the performance of antennas as well as the conditionsof the satellite observation environment. The polar plot graphically displays the averaged relativesatellite signal strength (see Figure 48), the position of satellites in the sky, identiﬁes satellites by
number and indicates which satellites are being used in the receiver calculation. Right-clicking themouse on sky view allows the copying of C/N0 values in tabular form to another program.

Figure 48: Sky view
Function

Description

Shortcut /Toolbar icon

Linear projection

Displays the sky view with a linear projection.

Sine projection

Displays the sky view with a sine projection.

C/N0

Displays or hides the averaged C/N0 values.

Orbits

Displays or hides the satellite orbits.

Satellites

Displays or hides the current satellite positions.

Coordinates

Displays or hides the caption for the azimuth.

Elevation

Displays or hides the caption for the elevation.

Table 22: Description of the buttons in the sky view toolbar

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6 NTRIPThis section will give an overview of the NTRIP support in u-center. Currently u-center supports both
NTRIP client and NTRIP caster/server functionality. Settings for both of them can be found under"Receiver" menu.
Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP) is an application-level protocol that
supports the streaming of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data over the internet. NTRIP
is a generic, stateless protocol based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP/1.1. The HTTP
objects are extended to GNSS data streams.

6.1 NTRIP client
NTRIP client allows connecting to any NTRIP compliant caster and receiving RTCM correction datafor receiver. Currently version 1 of NTRIP standard is implemented.
Perform the following steps to connect to the caster (steps 10 to 14 are only needed when the mountpoint requires additional NMEA message to be sent by the client):
1. Establish the communication between u-center and the device (see also Connect to thereceiver).
2. Open NTRIP client settings dialog by clicking on Receiver > NTRIP Client...

Figure 49: NTRIP client settings dialog

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Enter the address of the NTRIP caster. See position a.
Enter the port number of the NTRIP caster. See position b.
Enter the username which will be sent to the NTRIP caster. If no authentication is required by
the caster, then leave this ﬁeld empty. See position c.
Enter the password which will be sent to the NTRIP caster. If no authentication is required by
the caster, then leave this ﬁeld empty. See position d.
Click on Update source table to get an up to date list of all available mount points from thecaster. See position e.
To see the detailed attributes of mount points, click on Mount point details. This will bring up
a new dialog box listing all the mount points available and their attributes. See position f.

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9. Select one of the mount points listed in the drop down box. See position g.
10. Click on Use manual position to enter values for position data. If this is not checked, the position
data will be retrieved directly from the receiver. See position h.
11. Enter the longitude in degrees, in either ﬂoating point or integer format. See position i.
12. Enter the latitude in degrees, in either ﬂoating point or integer format. See position j.
13. Enter the altitude in meters in ﬂoating point or integer format. See position k.
14. Enter the geoid separation in meters in ﬂoating point or integer format. See position l.
15. Click on OK to start receiving correction data.

6.2 NTRIP server/casterThe u-center NTRIP caster is able to accept requests from NTRIP compliant clients and send them
RTCM correction data. This is implemented according to NTRIP standard version 1. The server part
is not implemented according to the standard but we are currently supporting one mount point,
which gets data from direct connection to the receiver.
Perform the following steps to set up the caster:
1. Establish communication between u-center and the device (see also Connect to the receiver).
2. Open NTRIP server/caster settings dialog by clicking on Receiver > NTRIP Server/Caster...
There are two tabs. First tab contains the basic conﬁguration (port only), while the second tab
contains the rest of the conﬁguration options.

Figure 50: NTRIP server settings dialog, both the Basic and More tabs

3.

Enter the port that will be used by the NTRIP caster. See position a.

