Nordic Launches nRF Cloud Location Service
nRF9160 SiP-based cellular IoT device location tracking
Provides single and multi-cell, A·P-GPS positioning capabilities


Nordic Semiconductor today announced the launch of its nRF Cloud Location Services , which will enable customers to access detailed, fast, and accurate commercial location services for cellular IoT devices powered by Nordic's nRF9160 SiP through cloud-based products.

The nRF Cloud positioning service is built on Nordic's versatile cellular IoT connectivity solution, nRF Cloud. Deploying this service on nRF9160 SiP-based cellular IoT products provides access to all commercial positioning services. nRF Cloud also provides wireless firmware update capabilities for field devices.

The new service provides positioning based on Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Predicted GPS (P-GPS) for indoor and outdoor applications, as well as positioning using single and multi-cells.

Single-cell mode identifies the cell containing the device to be tracked, then references the base station's geographic location database to identify the cell. This eliminates the need for a GPS modem, extending battery life and providing kilometer-level accuracy. Multi-cell mode builds on single-cell technology by referencing the positions of surrounding base stations, providing accuracy down to hundreds of meters.

GPS offers excellent location accuracy, typically in the tens of meters. However, cellular IoT devices can consume significant battery capacity due to the GPS modem's cold-start time-to-first-fix (TTFF) of several minutes within a satellite constellation.

A-GPS connects to cellular before the GPS modem is turned on, providing position data from satellites near the IoT device. This typically reduces TTFF to 5 seconds. P-GPS provides the device with data from supported satellites predicted for more than two weeks based on A-GPS. Compared to A-GPS, IoT devices request assistance data from the cellular network less frequently, resulting in shorter TTFF, more accurate positioning, and greater power savings.

Nordic is working with third-party vendors to provide services for its devices and nRF Cloud customers. Partners provide easily accessible location history, including GPS-enabled data and timestamps for customers' IoT devices. nRF Cloud also interfaces with customer-specific applications and clouds via easy-to-use REST APIs, enabling integration with third-party applications.

“nRF Cloud allows customers to choose only the services they need without the hassle of setting up new cloud service providers,” says Ville-Veikko Helppi, Product Manager for Nordic Cloud Solutions. “nRF Cloud positioning services provide a familiar user experience and the long-term, high-quality commercial support needed to deploy a large number of cellular IoT devices.”