Teardowns Explore Bluetooth, Cellular IoT
Article By : Daniel Yang, TechInsights
TechInsights explored some of the Bluetooth and cellular IoT devices that it expects will dominate the Internet of Things for some time.
TechInsights explored some of the Bluetooth and cellular IoT devices that it expects will dominate the Internet of Things for some time.
Bluetooth 5.0 SoCs will be rapidly adopted by consumer IoT devices such as smartwatches and health and fitness products. Two emerging cellular IoT standards—narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and Enhanced Machine-type Communications (eMTC)–will see wide applications in smart meters, bikes and other new emerging applications with help from mobile carriers.
IoT devices contain some of the most advanced silicon die seen today. Like the IoT itself the underlying technology is evolving at a rapid pace.
Based on analysis of dozens of IoT devices across industries, it is clear that Bluetooth will continue to be one of the main technologies used in SoCs. The latest version, Bluetooth 5.0, is quickly displacing earlier versions. Bluetooth 5.0, released in 2016, quadruples the range, doubles the speed and increases the data broadcasting capacity of SoCs.
The Dialog Semiconductor DA14580, Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 and STMicroelectronics BlueENG are among the SoCs that analysis has shown are used in many products. Typically, these IoT SoCs include an integrated CPU core, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), memory and a radio transceiver in a single die.
A die photograph of the Dialog Semiconductor DA14580 Bluetooth SoC.
System in Package (SiP) is another kind of solution being used in many IoT devices. For example, the MediaTek MT2523G Bluetooth SiP is designed with the Bluetooth SoC, PMIC, memory and GNSS receiver. It has a total of six die in one package. This high level of integration on a single die, along with SiP will continue to drive the design of future Bluetooth IoT SoCs.
The 3GPP’s recent Release 13 included two LTE-based IoT technologies, NB-IoT and eMTC. The world’s leading mobile carriers–including AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom and Verizon–have either launched NB-IoT trial networks or have a plan for it. NB-IoT is expected to be used in applications such as smart cities, utility metering and industrial applications. As an example of other emerging applications, in May 2017 Qualcomm announced plans to work with China Mobile and Mobike. The trial will use the Qualcomm MDM9206 modem (above and below) to identify an available bike.
The NB-IoT-enabled smart lock for Ofo’s growing fleet of bicycles is one of the mst visible cellular IoT applications. Using NB-IoT eliminates the wait that often leaves consumers stuck due to inadequate capacity. China Telecom noted that the low power consumption of the NB-IoT chip in the lock means the battery will last eight years to ten years, so it will never need to be replaced during the standard lifecycle of an Ofo bike.
China Telecom launched its NB-IoT network in May 2017, with coverage reaching 95 percent of the country, and in June announced the tariff structure of NB-IoT services. The NB-IoT network, deployed on the 800MHz band, offers indoor and outdoor coverage. One base station can support 100,000 devices over an area of 2.5 square kilometers.
