Nordic Semiconductor, a leading provider of ultra-low
power wireless connectivity, today announces the
development of a low power LTE technology for cellular
Internet of Things (IoT). This development leverages
Nordic Semiconductor's more than 10 years of
leadership in ultra-low power (ULP) wireless and its
recruitment of a highly-talented and experienced group
of cellular R&D engineers in Finland (formerly
employed by the Finnish arms of Nokia, Ericsson,
Motorola, and Broadcom).
Low power cellular IoT is positioning itself to be
widely adopted in numerous markets and applications
including, for example, smart utility metering, asset
and people (e.g. child) tracking, fleet management,
buildings security and safety, remote maintenance,
smart vending machines, retail, healthcare and medical
monitoring, real-time traffic monitoring, wearables,
in-door and out-door GPS navigation, smart home
technology, automotive (e.g. customized insurance
based on actual driving data), and industrial and
agricultural automation.
Nordic Semiconductor's roadmap for low power cellular
IoT includes highly integrated chipsets and advanced
software for the forthcoming 3GPP Release 13 LTE-M and
NB-IoT cellular technologies. Highly optimized for
power and size, the upcoming Nordic Semiconductor
nRF91 Series is designed specifically to address the
needs of emerging low power cellular IoT applications,
including long battery life, low cost deployment and
maintenance, scalability for potentially billions of
devices, a miniaturized form-factor that can fit
almost anywhere, and ubiquitous network coverage.
Nordic expects to sample the first nRF91 Series
solutions to selected lead customers second half of
2017, with broad availability and production ramp
following in 2018.
LTE-M and NB-IoT are specified by the 3GPP to provide
low power, secure, reliable, future-proofed, open
standard and interoperable cellular connectivity for
cost, size, and power-constrained IoT applications.
The two technologies are set to drive breadth and
growth for the emerging cellular IoT market projected
to surpass 1.5 billion connections by 2021. Nordic
expects broad coverage for the technologies in the
2018-2019 timeframe, with initial coverage starting in
2017.
Complementing Nordic's industry-leading product range
and roadmap for short-range ULP wireless semiconductor
technology, the expanded product roadmap for long-
range, low power wireless is part of the company's
strategy to target new high growth markets with its
proven wireless connectivity and embedded processing
technology, and extensive R&D expertise.
For further information please contact:
Pål Elstad, CFO. +4799166293