German electronics company Infineon has launched what is claims is the world’s smallest eSIM for mobile devices.

This is targeting wearables and other IoT devices, as well as smartphones and tablets. In the consumer sector in particular, the demand for more functionality, simplicity and battery lifetime is increasing.

Infineon (www.infineon.com) says it is contributing to these requirements with the introduction of the Optiga Connect Consumer OC1230. It is said to be the world’s smallest GSMA-compliant and first 28nm eSIM. It consumes up to 50 per cent less energy than other eSIMs on the market, extending the lifetime of the device’s battery without compromising on performance.

It can also contribute largely to more convenience since eSIMs can be managed remotely, making haptic SIM changes abundant thus saving time and resources and allowing for increased flexibility.

Smartphone users can switch between different providers more easily, and manufacturers can be more flexible in their design since physical access is not required. This can be a large advantage in IoT devices.

It is also suitable for consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets and notebooks, and even for small devices such as smartwatches and other wearables, as well as 5G routers and PoS payment terminals.

The security architecture is based on Arm v8 and Infineon’s Integrity Guard 32 technology for increased performance and reduced power consumption. It enables a gain of 25 per cent power-to-performance ratio compared with existing eSIMs on the market, thus extending the lifetime of the device’s battery. Remote SIM provisioning (RSP) and multiple enabled profiles (MEPs) compliant with GSMA SGP.22 v3 enhance the end user experience. Users can download and store several mobile network operator profiles and remotely activate multiple profiles simultaneously.

Measuring 1.8 by 1.6 by 0.4mm, the chip-scale packaging reduces PCB space requirements by a factor of 37 relative to nano SIMs and by a factor of 130 compared with standard SIMs. It is also available in the X2QFN20 3.0 by 3.0 by 0.3mm package.

The eSIM has a memory of 1Mbyte to accommodate multiple network operator profiles along with additional applications and user data. It is security evaluated according to BSI-CC-PP-0100-2018, specified in GSMA SGP.25 and is based on post-quantum-cryptography-(PQC) ready hardware.

The eSIM (www.infineon.com/cms/en/product/security-smart-card-solutions/optiga-embedded-security-solutions/optiga-connect/oc1230) is available now.