LTE chipmaker Sequans Communications announced that its Monarch LTE Platform, has been certified to operate on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Monarch is a purpose-built IoT chip that is compliant with the 3GPP Release 13 LTE-Advanced standard defining narrowband LTE and developed to support low power and low data rate applications for the Internet of Things. LTE-M is being broadly accepted as a cost-effective and superior alternative to 2G, offering undeniable economic and technical benefits, and Monarch is leading the way. The Verizon certification means that Monarch is approved to operate on Verizon’s LTE Cat M1 network and that devices based on Monarch can benefit from faster certification and time to market. New LTE for IoT devices made by NimbeLink, Link Labs, and Encore Networks, all based on Monarch, have also recently been certified by Verizon.
The first Monarch-powered LTE for IoT devices launching on Verizon’s network are:
1. Encore Networks EN™ M Class LTE Cat M1 router
2. NimbeLink Skywire™ Cat M1 embedded modem
3. Link Labs LTE M1 Sensor Suite
In addition to these latest Verizon-certified devices, they have more than a dozen other Monarch customer designs in progress, including recently announced designs by SIMCom, Fibocom, and PyCom. Monarch is a highly-optimized LTE-M (Cat M1) and NB-IoT (Cat NB1) capable chip. It is purpose-built for narrowband IoT applications, including sensors, wearables, and other low data, low power M2M and IoT devices. Monarch complies with the ultra-low-power and reduced complexity feature requirements of the 3GPP release 13 LTE Advanced Pro standard, defining narrowband, low data rate LTE technology for machine type communications. Monarch provides full support for Power Saving Mode (PSM) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) to enable the long battery life needed by many IoT use cases, and it provides the enhanced coverage modes defined in the standard that extend coverage for deep-indoor and remote deployments. Monarch comprises baseband, RF, power management, and RAM, all integrated into a single, tiny 6.5 x 8.5 mm package. In addition, Monarch supports advanced features such as programmable RF filtering for global band support in a single SKU, and proprietary dynamic power management technology enabling battery life of 10+ years for certain use cases.
