Qualcomm has announced two modems for use in IoT applications, which can be used for satellite communications. The 212S is intended to only connect to satellites; the 9205S can also connect to terrestrial networks.
The two modems allow organizations to track and monitor goods better than before, especially in remote areas. says Qualcomm. Qualcomm is working with Skylo for the modems. This company has developed a service that works with Inmarsat satellites, among others, and is also used for satellite emergency messages for the Motorola Defy smartphone.
The 212S modem is intended for monitoring non-moving devices and objects, such as water and gas tanks or meters. This modem is Qualcomm’s first IoT modem that can only work with satellite networks and supports the 3GPP Release 17 standard. This chip cannot therefore connect to terrestrial networks such as 5G. According to Qualcomm, this modem has low power consumption and can be used with its QCM4490 processor. A device can send and receive messages.
The second modem Qualcomm is introducing, the 9205S, uses “substantially the same architecture” as the 9205, allowing customers to quickly upgrade their devices. Because the 9205S supports the same Skylo satellite service as the 212S, users can retrofit their 9205 devices with satellite support relatively easily, Qualcomm says. This modem can be used for mobile always-on devices and can therefore be used for more applications than the 212S modem, such as logistics applications. This modem also supports GNSS for position determination. The 9205S is available immediately; the 212S modem should appear on the market later this year.