Swiss semiconductor company ST Microelectronics has achieved Vodafone NB-IoT certification for its location-aware cellular IoT modules.

STM has announced the achievement of Vodafone NB-IoT certification of its ST87M01 NB-IoT and GNSS modules. The ST87M01 combines cellular IoT connectivity and geolocation in a low-power, integrated module for wide-ranging IoT and smart-industrial applications.

“Completing our test programme with Vodafone assures our customers of a reliable and future-proof data connection for their IoT that leverage this module’s novel and power-efficient features,” said Domenico Arrigo, general manager at STM. “Also, being entirely conceived, designed and industrialised by STM ensures high product quality and security with supply independence and longevity.”

Sven Sobe, senior IoT expert at Vodafone, added: “STM’s ST87M01 module has demonstrated flawless connectivity with our NB-IoT global infrastructure and offers an excellent option to connect to our network anywhere in Europe.”

The ST87M01 has also been recently certified by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) that promotes interoperability of mobile and IoT products. The module complies with 3GPP release 15 and provides extended multi-regional LTE coverage.

Bringing together reliable geolocation capability with long-term assured cellular connectivity, the module addresses emerging massive IoT applications such as smart traffic-emergency lights, to become mandatory in Spain by 2026. The lights supersede the passive emergency triangle, by providing real-time car geolocation to the local traffic-control system in the event of accident, consistent with the European road safety charter. The ST87M01embeds all the functions needed to support this application and paves the way towards safer and interconnected mobility.

NB-IoT certifications for the ST87M01 also come at the right time for design-in to new electric, water and gas smart-metering roll-outs planned worldwide. In particular, the module can be effective for deployment in the new Indian smart metering infrastructure, which is estimated to reach 250 million units in the next five years.

The module integrates an ST4SIM embedded SIM, certified according to the latest industry standards, such as the latest GSMA eSA (security assurance) certification. The ST4SIM also includes a certified embedded secure element (eSE). The complete circuitry is contained within a 10.6 by 12.8mm LGA package.

Low energy consumption features increase the runtime of battery-powered applications. The integrated native GNSS receiver ensures power-savings features while operating during NB-IoT sleep time slots.

The ST87M01 integrates with other components from STM’s portfolio such as MEMS intelligent actuators and sensors, interfaces and other connectivity to address more IoT applications that need precise geolocation. These include tracking devices for pets and personal possessions, industrial asset tracking, and sensors for use throughout smart infrastructure, smart agriculture and others.

The ST87M01 (www.st.com/en/wireless-connectivity/st87m01.html?icmp=tt34449_gl_pron_aug2023) is sampling now to major customers worldwide. A selection of protocol stacks is available to handle popular IoT use cases, including IPv6, TCP/UDP, CoAP/LWM2M, MQTT, HTTP/HTTPS and TLS/DTLS. It is designed to support both standard 3GPP AT commands, along with STM enhanced AT commands.