PointPerfect u-center Guide
Overview
Introduction
This page provides an overview of the actions required to configure your PointPerfect solution when using u-center.
For more detailed information about u-center please see u-center user guide: UBX-13005250
Download u-center to Evaluate your PointPerfect Solution
u-center is the software provided by u-blox for easy installation and configuration of high precision GNSS modules such as the F9. You can download the latest version of u-center from the PointPerfect Location Services portal on Thingstream.
Note: If you receive an MQTT client error: "Error when trying to connect. Check the MQTT JSON config: Error code: -1" please check this article to help solve the issue.
Still need help?
If you need more help or have any questions, please send an email to services-support@u-blox.com.
Configure your Solution with u-center
To use PointPerfect with u-center, collect your Thing credentials from the Thingstream platform according to the delivery method you wish to use.
For SPARTN or RTCM over NTRIP, expand the NTRIP Credentials section and have these details available when you connect with your NTRIP client.
For MQTT, expand the MQTT Credentials section, download the "u-center Config" file from the Credentials tab of your PointPerfect Thing, and use this JSON file to connect your MQTT client. This file includes all the credentials and configuration u-center needs for connecting to the PointPerfect broker. No editing is required. If you have multiple Things in your domain account, make sure you download the correct JSON file for each device.
If not already reviewed please see the PointPerfect Getting Started Guide for information about configuring your solution with u-center.
Once you have the proper credentials, open u-center and connect to your device using the serial port for your F9 module.
PointPerfect IP over NTRIP
To enable PointPerfect (SPARTN/RTCM) over NTRIP on the F9 module, you will need to connect your receiver’s client to the NTRIP caster and stream. Follow the steps below to complete the setup:
Open the ‘Receiver’ menu in u-center and select the ‘NTRIP Client’.
Fill the NTRIP Client Connection Parameters as mentioned in your Thingstream account.
NTRIP caster address
NTRIP caster ports:
2101 (without TLS encryption)
2102 (with TLS encryption – not currently supported in u-center)
NTRIP mountpoint <Do not forget to click on ‘Update source table>
Username and Password
The screenshot below shows how to set these values in u-center.
Once you’ve made your selections, click ‘OK.’
After clicking ‘OK’, the NTRIP client will establish a connection with the PointPerfect service and begin receiving augmentation data.
You can check the NTRIP connection status in the u-center's status bar at the bottom of the screen.
Clicking on the green connector icon will open the log, where you can monitor the messages being received.
PointPerfect IP/L-band via MQTT
To utilize PointPerfect IP via MQTT, the JSON configuration file must be loaded via u-center. Follow the steps below to complete the setup:
Open the Receiver menu and select the MQTT Client item.
2. Click on the ellipsis (...) icon to browse your file system and select the correct JSON config file.
Select The correction type and the MQTT settings:
If you are using L-band:
Choose the ‘Continental’ correction type
Select ‘Subscribe to key topic’ to retrieve the dynamic keys from MQTT
Do not select ‘Subscribe to data topic’ as your source of corrections will be via L-band.
If you are using IP:
You can select ‘Continental’ or ‘Localized’ based on your application. Keep in mind that the localized correction type is the primary correction data and significantly reduces the bandwidth requirements.
When selecting ‘Continental’. you must also select "Subscribe to key topic" and "Subscribe to data topic" and then use the "Select Data Topic" drop-down menu to choose the topic that corresponds to your region.
When using 'Localized,' there’s no need to subscribe to either the key topic or the data topic
Note: Subscribing to the AssistNow topic is optional.
Once you've made your selections, click 'OK.'
After clicking 'OK,' the MQTT client will establish a connection with the PointPerfect service and begin receiving augmentation data.
You can check the MQTT connection status in the u-center's status bar.
Clicking on the green connector icon will open the log, where you can monitor the messages being received and view the MQTT topic subscriptions.
You can see the performance of the solution via u-center. Please refer to the user guides for u-center [1] and the EVK-F9P Evaluation Kit [2] for more detailed information about these tools and how to configure your solution.
Reference Documentation
[1] u-center User guide, UBX-13005250
[2] EVK-F9P-01 evaluation kit User guide, UBX-22038408