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Nordic’s cellular
IoT launched
COVER STORY
Bluetooth tech’s
final frontier
Building a successful
standard
Wireless transforms
healthcare
QUARTER 4 | WINTER 2018
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2 | WINTER 2018 | ULP WIRELESS QUARTER www.nordicsemi.com
T
hat Nordic Semiconductor, together with partner Qorvo, has been working on a cellular IoT
module, designed from the ground up to meet the LTE-M and NB-IoT specifications, is no
secret. The nRF91 Series multimode cellular IoT module combines Nordic’s nRF91 Series
System-in-Package (SiP) with Qorvo’s custom RF front-end solution and advanced packaging
technology. (See this issue pg8.) Details of the module were revealed in Nordic’s “sneak peek” back in
January this year and the engineering behind the product, plus likely early applications, have been
discussed here and elsewhere in the months since.
But what has remained under wraps is the work Nordic has been doing with customers to make sure
that upon launch, the nRF91 Series meets all the promises the company has made for it. I can’t reveal
exactly how many external concerns have worked with pre-production samples of the nRF91 Series, but
I can say it’s a representative sample of the kind of companies—large and small—that have been crying
out for this kind of product.
Nordic’s strategy for cellular IoT is exactly the same as that which has seen it become a leader in
Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE). We don’t want our customers to be intimidated or constrained
by complex RF hardware and software engineering, instead we want to make it easy for them to rapidly
realize their Internet of Things (IoT) application ideas by abstracting away complexity via easy-to-use
development tools.
In my role as Nordic’s Product Manager for Cellular IoT, I have the pleasure of informing ULP Wireless
Q readers that the nRF9160 SiP—the first member of Nordic’s nRF91 Series—is now available for
everyone from sole innovators through modest start-ups to huge global electronics firms. The modules
and development tools are now in stock at Nordic’s distributors across the world.
This is an important moment in Nordic’s history and I’m just one small part of the team that has
worked incredibly hard over the last four years to bring the nRF91 Series to this point. From the
company’s management team and highly talented cellular and low power wireless experts in Finland
and Norway, through to all the support staff, every single person at Nordic has worked tirelessly to
ensure the company reached the commercial launch deadline.
Combining the complexity of cellular engineering, a new generation of powerful CPUs, and the
nuances of low power consumption in a highly-integrated, compact module with an outstanding price/
performance ratio is no mean feat. It’s one that would stretch the resources of a giant global chip maker,
let alone a small Norwegian firm that originally carved its niche by pioneering coin-cell powered wireless
technology. And it’s an achievement we’re proud of.
But while we’re pleased with what we’ve achieved so far, the true test will be how the product fares in
a highly competitive market. Cellular IoT has a promising future and the work Nordic has done so far
with customers has given us a high level of confidence that the nRF91 Series is the right product at the
right time. I look forward to 2019 with a sense of excitement about how things will proceed from here.
Yours Sincerely,
Peder Rand
Product Manager – Cellular IoT
Cellular IoT now available for all
John Leonard is Tactical Marketing
Manager at Nordic Semiconductor.
On page 18 he explains how to get
started developing a solution using
Bluetooth mesh
The Bluetooth
®
word mark and logos are
registered trademarks owned by the
Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks
by Nordic Semiconductor is under license.
© Nordic Semiconductor 2018
ESA is using satellites to relay
Bluetooth Low Energy signals
to Earthbound beacons
OPINION
Peder Rand
ULP Wireless Q is published
on behalf of Nordic
Semiconductor by Ecritech
www.ecritech.com
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Steven Keeping
e-mail: steven@ecritech.com
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Print & Distribution
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Contributors
Karl Helmer Torvmark is Technical
Product Manager at Nordic
Semiconductor. On page 9 he takes
a closer look at what is required to
make a standard successful
Page 11
Page 9
Svein-Egil Nielsen is CTO at Nordic
Semiconductor. On page 11 he
examines how edge computing will
prove invaluable for IoT devices in
the future
Page 18