Ohio-based Laird Connectivity has launched the Pinnacle 100 series of cellular modems and development kits that combine Bluetooth 5, LTE-M and NB-IoT in a small form factor device.
 
This wireless combination enables use cases for long-range Bluetooth sensors to bridge sensor data to the cloud, all in an easy-to-use architecture.
 
The combination of LTE-M and NB-IoT (Sierra HL7800 and Altair ALT1250 silicon), Bluetooth 5 (Nordic nRF52840), and Arm Cortex M4F MCU into one integrated platform simplifies common use cases such as using a smartphone to configure and create an LTE connection or running complete hostless bridging applications stand alone on the modem itself.
 
Additionally, it also enables use cases where multiple long-range Bluetooth sensors can connect to the cloud over a low-power LTE connection, such as Laird Connectivity’s Sentrius BT510 Bluetooth 5 sensing platform. Bridging Bluetooth sensors to a single intelligent cellular IoT device allows users to optimise sensor coverage and manage cellular data with a simple, low-cost architecture that delivers real-time insights.
 
“Low-power cellular and Bluetooth technologies are critical to the enablement of IoT,” said Jonathan Kaye, senior director of product management at Laird Connectivity. “The Pinnacle 100 merges these two IoT powerhouses together into one, giving our customers the connectivity they need to build innovations that can transform industries and improve lives.”
 
The Pinnacle 100 leverages the power and simplicity of Zephyr RTOS programming on the integrated Cortex M4F microcontroller, allowing developers to tailor their application to requirements. It also delivers Bluetooth 5 functionality and LTE-M and NB-IoT capabilities that are certified from a radio regulatory, cellular and network carrier perspective. Additionally, this intelligent modem provides antenna flexibility with pre-integrated embedded and pre-certified external antenna options.
 
“This cellular modem brings market-leading wireless technology and software that speeds time to market by eliminating the complexity, design risk and certification costs that cellular IoT typically has,” said Kaye.
 
The Pinnacle 100 is cloud-ready, compatible with cloud services such as AWS. Out-of-the-box sample applications are ready to go to test the major technology blocks of the Pinnacle. Applications include security and building automation, industrial IoT, telehealth, asset tracking, cold-chain monitoring, and smart buildings.
 
The Pinnacle 100 is end-device-certified from a radio regulatory and LTE carrier perspective and supports complete co-location radio certification, eliminating the time and cost usually involved in the certification process. Certifications include FCC, IC, CE, BT SIG, PTCRB and GCF, with AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone to follow.