LTE chipmaker Sequans Communications introduced the Monarch LTE Cat M chip. The chip is compliant with the 3GPP Release 13 LTE Advanced Pro standard that defines new narrowband capabilities of LTE for machine-type-communications (LTE MTC). Monarch is designed and optimised to support the vast new range of low data use, ultra low-power, narrowband IoT applications such as smart energy meters, industrial IoT sensors, asset trackers, smart city controllers, and consumer wearables. Monarch is the newest member of Sequans’ Streamlite LTE family of products for the Internet of Things. Monarch was already accepted in the market by large companies, including Verizon and Gemalto, as the starting point for key LTE for IoT initiatives.
In related news, Sequans Communications partnered with Gemalto to develop a new set of narrowband LTE MTC products based on Category M1 (formerly called Cat M) and Category M2 (formerly called NB-IoT) technologies. The aim of the new partnership is to accelerate the availability of products based on the coming Release 13 of the 3GPP LTE standard to ensure devices will be available when LTE MTC (LTE for machine-type-communications) networks are ready. The new Gemalto modules based on Sequans’ Cat M chips will address an additional list of newer, narrowband IoT devices, including wearables, asset trackers, smart meters, smart city controllers, and industrial sensors.
