Nordic Semiconductor successfully demonstrated its nRF91 Series multimode LTE-M / NB-IoT System-in-Package (SiP) module operating in both LTE Cat M1 (LTE-M) and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) modes on Telenor Norway’s public cellular network.
Nordic’s nRF91 Series SiP connected to Telenor’s Norway-wide cellular IoT network which was switched on for the first time at the Nordic Edge Expo, a three-day ‘smart city’ exhibition and conference held from September 25 to 27 in Stavanger. The new network is the first in Scandinavia to offer commercial support for LTE-M and NB-IoT, a crucial step in the progress of widespread deployment of cellular IoT as a low power wireless area network (LPWAN) technology. LPWANs will form a foundation for a mature Internet of Things (IoT).
Nordic’s nRF91 Series SiP is an ultra-compact, low power, global, multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT module with integrated Arm Cortex-M33 host processor, Arm TrustZone security and Assisted GPS. The SiP integrates a complete low power cellular IoT system into a tiny 10x16x1mm package that integrates modem, transceiver, RF front-end, dedicated application processor, Flash memory, power management, and crystal and passive components.
“This demonstration is a major public step forward for Nordic’s cellular IoT technology,” says Peder Rand, Product Manager for Cellular IoT, Nordic Semiconductor. “The nRF91 Series has been extensively tested by Nordic and leading customers for months, but this is the first opportunity we’ve had to openly demonstrate the product communicating via a commercial network that supports both LTE-M and NB-IoT. LTE-M and NB-IoT support different use cases so it’s very important to support both standards. This demonstration of seamless connectivity using either standard is testament to the skill and experience of Nordic’s Finnish LTE and Norwegian low power wireless engineering teams.”
Rand adds: “Cellular IoT is poised to deploy all over the globe and to meet its full potential, connectivity must be simple, fast, secure, and robust. With this demonstration we’ve shown Nordic’s technology delivers just that. But we couldn’t have done this without the pioneering work of Telenor, an innovative network provider with a strong history of being at the forefront in cellular developments. With today’s switch-on of Telenor’s cellular IoT network across Norway, Telenor is demonstrating its technological leadership once again.”
The nRF91 Series SiP supports global operation with a single SiP variant thanks to the combination of Nordic’s multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem, SAW-less transceiver, and a high-performance RF front-end solution from Qorvo.
