Telit Cinterion announced two modules at last week’s Embedded World in Nuremberg – the LE310 LTE Cat 1 bis module series and the SL871K2 GNSS module.

When combined, the two modules can be used for asset tracking, telematics, wearables and other applications that require a combination of compact size, low cost, cellular connectivity and multi-constellation GNSS location.

The LE310 is the latest member of the 15 by 18mm xE310 form-factor family, making it suitable for size-constrained IoT devices such as asset trackers, mobile personal emergency response systems (mPERS) and portable medical devices. It also ensures hardware compatibility with other Telit cellular LPWA modules, letting device OEMs create a single design and then flexibly adopt a mix of LTE-M, NB-IoT and LTE Cat. 1 bis connectivity.

For example, LTE Cat 1 bis ensures reliable coverage wherever 4G LTE is available, and without any upgrades to the existing network infrastructure and with no need for special roaming agreements. This global connectivity and low-power consumption provide a foundation for battery-operated, single-SKU IoT devices that will be sold and used worldwide. All these capabilities also come at an affordable cost, making the LE310 (www.telit.com/devices/LE310-series) suitable for a wide range of price-sensitive IoT applications.

The SL871K2 is the latest evolution of the firm’s SL871 module family and shares the same pinout of the popular xL871 form factor. It supports GPS, QZSS, Glonass, Beidou and Galileo, and concurrently tracks four constellations by default in the L1 frequency, including the modern Beidou B1C signal. The module also supports assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) in autonomous and server-based modes.

The module outputs at a precise one pulse per second and embeds timing-related features such as Traim (time-receiver autonomous integrity monitoring) and surveying mode for high-performance timing applications. With an established industrial form factor of 9.7 by 10.1mm, the module (www.telit.com/devices/sl871k2) is for applications such as fleet management, GNSS-assisted road tolling, cellular basestations, in-vehicle navigation, automotive telematics, asset tracking and fitness trackers.

“The IoT market’s exponential growth highlighted a glaring need for an LTE module and a GNSS module that can be combined to meet demanding requirements for global connectivity and location, ultra-compact size and long battery life,” said Marco Argenton, senior vice president at Telit Cinterion (www.telit.com). “The new LE310 and SL871K2 are designed to provide device OEMs and their customers with those capabilities and more at an affordable price point.”

The LE310 module will be available in regional SKUs for North America, Emea and Apac, as well as a global SKU for worldwide deployment. Both are sampling now, with mass production planned for the second half of the year.