| Nordic nRF52840 Multiprotocol SoC Built-in
| Supports Bluetooth 5, Thread, Zigbee, and ANT
| Asset tracking application sample provided

A platform has been launched to assist engineers unfamiliar with the field of cellular IoT with their PoCs.

Nordic Semiconductor announced on the 22nd that it is launching 'Thingy:91', a cellular IoT prototyping platform that provides certification for LTE-M/NB-IoT applications and Arm TrustZone security features.

The Thingy:91 platform supports various sensors and also provides ultra-low power short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth 5, Thread, Zigbee, and ANT through Nordic's built-in nRF52840 multiprotocol SoC.

Nordic’s Thingy:91 comes bundled with an iBasis Nano (4FF) eSIM card capable of 10MB of data, so it can automatically connect to cellular LTE-M and NB-IoT. As the number of countries building cellular IoT networks increases, roaming functionality for use abroad is also supported.

The main application of Thingy:91 is asset tracking, and an asset tracking application sample is provided for this purpose. For shipping container applications, the location of individual items inside the container and the temperature of refrigerated goods can be tracked via short-range Bluetooth 5. Significant changes to the container itself and its contents can be tracked remotely via long-range cellular wireless technology.

The Thingy:91, housed in a 6 x 6 cm plastic and rubber case, includes a USB connector capable of charging a 1440mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

The Thingy:91's sensor list includes environmental sensors capable of measuring temperature, humidity, air quality, and air pressure, as well as color and light sensors and a separate low-power, high-G-force accelerometer.

The nRF9160 is a low-power SiP that integrates a dedicated application processor and a multi-mode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem. The module measures 10 x 16 x 1 mm.

The built-in application processor includes a 64MHz Arm Cortex-M33 CPU, 1MB of flash dedicated to applications, and 256KB of RAM.

The nRF9160 SiP features ARM TrustZone for Trusted Execution and ARM CryptoCell for application layer security. In addition, various interfaces capable of communicating with sensors and actuators are provided.

In addition, the nRF9160 SiP is the only cellular IoT module on the market with built-in GPS support, enabling more accurate location determination by combining GPS and cellular data compared to using each technology separately.

Tzeno Galchev, Product Manager for the Inertial Sensor Group at Analog Devices (ADI), explained, “The Nordic Thingy:91 includes the ADXL362 for motion detection and wake-up, as well as Analog Devices’ ultra-low power accelerometers, including the ‘High G ADXL372’,” adding, “Power and battery management are provided through the ADP5360 PMIC.”

John Leonard, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Nordic Semiconductor, said, “Nordic Thingy:91 is a solution developed for professional developers and non-cellular IoT experts.”

He added, “This platform not only enables developers unfamiliar with the cellular IoT field to rapidly perform Proof-of-Concept (PoC) to obtain project and budget approval, but also allows them to easily convert the PoC into an actual product immediately using the same code and development environment.”

Meanwhile, Thingy:91 is designed to be programmed using Nordic’s cellular IoT-specific 'nRF Connect SDK' with a built-in Zephyr RTOS and is currently available for $119. Related information can be found on the website .