Sequans Communications and NXP Semiconductors are collaborating to bring LTE for IoT connectivity to NXP’s microcontroller (MCU) ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of cellular connectivity. The companies are combining NXP’s LPC5500 series microcontroller with Sequans’ Monarch GM01Q and NB01Q modules to give IoT device makers a development platform that speeds time to market for connected IoT devices. NXP customers who are using the LPC5500 series MCU now have a single solution to add LTE-M or NB-IoT connectivity to their products.
Didier Dutronc, chief marketing officer of Sequans commented that, with this NXP/Sequans collaboration, they are offering the best-in-class LTE for IoT plus MCU solution that is based on Sequans’ expertise in cellular IoT connectivity and NXP’s expertise in low-power MCUs. The result is an easy-to-use solution for IoT device development or prototyping that will work on LTE networks around the world on supported operators in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Europe.
Sequans’ Monarch GM01Q and NB01Q modules are based on Sequans’ industry-leading Monarch chip platform. The modules support 17 LTE bands for worldwide connectivity and include an LTE-optimized transceiver and a Single-SKU RF front end. They deliver industry-leading low power consumption with rock bottom power consumption at 1uA. Monarch GM01Q supports both LTE-M and NB-IoT, and NB01Q is optimized for NB-IoT only.
Tom Pannell, senior director of marketing for connectivity solutions at NXP stated that, as the LTE for IoT demand grows across their customer base, having a pre-integrated platform that enables device makers to easily add LTE-M or NB-IoT connectivity to their designs will help drive the market. Combining the low power capabilities of Monarch and the high performance of the LPC5500 series MCU results in a powerful solution for key market segments such as smart meters.
The NXP LPC5500 series development board provides an ideal platform for product evaluation or prototyping. It is based on the Arm Cortex-M33 architecture and includes a high-performance onboard debug probe, audio subsystem, accelerometer and several options for add-on boards for networking, sensors, displays, and other interfaces.
