Nordic Semiconductor has launched the Thingy:91, a battery-powered, cellular IoT prototyping platform that works with the cellular and GNSS networks from 700 to 2200 MHz.

Asset tracking is the prime application for the platform: containers, livestock, people, parcels and equipment. It is pre-loaded with a cellular asset tracking application that can also be used to develop other uses. The kit includes various sensors, including motion, impact and air quality.

Thingy:91 is built around Nordic Semiconductor's nRF9160 SiP and integrates the TRIO mXTEND™ chip antenna from Fractus Antennas. The TRIO mXTEND, part of Fractus Antennas’ Virtual Antenna™ family, is a single embedded antenna component covering both cellular and GNSS bands. It has three ports to support most wireless architectures with up to three independent radios, such as cellular, GNSS and Bluetooth.

Thingy:91 enables designers to develop an IoT platform without having to design and build all the hardware, which accelerates time-to-market and reduces development cost.

“The Thingy:91 is aimed at professional developers and non-cellular IoT specialists alike. Not only does it allow developers new to the world of cellular IoT to get a PoC up and running very quickly, in order to gain necessary project and budget approvals, it also makes turning that PoC into a real product very straightforward, right down to using the same code and development environment." — John Leonard, senior product marketing at Nordic Semiconductor