Compliant with LTE-M (LTE Cat-M1) and NB-IoT Communication Standards,

To Contribute to Further Growth and Development of the IoT Market

Tokyo, Japan — Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (“Sony”) today announced the upcoming release of LTE extension boards equipped with smart sensing processors for IoT applications, which will join the SPRESENSE™ line of board products that launched in July 2018. The new products will be available in February 2022. Compliant with LTE-M (LTE Cat-M1) and NB-IoT^*1 communication standards, the new extension boards will enable developers to create more diverse applications and systems, thereby contributing to the further growth and development of the IoT market.

*1: A cellular LPWA standard provided by communications operators that uses part of the frequencies of LTE stations installed around the country to provide coverage across a wide area.

In today’s expanding IoT market, low-power wide-area (LPWA) wireless communication solutions are in demand due to their low cost,*² low power consumption, and wide-area coverage. The new extension boards from Sony employ the compact, low-power-consumption ALT1250 chipset manufactured by a subsidiary, Sony Semiconductor Israel. They support LPWA communication standards LTE-M and NB-IoT. When used with the currently available SPRESENSE main board, they make it possible to import information from various sensors as well as images from cameras, which can then undergo edge AI recognition processing. The compressed data can then be transmitted via LTE-M or NB-IoT communication networks, enabling developers to create systems and applications that take advantage of these networks’ low cost, low power consumption, and wide-area coverage.

*2: LTE-M and NB-IoT communication plans are generally cheaper than normal LTE; however, the communications cost depends on customer usage methods and the details of the agreement with the telecom provider.

Some examples of IoT applications for existing equipment made possible with LTE-M/NB-IoT connectivity

• Meter reading processes for existing analog water, electricity, and gas meters can be automated simply by using the available SPRESENSE camera board to capture the meter values and needle positions and then sending that data to a server via an LTE-M or NB-IoT communication network.
• Remote predictive maintenance can be achieved via an LTE-M or NB-IoT network, by using the main board, which is equipped with a built-in audio codec capable of processing high-quality, high-resolution audio sources, to detect strange sounds in valves or fans.

The new boards are equipped with the same features available on conventional extension boards: audio input/output, digital input/output, such as GPIO and UART, and a microSD card slot.

Visit this dedicated site for technical information on the software and hardware for this product: https://developer.sony.com/develop/spresense/. Arduino IDE, VSCode, and more are supported for software development, allowing for a wide range of applications. The new boards will be sold online and in some stores.

Currently available SPRESENSE products

• Main boards CXD5602PWBMAIN1(US) and CXD5602PWBMAIN1E(EU)
• Extension boards CXD5602PWBEXT1(US) and CXD5602PWBEXT1E(EU)
• Camera boards CXD5602PWBCAM1(US) and CXD5602PWBCAM1E(EU)

For further details on currently available SPRESENSE products, please visit the following site.

URL: https://developer.sony.com/develop/spresense/specifications

To purchase SPRESENSE products, please visit the following site.

URL: https://developer.sony.com/develop/spresense/buy-now

Main Features

■ Compliant with LTE-M and NB-IoT communication standards for IoT applications

The new products employ the Sony Semiconductor Israel-manufactured ALT1250 chipset, ensuring compliance with LTE-M (LTE Cat-M1) and NB-IoT communication standards. This enables developers to create systems and applications with low cost, low power consumption and wide-area coverage. (Compatible with US bands 2, 4, 12, 13; and EU bands 3 and 20)

For further details on ALT1250, please visit the following site.

URL: https://altair-semi.com/products/alt1250/

■ Equipped with extension board functionality

The new boards support up to four channels of digital microphone input (during exclusive use) and up to 2 channels of analog microphone input. They are also equipped with a headphone terminal, microSD card slot, and interfaces such as GPIO, I2C, and UART.

Key Specifications

※SPRESENSE and SPRSENSE logo are trademarks of Sony Group Corporation.

Media inquiries: Public Relations, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation

semicon.press@sony.com

About Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is responsible for the Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) business in the Sony Group. With the vision of “continuing to deliver Kando and Anshin to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges,” Sony will create products and services in areas such as home entertainment & sound, imaging, and mobile communications. For more information, visit: www.sony.net 

About Sony Europe B.V.

Sony Europe B.V. is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation and is headquartered in UK. We drive Sony’s leading Electronics Products & Solutions business for consumer and professional markets, as well as Imaging & Sensing Solutions business across Europe. From R&D and engineering, design, to sales, marketing, distribution and customer service, we work to deliver Sony’s purpose to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.  For more information, please visit: https://www.sony.eu/presscentre