Sequans Introduces Low Power GNSS Positioning Technology on its Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT Platform

December 14, 2021

News

Sequans Communications S.A., a provider of 5G/4G cellular IoT connectivity solutions, announced the availability of low-power GNSS positioning capability on its Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT platform. The integrated GNSS solution offers Sequans’ IoT customers accurate positioning with lower power consumption, removing the need for an external positioning chipset for an overall higher performing, lower cost tracking solution.

The new technology is available on Sequans’ Monarch 2 GM02SP module, a pin-to-pin compatible variant of Sequans’ Monarch 2 GM02S module, with an added GNSS antenna RF input, enabling existing Monarch 2 GM02S customers to take advantage of the added low power GNSS capability.

The low power GNSS capability on Monarch 2 leverages Nestwave technology and is ideal for a wide variety of intermittent tracking use cases, including car, bike, scooter, and other personal asset trackers; logistics and fleet trackers; pet, farm animal, and people trackers; emergency assistance beacons; and various types of smart city trackers.

The Monarch 2 GM02SP module offers multi-functional mode selection with power consumption in the range of a few hundred microwatt-hours per location fix. Power consumption can be adjusted for each fix depending on the use case or for a new triggered event such as emergency asset recovery.

Sequans’ GNSS is fully integrated with Monarch 2 and therefore is less expensive than competing chip or module add-ons while delivering a level of accuracy on par with legacy GNSS solutions. The solution supports intermittent or recurrent IoT tracking use cases and allows users to choose from various levels of assistance and performance, depending on use case requirements. Sequans’ GNSS solution can be updated along with Monarch 2 firmware over the air upgrades, giving users instant access to feature upgrades as they become available.

“The IoT tracking market is forecasted to reach several hundred million in annual shipments over the next few years, spanning several logistics, agricultural, smart city, and personal tracking applications,” said Andrew Zignani, research director at ABI Research. ”However, this market has more stringent power consumption, size, cost, and scalability requirements than traditional GNSS deployments. The arrival of low power GNSS integrated in solutions such as Sequans’ Monarch 2 platform can help keep the bill of materials as low as possible, enable less complex and swifter hardware designs, deliver smaller form factors, and provide greater flexibility, allowing the market to reach its true potential in the years to come.”

The Sequans Monarch 2 GM02SP LTE-M/NB-IoT module with low power GNSS geolocation technology features 23 dBm transmit power, a high level of integration, ultra-low power consumption (1 microamp at rock bottom), and a certified EAL5+ secure enclave for integrated SIM (ieUICC). It is also compliant with GSMA standards and has an integrated MCU and Sequans’ Single-SKU™ RF front end, enabling deployment on any LTE band worldwide.

For more information, visit Sequans Communications.