TECHNOLOGY

Sony Semiconductor Israel has developed the first and only cellular IoT chipset with an integrated SIM commercially available in the market. The iSIM removes the need for a physical card. It is delivered as a fully integrated solution inside the modem chipset, producing a truly seamless customer experience. With iSIM, connecting a device is as easy as switching it on. Any device with an iSIM-enabled modem inside benefits from global out-of-the-box connectivity. Integrating the SIM functionality into the SoC accelerates and simplifies our customers’ ability to create a variety of cellular IoT devices.

Long battery life is key for wide-scale IoT adoption. Unlike hi-speed connections, IoT applications require different current consumption levels in sleep, idle and active profiles. Sony’s Altair chipsets are known for ultra-low power, achieved through state-of–the-art VLSI techniques, sophisticated algorithms and high-efficiency architecture and system design. Going beyond standard LTE PSM and eDRX support, Sony’s Altair proprietary SoC and software implementation achieves the longest battery life of any cellular chipset in the world.

Determining and tracking IoT device location is essential for many markets and applications. Integrated GPS capabilities enable Sony’s Altair chipsets to provide cohesive location services for enhanced positioning capabilities without increasing the size and cost of the module. Sony’s Altair integrated GPS technology, inherited from parent company Sony Semiconductor, also offers unparalleled integrated battery performance.

Many IoT applications – from wearables to sensors and trackers – require small modules with minimal X, Y and Z dimensions. Sony’s Altair highly-integrated IoT chipsets – the smallest in the world– minimize external component count and are available in a variety of packaging options to fit the size constraints of various applications. Sony’s Altair based CAT-M1 and NB1 modules are as small as 10×10 mm².

The diverse global spectrum band allocation should not be an obstacle for module and device vendors. To ensure multi-market and versatile carrier support, Sony’s breakthrough OneSKU^TM RF technology enables support of any LTE band combination on a single hardware or module design. This provides module and device vendors with a true global solution without increasing solution size or cost.

Security in the IoT era is crucial. That is why Sony’s Altair chipsets integrate a multi-layered security architecture to address the requirements of IoT applications. Featuring chip and device hacking-protection as well as a robust service access layer, Sony’s Altair chipsets provide the most advanced hardware- and software-based tools to ensure end-to-end security.

Our vision is to enable the proliferation of global cellular IoT connections on a scale similar to WiFi or Bluetooth. With cost being a significant factor, we provide an unprecedented level of integration to minimize external component count resulting in the most cost efficient modules on the market. This highly integrated architecture dramatically simplifies hardware design, manufacturing and testing, resulting in an overall lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for module and device vendors.