u-blox announced the commercial launch of its SARA-R410M-02B LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT module, with global coverage capability. The module uses a multi-band RF front-end solution to enable up to 16 LTE bands within a single hardware version, simplifying diverse deployments worldwide and providing operational efficiencies.

The module targets long life, low maintenance, cost-sensitive, lower-power consumption (extended battery life) applications such as smart buildings, people and asset tracking, agricultural monitoring, connected health, usage-based insurance, smart cities and smart meters.

The SARA-R410M-02B offers notable software-based configuration advantages within a single version of firmware. LTE bands can be enabled or disabled based on changing criteria, such as the establishment of roaming agreements among operators. The flexibility extends further through system selection of the radio access technology (RAT) as either a single or preferred connection. The approved operator profiles for AT&T, Verizon and Telstra are all included as pre-existing and selectable within the software. The module has regulatory certification approvals in Taiwan (NCC) and EMEA (RED), broadening the global commercial reach.

Patty Felts, the principal product manager at u-blox, said, “What this provides in terms of direct benefit and advantage is the ability to defer configuration decisions to ‘zero-hour’. Be it at the end device’s point-of-manufacturing, point-of-installation or even perpetually in the future, configuration decisions can be made with SARA-R410M-02B for LTE band applicability, the selection of the desired operator and/or for the preferred LTE radio interface.”