At Mobile World Congress, LTE for IoT chip leader Sequans introduced Monarch 2, which is the second generation of its world-leading LTE-M and NB-IoT chip platform, Monarch.
Monarch 2 is built on three years of Sequans’ exclusive and field-proven experience with first-generation Monarch, which has been the industry’s leading LTE for IoT chip since its introduction in 2016 when it became the very first purpose-built LTE for IoT chip that brought the very first LTE-M devices to life. Monarch 2 incorporates full reuse of Monarch’s software and architecture, allowing all existing customers to migrate to Monarch 2 seamlessly. The advancements in Monarch 2 include an integrated secure element, enabling a variety of integrated SIMs, a 60-percent improvement in power consumption, beating the already industry-lowest level of Monarch, and an industry-leading high level of integration that further simplifies and lowers the cost of IoT device design.
“We designed Monarch 2 based on the exclusive knowledge we’ve gained over the last three years with IoT device-makers and LTE operators around the world,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “This experience has enabled us to develop Monarch 2 with real world knowledge of what our customers need for successful LTE IoT deployments of all types. We answered key demands and considerably improved our already ultra-low power consumption, added comprehensive positioning capabilities and a satile MCU, and added other important features to validate and improve business cases for the widest possible range of IoT applications.”
Monarch 2 is 5G ready. It supports 3GPP Release 14 and 15 and LTE UE categories M1/NB1/NB2. In a single chip, Monarch 2 integrates baseband, RF, RAM, MCU, and power management. Monarch 2 supports all power classes +23/20/14 dBm, allowing deployments by all operators around the world with efficient network capacity and data plans. Monarch 2’s dedicated MCU is able to scale from ultra-low power to high-performance mode to best fit customer applications. It is open to all customers via Sequans’ SDK. Monarch 2’s embedded secure element (SE) offers the highest, government-grade security level possible, EAL5+, for powerful iUICC capability.
For positioning, Monarch 2 embeds Sequans IoT-Locate™ location engine, which provides indoor and outdoor positioning with or without GNSS. IoT-Locate gives application developers flexibility to select the geo-location technology that best fits their requirements for location accuracy and cost. For reduction in power consumption, Monarch 2 features Sequans’ eco-Paging™ technology for extremely low eDRX power consumption. The power consumption of Monarch 2 shows a 50-percent improvement in active mode and a 60 percent improvement in eDRX and idle modes, with rock bottom power consumption continuing to lead the industry at 1 micro amp.
Monarch 2 will be seamlessly integrated into Sequans’ Monarch product portfolio. Monarch products include Monarch N, which is the single-mode NB-IoT version of Monarch, and Monarch SiP, which is an ultra-small and thin system-in-package that includes the universal radio front end of Skyworks and all other components required. Monarch has been certified by operators all over the world: in USA, Japan, Europe, and Australia.
“Sequans’ Monarch chip has been one of the leading LTE chips in the industry since its introduction in 2016,” said Luc Savage, VP, Enterprise IoT, Orange. “We are pleased to see that Monarch 2 adds important capabilities, including a powerful secure element and an integrated MCU, along with significantly improved power consumption — all of which ensure that Sequans’ Monarch remains a leading name in IoT.”
