Quectel Wireless has announced a collaboration with Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies to integrate its new LPWA module BG95 with Microsoft's Azure Device SDK. The new solution aims to provide direct and secure connections to the Azure IoT Hub, and offer full support for Azure device management capabilities.
The Quectel BG95 is the first cellular module, based on the cutting-edge Qualcomm 9205 LTE modem, to be integrated with Microsoft's Azure Device SDK. As a result, customers can easily connect their BG95 devices to the Microsoft Azure cloud where they can build, manage, and deploy IoT solutions at scale, significantly accelerating time to market.
Targeting global markets, the BG95 module is a cost-optimized, highly-integrated variant supporting Cat M1, Cat NB2, EGPRS and integrated GNSS. The module complies with 3GPP Release 14 and delivers improved capabilities in power consumption, data rates and hardware-based security. By integrating RAM/flash, an ARM Cortex A7 processor supporting ThreadX, the BG95 is engineered to reduce power consumption significantly in idle mode. By doing this the module has the potential to support decade-plus battery life, which is critical for IoT devices serving long life spans, such as asset trackers, smart meters, smart city sensors, home security and wearable trackers.
Additionally, Azure IoT is built for security. It simplifies the complexity of IoT security solutions with built-in protection at each stage of deployment (including cloud services and devices) and minimizes security weaknesses wherever they exist. Leveraging Azure IoT security features, Quectel BG95 will offer IoT devices end-to-end security capability in order to prevent potential risks.
According to Doron Zhang, Chief Operation Officer, Quectel, leveraging their close relationship with Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies, Quectel will now jointly provide more integral 'Device-Cloud' solutions to customers. As one of the first wave Azure IoT PnP partners, Quectel has worked with Microsoft on LTE Mobile Broadband (MBB) modules, which have been widely adopted by top laptop OEMs. In the future, the company aims to extend the partnership to more fields, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Edge, in order to help the Microsoft partner ecosystem connect their devices even more intelligently.
