Electronics Weekly
U-blox has combined LPWA (low-power wide-area) connectivity and GNSS (satellite navigation) into a single 14 x 14 x 1.5mm package – half the size of the company’s functionally-similar Sara-R5 module (16 x 26 x 2.2mm).
Called Alex-R5, it is based on u-blox’ secured UBX-R5 LTE-M and NB-IoT, plus its M8 GNSS chip.
“By bringing all technology building blocks in-house and having full hardware and software ownership, u-blox can guarantee long-term device availability and provide lifetime support for the entire platform, down to the chipset level,” according to the company. “Secure cloud functionality supporting IoT-security-as-a-service based on an internal hardware-based secure element enables a lightweight pre-shared key management system specifically designed for LPWA devices. Ale-R5 future-proofs IoT devices and solutions by enabling customers to software upgrade deployed devices for compatibility with 5G networks.”
Cellular transmission power is 23dBm, which “guarantees that end devices operate effectively in all signal conditions, even at cell edges, underground, or in other challenging scenarios,” claimed the company. A dedicated GNSS antenna interface enables simultaneous operation of the GNSS chip, “matching the performance of a stand-alone u-blox M8 module”.
Operation is over 3V to 4.5V and -40 to 85°C.
For manufacture, the device is rated to MSL 3 (moisture sensitivity level 3).
Engineering samples are scheduled to be available this quarter.
The Alex-R5 product page is here
