Global semiconductor company STMicroelectronics serves its customers with essential microchips for electric vehicles (EVs), key fobs, giant factory machines and data center equipment, household appliances, smartphones, smart toothbrushes, you name it. As drivers of innovation, the STMicroelectronics team – more than 9,000 R&R employees worldwide, notably – designs and builds products, solutions, and full ecosystems that actively enable an advanced, sustainable future.
On Tuesday, the company announced big news: STMicroelectronics has now received Vodafone narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) certification for its ST87M01 NB-IoT and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) modules. By leveraging the low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) radio tech that is the NB-IoT standard, the ST87M01 has the one-two combo of robust cellular IoT connectivity and geolocation in a miniature, low-power, well-integrated module for a huge range of applications for IoT and smart industries. Additionally, it’s worth noting that the ST87M01 was certified by the Global Certification Forum (GCF), which promotes the interoperability of select mobile and IoT-centric products.
In terms of specifics regarding use cases, imagine one of those charts with the main concept in the center and splintering ideas surrounding it; a cluster word web, in a sense. With the ST87M01 at the center, the diverse uses for it include smart parking, smart grids (e.g. streetlamps, traffic light systems), smart asset localization (logistics, remote monitoring and control, etc.), smart meters for utilities, healthcare assistance, environmental work and agribusiness. Also, NB-IoT supports multifrequency bands with extended multiregional coverage for comprehensive data communication; this means it meets even more wide-ranging communication requirements. (A win-win.)
“Completing our test program with Vodafone assures our customers of a reliable and future-proof data connection for their IoT solutions that leverage this module’s novel and power-efficient features,” said Domenico Arrigo, General Manager, Industrial and Power Conversion Division, STMicroelectronics. “The ST87M01 was entirely conceived, designed and industrialized by STMicroelectronics to ensure the type of high-quality, secure technologies with supply independence and longevity that businesses need.”
The company expects that the ST87M01 will be “one of the most integrated modules on the market, embedding all the functions needed to support myriad future demands.”
The ST87M01 is part of STMicroelectronics’ ultra-compact industrial module series; the company confirmed that it complies with 3GPP Release 15 and the provides extended multi-regional LTE coverage countless IoT providers require. It’s also an eSIM GSMA-compliant offering.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
