Nordic enables the tracking of gateway devices to monitor caregivers and their location

     Nordic Semiconductor announced that IoTBank, a Tokyo-based technology enterprise, has launched its "Mamosearch. Nordic's nRF9160 low-power system-level Package (SiP) device with integrated LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GPS is used in the 2 "tracking gateway device. The gateway also uses Nordic's nRF52832 Bluetooth Low Energy /Bluetooth LE chip system-on-chip (SoC).

     Mamosearch 2 is a portable, connected tracking device designed primarily to monitor the location of caregivers/individuals at risk, such as children on their way to or from school, elderly family members living alone, or people in aged care facilities. The device can also be used to track industrial and commercial assets.

     With the LTE-M connectivity and GPS capabilities of the nRF9160 SiP, combined with the built-in Wi-Fi triangulation function, Mamosearch 2 can perform accurate positioning without the use of GPS. The trackers periodically send the location information of the items being tracked over a cellular network to a cloud-based proprietary platform and dashboard. This allows consumers or asset managers to monitor remotely on their Bluetooth 4.0(and later) smartphones via the "Mamosearch" app for iOS and Android.

     The 64 MHz Arm®Cortex®-M33 processor of the nRF9160 SiP device provides sufficient computing power to run LTE-M cellular connectivity and all other product features. Its 1MB flash memory and 256KB RAM support fast response and complex application software. By taking advantage of the nRF9160's compact size (10 x 16 x 1 mm), the Mamosearch 2 tracker integrates SiP devices, Wi-Fi chipsets, batteries, Wi-Fi and cellular antennas into devices that measure only 45 x 45 x 15 mm and weigh only 36g. In normal use, the tracker lasts about a month on a single charge, or three months of standby time, thanks in part to the ultra-low power consumption of Nordic SiP devices.

     In addition to the nRF9160 SiP, the Mamosearch 2 gateway product integrates Nordic's nRF52832 SoC to provide Bluetooth low power connectivity to support commercial/industrial asset tracking applications, such as managing the location of materials in factories, warehouses or construction sites. The Bluetooth Low Energy feature means that any Bluetooth beacon can inform the gateway of its location. (Bluetooth beacons are widely used worldwide and provide a reliable way to determine the fixed location of an asset.) Using the nRF9160's LTE-M cellular connectivity capabilities, the beacon's location data can be relayed to the cloud, allowing managers to track multiple assets simultaneously through companion applications.

     The nRF9160 SiP is globally certified for cellular iot applications and includes a dedicated application processor and memory, a multi-mode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem with an integrated RF front end (RFFE), GPS, and power management. This SiP device integrates the Arm M33 processor, flash memory and RAM, a range of analog and digital peripherals, automated power and clock management, ArmTrustZone® for trusted execution, and Arm CryptoCell™ 310 for application layer security. The processor communicates with the LTE modem via the BSD secure Socket API and supports application layer protocols (such as CoAP, MQTT, or LWM2M) and the application itself. The nRF9160 SiP LTE modem supports SIM and eSIM, offers LTE band support from 700 to 2200 MHz, 23 dBm output power, and a single-pin 50Ω antenna and UICC interface. Its modem firmware includes LTE stack layers L1-L3, IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP, and TLS/DTLS.

     Related products include the pre-certified board development kit nRF9160 DK and the software development kit nRF Connect SDK, which includes application layer protocols, application examples, and provides pre-certified and pre-compiled LTE modem firmware download software.Nordic's nRF52832 multi-protocol SoC features a powerful 64MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex M4 processor with a floating-point unit (FPU), 2.4GHz radio capability with -96dBm RX sensitivity, and an overall link budget of more than 100dBm. As well as ample 512kB of flash memory and 64kB of RAM.

     "We chose Nordic's nRF9160 SiP for the Mamosearch 2 tracking gateway device because of its low power consumption and Nordic nRF52832 SoC because of the stable network communication it provides," said Mr. Liang Qu, CEO of IoTBank.