Sony unveils lowest power IoT combo chipset

Sony Semiconductor Israel has launched a chipset for massive IoT networks with 5G, satellite and LPWAN connectivity that it claims has the lowest power consumption, EENews reported.

The ALT1350 is the world's first chipset to combine cellular LTE-M/NB-IoT with sub-GHz Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) communication protocols and satellite connectivity (NTN) and an AI-enabled sensor hub.

Standby mode (eDRX) power consumption in the chipset has been reduced by 80% compared to the current generation, and power consumption has been reduced by 85% when sending text messages. Overall improvements to system power management quadruple the battery life of a typical device, allowing more functionality to be achieved using smaller batteries.

The iSIM-based chipset supports the mature Release 15 LTE-M/NB-IoT software stack and is future compatible with 3GPP Release 17 to guarantee the longevity and operation of 5G networks.

Integrated sub-GHz and 2.4GHz transceivers enable hybrid connectivity for smart meters, smart cities, trackers and other devices. It supports IEEE 802.15.4-based protocols such as Wi-Sun, U-Bus Air, and wM-Bus, as well as other point-to-point and mesh technologies. It supports IPv4/IPv6 internet protocols including TCP/UDP, PPP, FTP, HTTP, TLS, HTTPS and SSL as well as DTSL, MQTT, CoAP and LWM2M.

The ALT1350 also integrates an ARM Cortex-M0+ core-based sensor hub for data collection from sensors while maintaining ultra-low power consumption. It also provides cellular and Wi-Fi based positioning and is tightly integrated to provide power-optimized concurrent LTE and GNSS to accommodate a variety of demanding tracking applications from a single chip.

The chipset runs IoT applications using an ARM Cortex-M4 integrated controller with 1MB of NVRAM and 752KB of RAM, providing edge processing capabilities, including data collection and low-power AI/ML processing of data.

The ALT1350 also includes a Secure Element and Integrated SIM (iSIM) for application use, designed for PP-0117 to meet GSMA requirements.

"Demand for such multi-protocol, ultra-low-power IoT chipsets is intensifying, and Sony's ALT1350 chipset fulfills this need," said Nohik Semel, CEO of Sony Semiconductor Israel. "This is the game-changer we've been waiting for that will enable IoT deployments utilizing edge processing and universal connectivity across multiple locations."

The chipset comes in a single package, and while Sony did not specify dimensions, it is sampling to lead customers and will be available in 2023.