Nowadays, the global ‘Internet of things’ is developing rapidly. Ericsson’s 2021 Mobile Market Report predicts that by 2027, the deployment of large-scale IoT will account for 51% of all cellular connections. With the gradual withdrawal of 2G/3G networks from the market, LPWA has attracted extensive attention from many IoT manufacturers for its low power consumption, long standby time, and low cost. The rapidly developing 5G network will also cooperate with LPWA technology to maximise the value of the Internet of things.
Cat.M and NB-IoT are the two popular technologies of LPWA solutions, which are expected to become the fastest-growing in the future. According to the prediction in Ericsson’s analysis, the shipment volume of cellular IoT modules by NB-IoT and Cat.M will reach 251 million in 2026. The function of NB-IoT is similar to that of Cat.M. In terms of applicability, neither Cat.M or NB-IoT has absolute advantage so many telecom operators adopt two standards at the same time to support future IoT devices and applications. According to the GSMA data, more than 140 telecom operators around the world have actively deployed or launched Cat.M/NB-IoT network in 64 countries/regions.
Based on advanced technical features of LPWA, and the needs in different regions, SIMCom has launched a series of LPWA modules such as SIM7000X, SIM7070X, SIM7080G and SIM7090G, which are designed for different terminal products that require low power consumption and low data applications. All the LPWA modules have strong extension capability with rich interfaces including UART, GPIO, PCM, SPI and I2C. The LPWA modules’ perfect power consumption performance allows for a battery life of terminal equipment of up to 10 years.
SIM7070X series is an LPWA module with dimensions of 24 x 24 mm. It is compatible with SIM800F and SIM900 packages. The capacity of its advanced network coverage is greatly enhanced compared with GSM technology. SIM7070X series is suitable for static and fixed applications with low bandwidth requirements. It can be used for smart metering, environmental monitoring and energy management.
The SIM7080G series is an LPWA module with dimensions of 17,6 x 15,8 mm that is compatible with the classic 2G SIM800C and SIM868 modules. It can help customers’ products smoothly move beyond 2G/3G and migrate to the LPWA network. It is suitable for applications with medium data/voice communication requirements, such as emergency calling devices. the SIM7080G series has good mobility which makes it suitable for asset tracking, remote surveillance and other similar applications.
The SIM7090G series adopts LGA packages and supports a variety of wireless network types. Because of its tiny size (14,8 x 12,8 mm), it is especially suitable for wearable/tracker products such as children’s watches, bracelets, and pet trackers.
SIMCom LPWA product lines can meet the diversified needs of terminal manufacturers in terms of cost, performance, form factor, interface, software protocol and global certifications and support connecting with mainstream cloud platforms in the industry.
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