Microsoft has documented Chinese firm Quectel’s RM500 modem as a 5G reference case for Azure Percept AI.

Quectel Wireless is a supplier of IoT modules and antennas. It has announced that its RM500 5G modem and its RMU500 USB modem developer kit have been used by Microsoft Azure as a reference case for 5G connectivity for its Azure Percept artificial intelligence (AI) kit.

Azure Percept integrates hardware and Azure services so adding cellular connectivity is an important addition to developers’ capabilities.

The adoption of the RM500 and RMU500 as the reference case for the Microsoft user guide titled “How to connect Azure Percept over 5G or LTE networks” is available to all Microsoft’s global customers. Additional Microsoft information specific to the RM500 is also available from Microsoft in the document “Connect Azure Percept DK over 5G or LTE by using a Quectel RM500 5G modem”, which discusses how to connect Azure Percept over 5G or LTE using the RM500-GL 5G modem.

The RM500 is a 5G sub-6GHz M.2 module measuring 52.0 by 30.0 by 2.3mm, which meets the 3GPP Release 15 specification and is optimised for IoT and eMBB applications anywhere in the world. It supports both standalone and non-standalone modes and delivers maximum downlink rates of 2.5Gbit/s and maximum uplink rates of 900Mbit/s.

“We’re delighted that Microsoft Azure has chosen to use the Quectel RM500-GL 5G modem and our RMU500 USB developer kit as a reference case for customers looking to roll-out Azure Percept AI capabilities alongside integrated hardware and Azure services,” said Alexander Bufalino, vice president of marketing at Quectel Wireless. “The helpful documents explain clearly how the process works and also have contact details for Quectel so customers can easily get in touch to order modules and the kit. These step-by-step user guides make it simpler and faster for customers to set up connectivity for their Azure Percept projects enabling connected AI to help build a smarter world.”