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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

Check "Enable authentication" if you want to enable basic authentication on your caster. See
position b.
Enter the username which will have to be provided by the clients (only if you enabledauthentication under 4). See position c.
Enter the password which will have to be provided by the clients (only if you enabledauthentication under 4). See position d.
Enter the name for the mount point. See position e.
Enter the identiﬁer for the mount point e.g. name of the city next to mount point location. See
position f.
Enter the country code in ISO 3166 for the mount point. See position g.
Check Get conﬁguration automatically to use longitude, latitude and RTCM message
conﬁguration of the currently connected receiver that will be sent out on the mount point. In
this case, you can go directly to 16. See position h.
Enter the longitude for the mount point in integer or ﬂoating point format. See position i.
Enter the latitude for the mount point in integer or ﬂoating point format. See position j.
Select the RTCM messages that will be sent by the mount point. See position k.
For every selected RTCM message enter the period at which messages will be sent to theclients. See position l.
Check Store conﬁguration to receiver on exit to store the conﬁguration of RTCM messages tothe receiver (using the UBX-CFG-MSG message). See position m.
Click OK to start NTRIP server/caster.

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7 MQTT
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a message protocol for restricted networks (lowbandwidth) and IoT devices with high latency.
This section gives an overview of the MQTT support in u-center.

7.1 MQTT client
The MQTT client allows connecting to an MQTT data stream and receiving PointPerfect correction
data for the receiver.
To connect to the MQTT data stream:
1. Establish the communication between u-center and the device (see also Connect to thereceiver).
2. Open MQTT client settings dialog by clicking Receiver > MQTT Client...

Figure 51: MQTT client settings dialog

3.

Upload the u-center conﬁguration ﬁle that you need to download from Thingstream. See
position a. For more information on how to sign in to Thingstream to get the u-center
conﬁguration ﬁle, visit PointPerfect getting started. Clicking OK without any conﬁguration ﬁlewill show an error, as shown in Figure 52.

Figure 52: MQTT client error message

4.

To subscribe to the key topic, select the "Subscribe to key topic" checkbox. See position b.

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5.
6.
7.

To subscribe to the AssistNow topic, select the "Subscribe to AssistNow topic" checkbox. See
position c.
To subscribe to a data topic, select the "Subscribe to data topic" checkbox. See position d.
Select the required data topic from the drop-down menu. See position e. Clicking OK without
any data topic selection will show an error, as shown in Figure 53.

Figure 53: MQTT client error message

8.

Once the required checkboxes, u-center conﬁguration ﬁle and data topic have been correctly
selected, click OK to start receiving the correction data.

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8 Google Earth serverThis section gives an overview of the Google Earth server support in u-center.
The Google Earth server can continuously send positioning data in a speciﬁc format to the Google
Earth application. By hosting such a server in u-center we are able to visualize positioning data inreal time.
There are only a few settings that can be set via the Google Earth server dialog. This means a lotof functionality and behavior of the Google Earth is still conﬁgurable from the application itself andtherefore out of control of u-center's direct control.
Perform the following steps to start the Google Earth server:
1. Establish the communication between u-center and the device (see also Connect to thereceiver).
2. Open Google Earth settings dialog by clicking on File > Database Export > Google Earth Server...

Figure 54: Google Earth settings dialog

3.
4.

5.
6.
7.

8.
9.

Enter the port of the server. See position a.
Select the refresh mode. Supported modes are "On camera stop" where Google Earth will sendrequests only when previous view has stabilized or "On interval" where requests from Google
Earth will be sent in regular intervals. See position b.
Enter the refresh time. This is the time between two consecutive requests in "On interval" modeor delay after camera stops in "On camera stop" mode. See position c.
Enter the altitude in meters of the view. See position d.
Enter the tilt in degrees of the view. A value of 0 indicates that the view is aimed straight down
toward the earth and a value of 90 indicates that the view is aimed toward the horizon. See
position e.
Check this ﬁeld if you want the heading of the camera to follow heading information comingfrom UBX-NAV-PVT message. See position f.
Enter the number to set the line width in the view. Higher values mean a thicker tracking line.
See position g.

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u-center - User guide10. Select the altitude mode for the view. The "absolute" mode sets the altitude relative to sea level,"relativeToGround" mode sets it relative to the actual ground elevation in a particular locationand "clampToGround" ignores the altitude speciﬁcation. See position h.
11. Click on Update preferences if you want to permanently store information about Line width andAltitude mode. The same can be achieved through menu "Tools > Preferences > KML settings".
See position i.
12. Click on OK to start the server.

