Mediatek introduced MT2625 ARM Cortex-M SoC supporting NB-IoT (aka LTE Cat NB1/NB2) compatible with 3GPP Release 14 last summer, and designed for global cellular IoT devices.
The company has now unveiled a new NB-IoT part with Mediatek MT2621 ARM7 dual-mode IoT SoC that is capable of both NB-IoT R14 and GSM/GPRS connectivity for applications such as smart trackers, wearables, IoT security, smart metering and industrial applications. The chip would allow you to start deploying devices with GSM connectivity, and once available in your locale, switch to the more efficient NB-IoT protocol.
Mediatek MT2621 specifications:
- Processor – Single ARM7 core @ up to 260MHz
- Memory – 160KB + 4MB PSRAM
- Internal Flash
-
Connectivity
-
Integrated Baseband, RF, Antenna, and Modem DSP
- NB-IoT ultra-low/low/mid bands defined by 3GPP Rel-14
- GSM/GPRS
- Bluetooth 4.2
-
- Display – LCM interface
- Camera – Camera interface
- Audio – Audio Amplifier
-
Integrated PMU
Mediatek is really light on details, but still confirms a single SIM and antenna covers both cellular networks (NB-IoT & GSM) with dual standby functionality (SSDS). This will allows a single UICC and mobile number for both networks, “saving PCB space, simplifying design, minimizing cost and speeding time-to-market”. The company also claims “applications can be built using an easily customizable Linux-based OS”.
You may visit the product page, but you won’t find much there.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Maybe the 160K is non volatile RAM, and the 4MB is battery backed RAM?
But it does seem odd
on chip ram + SiP (off chip) Ram
@Paul Mansfield
@will
One contact helped me get more details:
160KB is cache-like 1/2T latency for absolute realtime needs, and the other 4MB is standard RAM latency.
The CPU core is still a mystery to me. Most likely it’s the same ARM7E core with no MMU as the older chips, but the product page mentioned ARM7E nowhere and instead calls it both an “ARM7” and an “ARMv7”. Related chips include the MT2601 (Cortex-A7, ARMv7-A), MT2502 (ARM7E, ARMv5TEJ), MT6280 (Cortex-R4, ARMv7-R), and the MT2523D (Cortex-M4, ARMv7E-M), so this one could have any of those, or something entirely different.
If it runs Linux, it might even be an ARM7E plus MMU (something I believe nobody has implemented before), or an ARM720T. It certainly /can/ run Linux either way, but the description also isn’t clear about whether it does, or if it just uses a Linux-based SDK to write applications for Mediatek’s own RTOS.
I think it runs Linux. Otherwise they would have described a customizable Linux based SDK, not OS.