Nordic Semiconductor’s cellular IoT SiP certified by Australian telco giant Telstra for use on LTE-M network

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that its award-winning nRF9160 low power System-in-Package (SiP) with integrated LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GPS has been certified for use on Australian telco giant Telstra’s LTE-M network. Telstra’s LTE-M network infrastructure covers approximately three million square kilometers in Australia, and certification immediately enables cellular IoT connectivity for Telstra customers deploying the nRF9160 SiP in their product designs.

 

The nRF9160 is a low power SiP, certified for global cellular IoT applications, comprising a multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem with integrated RF front end (RFFE), GPS, and power management in a compact package. The 64 MHz processor includes 1 MB Flash and 256 KB RAM, a range of analog and digital peripherals, automated power and clock management, Arm TrustZone™ for trusted execution, and Arm CryptoCell 310 for application layer security. The processor communicates with the LTE modem through a BSD secure sockets API and supports the application layer protocol (for example CoAP, MQTT or LWM2M) and the application itself. The nRF9160 SiP’s LTE modem supports both SIM and eSIM, offers 700 to 2200 MHz LTE band support, 23 dBm output power, and single pin 50 Ω antenna- and UICC-interfaces. The LTE stack layers L1-L3, IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP, TLS/DTLS are part of the modem firmware.

The SiP is supported by the nRF9160 DK, a precertified single board development kit and the nRF Connect SDK, a software development kit which includes application layer protocols, application examples, and LTE modem firmware offered as precertified and precompiled downloads. Target applications for the nRF9160 SiP include asset tracking, smart city, smart agriculture, industrial, smart metering, wearables, and medical solutions.

 

“What this certification means for Nordic customers is that if they are a Telstra partner, or want to use the Telstra network, they can use the nRF9160 SiP with confidence,” says Wendell Boyd, Regional Sales Manager for ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand. “It is going to work on Telstra’s LTE-M network, and it is going to provide the features that Telstra offer as a carrier for that network.

 

“For projects that require extremely low power, battery operation and a small form factor, the nRF9160 really is the only choice. Nordic customers already have volume projects under development using the nRF9160 that we should see operating on the Telstra network in the second half of 2020.” 

 

“Telstra is one of the leading technology companies in the region and is recognized throughout the world,” says Bjørn Åge “Bob” Brandal, Nordic Semiconductor, Director of Sales & Marketing – APAC. “With LTE-M certification in place we expect to soon follow with certification for Telstra’s NB-IoT network.”

 

The SiP is already certified for use on Vodafone’s global NB-IoT network, including Australia. Alongside Telstra, Vodafone is one of the ‘big three’ telecommunications providers in Australia.