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u-center - User guide9 Tools
This section will give an overview of the embedded tools of u-center. They can be used for diﬀerent
purpose and should facilitate the usage of u-blox GNSS receivers. The tools can be found under the"Tools" menu but some of the options are only displayed when a receiver is connected to u-center.
The ﬁrmware update tools also depend on the connected receiver generation.

9.1 Firmware update
This tool allows you to update the ﬁrmware of a receiver. For the ﬁrmware update to work, thereceiver must have a ﬂash memory attached as the new ﬁrmware will be stored in this location.
In the earlier versions of u-center, ﬁrmware update was implemented as part of the u-center
application. Now, the ﬁrmware update is implemented as a separate application which u-centerlaunches and passes parameters to, depending on the options selected in the UI.
To update the ﬁrmware, perform the following steps:
1. Display the ﬁrmware update tool view by clicking on Tools > Firmware Update...

Figure 55: Firmware update view

2.
3.

Select the ﬁrmware image suitable for the connected receiver. See position a on Figure 55.
Select the ﬂash information structure ﬁle (only needed if using u-blox receiver generation 7 orlater), or the ﬂash deﬁnition ﬁle (only needed before u-blox receiver generation 7). These ﬁlesshould be bundled with u-center. See position b on Figure 55.

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u-center - User guide4.

Select the options for your receiver. See position c on Figure 55.
OptionDescription

Recommended

Use this Baud rate for

Selects the speed of the communication for updating the ﬁrmware

115200

updateon the receiver. Only has an eﬀect when the receiver is connected
over a serial port.

Program FIS only

Writes only the ﬂash information structure (FIS) into the external

disabled

memory and does not update the ﬁrmware. This option is used forreceivers running from ROM but with an attached SQI memory (forexample for logging). Only supported after and including u-blox
receiver generation 7.
Enter Safeboot before

Sends the command to enter safeboot. In this state, the receiver

updateboots from the internal ring oscillator and does not rely on any

disabled

external components. GNSS functionality is not started and thereceiver does not output any data. Don't use this method when
having the receiver connected over USB.
USB alternative update

Enables updating the receiver via USB. "Enter Safeboot before

enabled (using

methodupdate" will be disabled automatically if that option has been

USB only)chosen.
Send Training sequence

Sends the training sequence after safeboot was entered. This

enabledsynchronizes the internal ring oscillator so that a communication
can be established.
Use chip erase

Erases the ﬂash using an single command instead of individual

check support

sector erases.
Transfer image to RAM

Transfers the ﬁrmware image directly to the receiver's RAM. Not

disabled

stored to ﬂash.

5.

The additional options ﬁeld allows more command options to be speciﬁed than are presented
in the UI. This feature should only be needed if the ﬁrmware update utility launched by u-centerhas additional features which the development of th UI has not caught up with yet. See positiond on Figure 55.
6. The command line ﬁeld displays the actual command line and parameters used to launch theﬁrmware update utility from u-center. This can be used to help diagnose any issues that may
occur when performing a ﬁrmware update. See position e on Figure 55.
7. The status ﬁelds display information about the connected receiver, the presence of the
ﬁrmware and FIS ﬁles, and if the ﬁrmware update utility can be found. See position f on Figure
55. If there is a problem with any of these items, the Go button, which starts the update process,will be greyed out.
8. Press the Go button to start the ﬁrmware update process. This button will only be enabled if ucenter can see the receiver and can ﬁnd the speciﬁed ﬁles. If this button is greyed out, checkthe status display to see what is wrong. See position g on Figure 55.
9. Press the Stop button to terminate the ﬁrmware update process. This will only be enabled when
the update process is running. See position h on Figure 55.
10. During ﬁrmware update, a progress bar is displayed. See position i on Figure 55.
11. A log is also displayed during the update process. See position j on Figure 55.
12. A detailed image of the ﬂash erase and writing progress will also be shown. See position k on
Figure 55.

