Telit announced on Monday that it is expanding its xL865 line of cost optimized compact modules to include an LTE Cat NB1 series. The addition makes it the industry’s only QFN module family to offer Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity, compatible with existing 2G and 3G models.
IoT devices are growing increasingly dependent on battery-only power, being deployed in environments demanding outstanding performance for in-building penetration and massive scale deployment. The NL865B1-E1 module, branded for use in Europe and China, addresses these requirements while extending the life of existing products with long-term longevity of the LTE Cat NB1 standard.
Typical application areas well suited for the compact new module include smart buildings and cities, smart agriculture, waste collection, healthcare, and remote monitoring including smart meters in the utilities sector. With the new module, an application designed for 2G or 3G can be revitalized with NB-IoT with little to no redesign impact.
Telit NL865B1-E1 features 3GPP release 13 LTE Cat NB1; deliver data rates up to 250Kbps download – 20Kbps upload; and regulatory certification scope: Europe – RED/GCF and China – CCC. It also includes dual-band LTE FDD B8 900MHz, B20 800MHz; optional on-board SIM chip, and delivers industrial temperature range -40 to +85 °C.
“Telit has been supplying xL865 modules worldwide since 2011 to customers from small to multi-national Fortune 1000 companies. One of the things that has made the form factor so popular is our design-once-use-anywhere philosophy that, along with other customer-value centric directives, guides the development of all our modules,” said Sandro Spanghero, Telit Senior Vice President of Global Products Management. “By extending this product family to support new and rising IoT standards like NBIoT in combination with our Telit IoT Platforms and IoT Connectivity, we are establishing the xL865 as a solution for the thousands of new and existing customers looking to improve customer experience, scalability and other factors critical to their business performance.”
Industry analyst firm ABI Research reports that Cellular LPWA network technologies will have exponential connection growth from 2018 onward as telecommunications companies upgrade their networks in 2017.
As networks and technology evolve, future-proof designs transition from desirable to essential for businesses that need scalable solutions for global, mass production. The NL865B1 series delivers reliability, performance, and quality testing practices that go beyond the industry standard.
