Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) announced that its Calliope LTE chipset platform has been certified compliant by Verizon Wireless. Calliope is an LTE category 1 chipset platform optimised for the design of devices for the Internet of Things. It is the first CAT 1 chipset solution to be certified by Verizon Wireless.
The certification follows the successful network and device trial of Sequans’ CAT 1 technology conducted by Verizon and Ericsson and announced earlier this year. Calliope was recently named an “IoT Innovations” award winner by Connected World Magazine, and a “Leading Lights 2015” award winner for “Most Innovative IoT/M2M Strategy” by Light Reading.
“There is tremendous momentum developing around the availability of CAT 1 LTE technology,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “This is evident from the selection of Calliope by premier module makers such as Gemalto for their CAT 1 module designs. Our CAT 1 Calliope chipset is low cost, low power, and ideal for numerous M2M and IoT devices that don’t require the high throughput of currently available CAT 3 and 4 solutions, yet CAT 1 devices can co-exist with all higher category devices. This was proven in our recent CAT 1 network and device trial with Verizon and Ericsson. Calliope makes it possible to have affordable LTE-connected M2M and IoT devices today, without waiting for future evolutions of the LTE standard and major network upgrades.”
According to Andrew Brown, head of IoT Research at Strategy Analytics, “Shipments of M2M and related IoT devices using LTE grew more than 50 percent in 2014, outpacing the growth of similar 2G and 3G devices, and we expect this growth to continue. Optimised, purpose-built low-power LTE chipsets like Sequans’ CAT 1 Calliope platform address the cost, size and power consumption demands of M2M / IoT and we foresee a meaningful role for these solutions in the continued growth of this segment as a logical successor to 2G and 3G.”
Also certified by Verizon Wireless is a Calliope-based module, the VZ120Q, a surface-mountable LGA module based on the Calliope chipset platform, which includes RF support for LTE bands 4 and 13. It provides a simplified, cost-effective, all-in-one solution for adding LTE connectivity quickly and easily to new types of non-traditional devices, shortening time to market.
“The availability of these powerful, yet low-cost/low-power Calliope solutions, certified for use on the world’s leading LTE network, will spur development of numerous types of new devices that can operate for extended periods on batteries,” added Karam. “Calliope offers device designers a viable, low cost solution that carries all the future-proof benefits of LTE—truly a game-changer in using LTE for M2M and IoT.”
Among Calliope’s key features are ultra low power consumption, allowing very long battery life, and a very compact form factor, which is a function of wafer-level packaging for both the baseband and RF chips. The Calliope LTE Platform comprises Sequans’ latest baseband and RF chips, which includes an integrated application CPU running Sequans’ carrier-proven LTE protocol stack.
Calliope is a member of Sequans’ StreamliteLTE chipset family, and the Calliope-based VZ120Q module is a member of Sequans’ EZLinkLTE family of products.
