Sequans Communications has added low-power GNSS positioning capability to the Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT platform. The integrated GNSS solution offers Sequans' IoT customers accurate positioning with lower power consumption, removing the need for an external positioning chipset for an overall higher performing, lower cost tracking solution. The new technology is available on Sequans' Monarch 2 GM02SP module, a pin-to-pin compatible variant of Sequans' Monarch 2 GM02S module, with an added GNSS antenna RF input, enabling existing Monarch 2 GM02S customers to take advantage of the added low power GNSS capability easily.
"We are pleased to add this tangible value to our Monarch 2 platform and offer it to our IoT customers," said Georges Karam, CEO at Sequans. "Having low power GNSS on Monarch 2 widens its capabilities and makes many types of IoT tracker use cases more affordable because there is no need for additional positioning chips or modules. Combined with our already small solution size and ultra-low-power capability, this new GNSS feature makes our Monarch 2 platform an ideal solution for customers launching new tracking products or enhancing existing products with tracking capability."
The new low power GNSS capability on Monarch 2 leverages Nestwave technology and is ideal for a wide variety of intermittent tracking use cases, including car, bike, scooter, and other personal asset trackers; logistics and fleet trackers; pet, farm animal, and people trackers; emergency assistance beacons; and various types of smart city trackers. The Monarch 2 GM02SP module offers multi-functional mode selection with power consumption in the range of a few hundred microwatt-hours per location fix. Power consumption can be adjusted for each fix depending on the use case or for a new triggered event such as emergency asset recovery.
"Sequans Monarch 2 platform is one of the most advanced LTE-M/NB-IoT connectivity solutions in the industry today, and we are pleased that Sequans has adopted our advanced technology to add valuable, low power, accurate positioning capability," said Ambroise Popper, CEO at Nestwave.
Sequans' GNSS is fully integrated with Monarch 2 and therefore is significantly less expensive than competing chip or module add-ons while delivering a level of accuracy on par with legacy GNSS solutions. The solution supports intermittent or recurrent IoT tracking use cases and allows users to choose from various levels of assistance and performance, depending on use case requirements. Sequans' GNSS solution can be updated along with Monarch 2 firmware over the air (FOTA) upgrades, giving users instant access to feature upgrades as they become available.
Invoxia was one of Sequans' first customers to adopt the new GNSS feature of Monarch 2 instead of using an external GNSS chip. "We are focused on delivering tracker solutions with the highest value possible, and Sequans Monarch with integrated low power GNSS helps us achieve this," said Amélie Caudron, CEO at Invoxia.
"The IoT tracking market is forecasted to reach several hundred million in annual shipments over the next few years, spanning several logistics, agricultural, smart city, and personal tracking applications," said Andrew Zignani, Research Director at ABI Research. "However, this market has more stringent power consumption, size, cost, and scalability requirements than traditional GNSS deployments. The arrival of low power GNSS integrated in solutions such as Sequans' Monarch 2 platform can help keep the bill of materials as low as possible, enable less complex and swifter hardware designs, deliver smaller form factors, and provide greater flexibility, allowing the market to reach its true potential in the years to come."
The Sequans Monarch 2 GM02SP LTE-M/NB-IoT module with low power GNSS geolocation technology is pin-to-pin compatible with Monarch 2 GM02S module. It features 23 dBm transmit power, a very high level of integration, ultra-low power consumption (1 uA at rock bottom), a certified EAL5+ secure enclave for integrated SIM (ieUICC), compliant with GSMA standards, an integrated MCU, and Sequans' Single-SKU RF front end, enabling deployment on any LTE band worldwide.
The Monarch 2 GM02SP module samples and NEKTAR-B evaluation kits are available now to select customers.
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