Nordic Semi nRF9160 is a system-in-package part of nRF91 series offering NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE-M) IoT connectivity, as well as assisted GPS. The package is now accessible on a board following Adafruit Feather form factor.
Made by Circuit Dojo (Jared Wolff), nRF9160 Feather board supports both CAT M1 LTE and NB-IoT, can be powered by a USB power adapter or a LiPo battery and runs Zephyr OS via the nRF Connect SDK.
nRF9160 Feather specifications:
- SiP – Nordic Semiconductor nRF9160-SICA LTE-M/NB-IoT/GPS SIP with Arm Cortex-M33 MCU, 1024 KB flash, 256 KB SRAM
- Storage – Onboard 4MB NOR flash (note: upgraded from initial 2MB)
- Cellular Connectivity – LTE Cat-M1 (eMTC) and LTE NB1/NB2 (NB-IoT) plus 4FF SIM card slot, and u.FL connector for an external antenna
- GNSS – Built-in assisted GPS support plus u.FL connector for an external antenna
- Expansion – Feather I/Os (12+16 through holes) with digital and analog I/Os, I2C, UART, SPI, RST, 3.3V, VBAT, GND
- Debugging & Programmer
- Serial console via micro USB Port connected to onboard USB to serial chip
- Support for Jlink and CMSIS-DAP based programmers using a Tag Connect TC2030-CTX-NL over Serial Wire Debug (SWD)
- Misc – “Uber” low-power RTC, reset button, user button
- Power Supply
- 5V DC via Micro USB port
- 2-pin JST header + charger IC for LiPo battery (300 mAh or more required)
- Power Consumption – 2µA of current in standby mode
- Dimensions – 50.8 x 22.86 mm (Adafruit Feather form factor)
- OSHW Certifications – US000664
The board is certified by the Open Source Hardware Association with the hardware licensed with CERN 1.2, mcuboot firmware with Apache 2.0, and documentation with CC-SA-4.0. While we noted in the introduction the board runs on Zephyr and nRF Connect SDK, support for other toolchains and languages should be released soon.
nRF9160 Feather board has been launched on collaboration with Hackers Launch on GroupGets for $99 with an LTE/NB-IoT Antenna and a Hologram Cellular IoT SIM card. Options include a $10 GPS antenna, and a $19 enclosure with GPS antenna and 18650 battery holder.
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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