A holy trinity of sorts, at least in the context of this developing iSIM nativity-play in the cellular-end of the IoT market – as 2024 starts to draw to a close, and the industry looks ahead to the new year. Germany-based security tech group Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has produced an integrated SIM (iSIM) solution for NB-IoT applications using a combination of Telit Cinterion modules and Sony Semiconductor Israel (Sony) chipsets. It called it a “first of its kind” NB-IoT iSIM operating system (OS) for a Telit Cinterion module, and a “first milestone for G+D”, as one of the first providers of an OS for Sony’s Altair line of chipsets.
A “global tier-one operator” is involved, somewhere, as well – for testing and approval, it seems. The iSIM-OS has been authenticated for use with Telit Cinterion’sNE310L2 NB-IoT module, specifically, which is based on Sony’s Altair ALT1255 chipset. The combination is being offered to ‘original equipment’ makers (OEMs). G+D said the iSIM-OS is platform-independent, and also works on “various iSIM-enabled chipsets”, including the Altair ALT1250, ALT1255 and ALT1350 LTE-M and NB-IoT chipsets. The Telit/Sony NB-IoT module solution is geared for smart metering, smart agriculture, and asset tracking.
A statement explained: “A key component of the solution is the iSIM or iUICC (integrated universal integrated circuit card), which, unlike pluggable SIM cards or permanently soldered eSIMs, is a tamper-resistant element (TRE) within a system-on-a-chip (SoC). This means that the iSIM is an isolated hardware component combined with a baseband chipset to form a single connectivity module. This gives the iSIM advantages in areas such as power consumption, cost, sustainability and security.
“The small footprint enables the production of small, lightweight and therefore cost-effective devices. In addition, iSIMs meet high sustainability requirements. The isolated hardware, combined with G+D’s secure and certified iSIM operating system, ensures a high level of security. With the participation of a global tier-one network operator, G+D has successfully qualified its iSIM-OS on the Telit Cinterion NE310L2 NB-IoT module, based on Sony’s Altair ALT1255 chipset.”
BeeGek Lim, a global vice president at G+D, said: “We want to drive iSIM innovation forward. The successful development and qualification of an optimized iSIM-OS for a cost-effective and commercially available NB-IoT product is a perfect example of this in action,” said. “In general, one of our main priorities is to provide secure solutions for a wide range of IoT applications and devices, so that users can realize the full potential of the IoT with flexible and cost-optimized connectivity.”
Jose Sanchez, senior director for IoT product management at Telit Cinterion, said: “Telit Cinterion is happy to be part of the co-operation between G+D and Sony Semiconductor Israel on this first innovative technology achievement. We look forward to working with our partners to stay at the forefront of iSIM technology for IoT in the coming years.”
Dima Feldman, vice president of product management t Sony Semiconductor Israel, said: “We are excited to collaborate with Telit Cinterion and G+D to enable iSIM on our LPWA products. ALT1255 is the first NB-IoT chipset on the market with iSIM. iSIM enables connectivity without additional physical hardware, which simplifies the solution and logistical onboarding flow, and making it more affordable which is a key for the industrial IoT market.”
