Nordic Semiconductor’s low power SiP certified by Japan’s Marubeni Group for use on NTT DoCoMo’s 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 by Marubeni Information Systems (MSYS) and Marubeni Network Solutions for use on Japan cellphone operator NTT DoCoMo’s LTE-M network. NTT DoCoMo is the country’s largest cellphone operator, and its LTE-M network infrastructure covers more than 99.8 percent of the country’s 127 million population.

 

Certification enables cellular IoT connectivity for Marubeni Network Solutions M-Net SIM and eSIM users deploying the nRF9160 SiP in their product designs. As Marubeni Network Solutions’ M-Net SIMs and eSIMs are linked to Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING), roaming connectivity is assured across 198 countries worldwide, via a single contract in Japan.

“This certification provides a one-stop-shop for Nordic’s Japanese customers who want hassle-free, immediate cellular IoT connectivity,” says Mitsuo Yamazaki, Nordic Semiconductor, Regional Sales Manager for Japan. “With a Marubeni M-Net SIM or eSIM in place, the customer doesn’t have to spend time negotiating with the network operator, the nRF9160 SiP will just work straight out-of-the-box.”

 

“As new IoT projects and applications continue to expand rapidly, the demand for a low cost, low power consumption cellular IoT connectivity solution has never been greater,” says Bjørn Åge “Bob” Brandal, Nordic Semiconductor, Director of Sales & Marketing – APAC. “The nRF9160 was designed from scratch to meet the industry’s demands in a single device application design.

 

“Certification by Marubeni on one of the world’s major telco networks, is another step towards making the nRF9160 a truly global solution.”

 

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.