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9.2 Legacy Firmware update u-blox 5 - 8This is the legacy receiver ﬁrmware update tool, which is built into the u-center binary. It can beused to program u-blox 5 to u-blox 8 receivers. Further feature development has been stopped andu-center now uses the stand alone command line ﬁrmware update utility as the primary ﬁrmware
update mechanism. This is documented in the previous section. In the future, this legacy ﬁrmware
update tool will be removed permanently from u-center.
As with the primary ﬁrmware update tool, the receiver has to have a ﬂash memory attached as theﬁrmware has to be stored in this location.
Perform the following steps to update the ﬁrmware:
1. Establish the communication between u-center and the device (see also Connect to thereceiver).
2. Open ﬁrmware update tool by clicking Tools > Legacy Firmware Update...

Figure 56: Legacy ﬁrmware update window

3.
4.
5.
6.

Select the ﬁrmware image suitable for the connected receiver. See position a on Figure 56.
Select the ﬂash deﬁnition ﬁle (only needed before u-blox receiver generation 7). This ﬁle isbundled with u-center. Point to the latest ﬁle version. See position b on Figure 56.
Select the ﬂash information structure ﬁle (when using u-blox receiver generation 7 or later).
This ﬁle is also bundled with u-center. Point to the latest ﬁle version. See position c on Figure 56.
Select the correct options for your receiver. See position d on Figure 56.
OptionDescription

Recommended

Use this Baud rate for

Selects the speed of the communication for updating the ﬁrmware

115200

updateon the receiver. Only has an eﬀect when the receiver is connected
over a serial port.

Clear BBR before update

Deletes the complete battery-backed memory (BBR) so that theenabledreceiver will start with the default conﬁguration.
Program FIS only

Writes only the ﬂash information structure (FIS) into the external

disabled

memory and does not update the ﬁrmware. This option is used forreceivers running from ROM but with an attached SQI memory (forexample for logging). Only supported after and including u-blox
receiver generation 7.

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OptionDescription

Recommended

USB alternative update

Erases the ﬁrst sector of the ﬂash memory and restarts the receiver. disabled

methodThe receiver will then start from ROM and the ﬂash ﬁrmware can be
updated. Use this method if you want to update the ﬁrmware of areceiver connected over USB.

Enter Safeboot before

Sends the command to enter safeboot. In this state, the receiver

updateboots from the internal ring oscillator and does not rely on any

enabledexternal components. GNSS functionality is not started and thereceiver does not output any data. Don't use this method when
having the receiver connected over USB.
Send Training sequence

Sends the training sequence after safeboot was entered. This

enabledsynchronizes the internal ring oscillator so that a communication
can be established.

7.

Click OK.

9.3 Dump receiver diagnostics
This tool is used to dump the receiver diagnostic to a ﬁle. Use this tool if requested by the support
team.

Figure 57: Dump receiver diagnostics tool

9.4 GNSS conﬁguration
u-center is capable of getting the actual conﬁguration of a u-blox GNSS positioning chip or moduleand storing it to an ASCII text ﬁle containing hexadecimal records. Such a ﬁle can be edited andstored to a u-blox GNSS device again. In u-center Tools menu, select GNSS Conﬁguration to open
the GNSS Conﬁguration dialog box. The following functions are available:• Specify the name of a new conﬁguration ﬁle to store current conﬁguration from the u-blox GNSS
device• Specify the name of an existing conﬁguration ﬁle and load this conﬁguration into the u-blox GNSS
device• A ﬂag can be set to force storing the conﬁguration into a battery-backed RAM (BBR) or ﬂash,
applicable for u-blox 5 to u-blox 8/M8 only.

