Actinius launches nRF9160 SoM and XBee module with NB-IoT, LTE Cat-M, and GPS

Last year, Actinius launched Icarus IoT Board equipped with nRF9160 SiP providing GPS & NB-IoT connectivity in Adafruit Feather form factor. The company is now back with more compact Nordic Semi nRF9160 hardware, namely the tiny 28×18.5mm Icarus SoM with built-in eSIM, as well as Icarus Bee XBee module that incorporates Icarus SoM plus a nano-SIM slot, as well as an RGB LED and a user button.

Icarus SoM

The module comes with the following specifications:

• SiP – Nordic Semi nRF9160-SICA system-in-package with Arm Cortex-M33 MCU, 1024 KB flash, 256 KB SRAM, and LTE-M (eMTC), NB-IoT, and GPS  connectivity
• Storage – 64Mbit SPI flash
• On-board eSIM
• Antennas – 2x u.FL connectors for LTE and GPS
• Sensor – Accelerometer
• I/Os – 2x 20 castellated holes with GPIOS, I2C, SWD, Reset, SIM card signals, and power pins
• Supply Voltage – 3.3V
• Dimensions  – 28 x 18.5 mm

The multi-layer module is designed to help customers simplify their design and bring products faster to market as they can make two-layer carrier boards for the module. Icarus SoM’s symbol and footprint can be found on SnapEDA for a variety of EDA tools from Altium to KiCad to Target 3100!.

There’s no information about pricing, nor availability for the module at this time, how there’s a devkit already for sale: Icarus Bee.

Icarus Bee nRF9160 XBee Module

Specifications:

• Icarus SoM NB-IoT, eMTC, GPS module
• Nano SIM card slot that can make use of the dual-SIM selection circuit
• I/Os
  • 2x 10-pin Xbee headers
  • Various test points
• Misc – Button, RGB LEDs
• Power Supply – Via Xbee header or external DC power (see 3x solder pads on the bottom of the board)
• Dimensions – 32.5×28 mm

By default, Icarus Bee ships with the latest firmware from Nordic Semi, as well as MCUboot bootloader, and the Serial LTE Modem Application Firmware from Nordic. It also includes certificates compatible with the company’s online IoT Platform Actinius I/O. You’ll find resources to get started on the documentation website.

Icarus Bee is available now and in stock for 59.50 Euros excluding VAT.

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