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Figure 58: GNSS conﬁguration tool

9.4.1 Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁles
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Connect to the device.
Open "Tools > GNSS Conﬁguration".
Select the u-blox receiver generation connected from the Generation drop down menu.
To read an existing conﬁguration ﬁle, select the name of the ﬁle, then click Transfer ﬁle >GNSS button. The GNSS Conﬁguration window then closes and the progress window pops
up, showing the conﬁguration being sent to the receiver. This progress window closes after
successful transfer.
To write a new conﬁguration ﬁle, click " Transfer GNSS > File". The GNSS Conﬁguration windowcloses and the progress window pops up, showing the conﬁgurations being polled and stored
into a local ﬁle in ASCII format.
Select Store conﬁguration into BBR/Flash checkbox if the parameters need to be stored
into the device's non-volatile memory (BBR/Flash). This option is applicable for u-blox 5 to ublox 8/M8 generation receivers.
Sending a conﬁguration to a u-blox GNSS device may fail due to a baud rate change on thecurrent serial port of the receiver to which the conﬁguration is being sent. If this happens,
simply change the u-center baud rate and send the conﬁguration again.

If reading or writing conﬁguration data fails too frequently, try to increase the number of retries ucenter should do on a single message if one fails.
The user can abort the transfer by clicking the Abort button. It is not possible to close the window
unless the transfer is complete or aborted by the user.
It is not recommended to read/write conﬁguration while the u-blox GNSS device is in sleep
mode.

9.4.2 Editing conﬁguration ﬁleWhen clicking the Edit button in the GNSS Conﬁguration dialog, the Notepad editor opens (standard
Windows software). Conﬁgurations are stored the following way:
• The ﬁrst line contains the version of the u-blox GNSS receiver where the conﬁguration is from.
Never change this line!
• For the second and following lines, each line contains the same: <class ID>-<message ID> -<hexadecimal byte code of the message>. The byte code consists of class and message
IDs (2 bytes), payload length (2 bytes), payload (payload length bytes). The sync characters andthe checksum are not included. They will be calculated automatically.

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Refer to u-blox Receiver Description including Protocol Specification for detailed information andranges.

Figure 59: Content of GNSS conﬁguration ﬁle

9.5 Preferences
The preferences tool can be used to conﬁgure a number of u-center parameters.

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10 How To
10.1 Change baud rate of receiver
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Connect to the device.
Open View / Messages View (Hotkey: F9).
Select UBX-CFG-PRT.
Poll the current conﬁguration from the receiver (Change the setting to the desired baud rate.
Send the message to the receiver ().

).

Figure 60: Changing baud rate (using UBX-CFG-PRT)

10.2 Save parameters to receiver non-volatile memory (BBR/
Flash)
There are 2 ways to save parameters to the receiver's non-volatile memory (BBR/Flash).

10.2.1 Saving parameters with UBX-CFG-CFG
1.
2.

Connect to the device.
Open View / Messages View (Hotkey: F9).

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3.
4.
5.

Select UBX-CFG-CFG.
Select “save current conﬁguration” (see Figure 61).
Send the message to the receiver ().

Figure 61: Saving Parameters (using UBX-CFG-CFG)

10.2.2 Saving parameters with GNSS conﬁguration
Refer to chapter Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁles10.3 Recording/Playing a log ﬁleu-center allows recording and playing log ﬁles. Use the player controls, to record or playback a log
ﬁle. Select the log ﬁle to be opened through the ﬁle menu tool bar. The series of buttons in the player
toolbar can be used to navigate through the log ﬁle. The records will be displayed on the navigation
display window, in the same way that live GNSS data is displayed when using u-center. Refer to Player
for a description of the menu items.

10.4 Conduct sensitivity tests
u-center is a useful tool for conducting sensitivity tests of GNSS positioning chips and modules andreceiver designs. To do so, under open sky conditions record a log ﬁle of the receiver to be tested andan Evaluation Kit as reference. Make sure that the log ﬁles are recorded under the same conditions.

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Using the Statistic View or Table View windows from u-center, compare the C/N0 values of the ﬁvestrongest satellites. With Table view, export the values to a spreadsheet for analysis.

10.5 Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁlesRefer to chapter Read/Write conﬁguration ﬁles10.6 Set GNSS conﬁguration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Connect to the device.
Open View / Messages View (Hotkey: F9).
Select UBX-CFG-GNSS.
Place or remove the checkmark for the desired GNSS under Enable.
Send the message to the receiver ().

The following ﬁgure shows an example that conﬁgures the device to receive GPS and GLONASS.

Figure 62: GNSS conﬁguration (using UBX-CFG-GNSS)

10.7 Change epoch detection methodu-center looks for epochs in the incoming messages from the receiver, and uses them as a heartbeat
to trigger view updates and calculate the statistics. To detect new epochs, u-center examines
various groups of ﬁelds in the incoming message stream. It is possible to specify which ﬁeld
groups u-center is interested in for epoch detection. Opening the dialog under "Receiver > Epochdetection..." allows the user to do this.

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Figure 63: Select epoch detection method

From the "Select Epoch detection Scheme" window, the following options can be conﬁgured:
OptionDescription

Default

iTOW

Monitor the "iTOW" database element. Trigger an epoch if a diﬀerence is seen.
Typically UBX-NAV messages cause this trigger.

Yes

HNR TOW

Monitor the "NAV-HNR iTOW" database element. Trigger an epoch if a diﬀerenceis seen. HNR based messages cause this trigger.

No

UTC-TIME

Monitor the "UTC" database element. Trigger an epoch if a diﬀerence is seen.
Typically NMEA messages cause this trigger.

Yes

GPS-TIME

Monitor the "GPS time" database element. Trigger an epoch if a diﬀerence is seen. Yes
Typically PUBX messages cause this trigger.

NAV-EOE

Monitor for incoming UBX-NAV-EOE messages. Trigger an epoch if one is seen.

Yes

ITFM Status

Monitor the "ITFM Status" database element. Trigger an epoch if a diﬀerence isseen. The UBX-RXM-INTF message causes this trigger.

Yes

NMEA repeat

Monitor for NMEA messages. Trigger an epoch if the same NMEA message isseen twice since the last epoch. Excluding GxGRS and GxGSA.

Yes

No additional
ﬁltering

No additional ﬁltering performed when looking for epoch triggers.

Yes

Only trigger onpriority mode
messages

Trigger an epoch on a priority navigation output message.

No

Only trigger on
non-priority mode
messages

Trigger an epoch on a non priority navigation output message.

No

Table 23: Epoch detection method options

The default conﬁguration can be restored by clicking the Restore defaults button.

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11 Troubleshooting
NMEA or UBX protocol is not available in the Messages View
u-center uses dynamic link libraries (DLL). The installation program will automatically install therequired DLLs into the u-center program directory. Should you try to copy a u-center installationfrom one location to another, make sure you also copy the DLL ﬁles. Verify, the version of u-center
matches the DLL version.
u-center does not display all messages
Make sure the baud rate is suﬃcient. If the bandwidth is insuﬃcient, receivers will skip excessive
messages. Some serial port cards/adapters (i.e. USB to RS-232 converter) frequently generate
errors. If a communication error occurs while u-center receives a message, the message will bediscarded.
Some COM port are not shown in the port list
Only the COM ports that are available on your computer will show up in the COM port drop down list.
If a COM port is grayed out, another application in the computer is using it.
PC is very slow when u-center runs
If a high value of epochs is selected, the display in real-time cannot be guaranteed, especially whenmany graphical views are open. u-center does not update minimized views and console in real-time.
Close or minimize as many of the graphical views and consoles as possible and u-center will run
faster.
Log ﬁle/data are only partly displayed
The number of epochs displayed in u-center can be limited in order to allow an eﬃcient analysis oflarger log ﬁles. When this limit is set then the oldest values will be discarded after the databasereaches this limit size. Data stored to a log ﬁle are not aﬀected by the database limitation. Refer toDatabase limitations for instructions on how to increase or remove this limit. When planning longterm observations, it's recommended to start recording a log ﬁle before analysis begins.
Output messages are not updated in the Messages View
Make sure that the protocol you would like to receive is enabled. If so, double-click on the desired
output message. Double-clicking on an output message enables or disables the periodic message
update if the respective protocol is active. Alternatively, select the desired input or output message
and press the Poll button. If you would like to get UBX-INF-* messages in the log ﬁle, conﬁgure thereceiver accordingly with the UBX-CFG-INF input message.
No log ﬁle is recorded
After a new log ﬁle is created, logging will not automatically start but only after selecting the Record
button in the Player Toolbar.

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Related documents
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

GPS Compendium, Doc No GPS-X-02007
u-blox 5 Receiver Description including Protocol Speciﬁcation, Document number: GPS.G5X-07036
u-blox 6 Receiver Description including Protocol Speciﬁcation, Document number: GPS.G6SW-10018
u-blox 7 Receiver Description including Protocol Speciﬁcation V14, Document number:
GPS.G7-SW-12001
u-blox 8 / u-blox M8 Receiver Description Including Protocol Speciﬁcation (Public version),
Document number: UBX-13003221

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Revision history
Revision

Date

Name

Status / Comments-

08-Oct-2008

tgri

Initial releaseA

22-Jul-2009

tgri

New CI

A1

17-Feb-2011

tgri

Third party libraries

B

01-Nov-2011

tgri

Google Earth View addedC

03-Jun-2012

khirUpdated for u-center 6.3. GNSS conﬁguration added

R06

09-Dec-2013

mfre

Update for u-center 8.01 and u-blox 7 and M8 generations

R07

01-Oct-2014

jbow

Packet view update describing message direction indicators

R08

23-Feb-2015

yzha

Updated menu pictures and shortcut key list corresponding to latest version

R09

04-Sep-2015

smos

Updated Contact page

R10

12-Dec-2015

mfre

Remove Google Earth support

R1129-Mar-2016

mfre

Epoch detection, DGNSS interface and receiver status icons description
added, legacy aiding marked deprecated, pictures updated

R1215-Jul-2016

mfre

Map view updated, removed EVK-6PPP how to

R13

01-Oct-2016

rsmr

NTRIP support added

R14

19-Dec-2016

rsmr

Google Earth server added, new RTCM messages added

R15

31-Mar-2017

rsmr

Support for Sqlite database added, improved UI processing, support formoving baseline added

R16

29-Jun-2017

jbow

Limiting the database size, automatic receiver identiﬁcation

R17

28-Sep-2017

msul

Firmware update view modernized

R18

04-Dec-2017

msul

Addition of the "Transfer image to RAM" checkbox in ﬁrmware update window

R19

29-May-2018

msul

Addition of the "Stepback" button in log ﬁle toolbar and additional bar to
NTRIP server/caster settings screen

R20

28-Sep-2018

msul

Addition of the "USB alternative update method" checkbox in ﬁrmware update
window

R21

11-Mar-2019

msul

Added Generation 9 Advanced Conﬁguration View

R22

25-Jun-2019

msul

Updated ﬁgures 8, 9, 29, 53 and 56. Updated section 8.4.1 Read/Write
conﬁguration ﬁles accordingly

R23

30-Aug-2019

msul

Updated ﬁgures 19, 20, 21 and table 12 for new epoch marker. Updated ﬁgure
60 and table 23 for advanced ﬁltering introduction in epoch detection scheme

R2402-Oct-2019

msul

Updated section 5.2.7.2 Advanced Conﬁguration View

R25

23-Oct-2019

msul

Added a hex ﬁeld to the Advanced Conﬁguration View

R26

15-Mar-2021

msul

Updated ﬁgures 8 and 9

R27

09-Jun-2021

msul

Added new section 7 MQTT

R28

22-Oct-2021

msul

Updated content in section 7 MQTT

R29

01-Mar-2022

msul

Added limitation note in section 7 MQTT

R30

24-May-2022

msul

Improved MQTT section with options to subscribe to key, AssistNow and data
topics in section 7

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u-center - User guideContact
For further support and contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com/support.

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