Particle Industries Inc., an IoT Platform-as-a-Service company, has announced a new line of multi-radio boards and modules that offer multiple connectivity options in a single product. Particle is a complete edge-to-cloud IoT development platform that offers hardware products and software tools for creating IoT solutions. The company’s latest product, the M-series, has a bold tagline: connect anywhere.
Although wireless connectivity has come a long way, there is no single wireless technology that works everywhere. Particle’s M-series aims to address that problem by bundling multiple radios – Wi-Fi, cellular, satellite, and LoRaWAN – into one product.
Particle is looking to expand from its two primary wireless technologies: Wi-Fi and cellular, and add two more radios, satellite and LoRaWAN, for broader coverage. These two radios will cover devices in areas such as enclosed spaces (boiler rooms, elevator shafts, basements, and mines) and remote locations (methane sensors in oil and gas plants, boats, and environmental sensors in wooded areas)
Multi-radio networking offers two major advantages, according to Particle:
- Network diversity: This removes the need for multiple devices with different radios for operation in varying environments. The device will connect to any wireless network available to it and the user doesn’t need prior knowledge of available networks.
- Network redundancy and failover: The devices can connect to multiple networks simultaneously, and the Particle platform will ensure that events are published, regardless of the connection. If the preferred network fails to connect, the device will try another and then another, until the data is transferred to the cloud.
Particle’s M-series will be released in three form factors, a multi-radio system-on-module (M-SoM), a multi-radio development board (Muon) for rapid prototyping, and a multi-radio industrial gateway (Monitor M).
M-SoM specifications:
- Microcontroller – RealTek RTL8722DM Arm Cortex-M33 @ 200 MHz; 16MB flash and 4.5MB RAM
- Connectivity – Quectel connectivity module (EG91, BG95, and “unnamed” depending on model)
- Security – Arm Trustzone, Secure Boot
- Form Factor – M.2 form factor
- Versions
- M404: LTE-M + 2G fallback + dual-band Wi-Fi
- M524: LTE Cat 1 + dual-band Wi-Fi
- M635: LTE-M + 2G fallback + dual-band Wi-Fi + NTN satellite
Muon specifications:
- Connectivity
- Expansion Card interface for general-purpose input/output (GPIO) connectivity
- Qwiic connector
- LoRa module
- Power via
- USB-C with Power Delivery (PD),
- Screw block for direct power source connections (5-12V), or
- Lithium-polymer (LiPo) battery
- Form Factor – Credit-card-sized carrier board with onboard M-SoM
Particle’s customizable industrial IoT gateway, Monitor One, will be upgraded to support the Muon development board. According to Particle, this will facilitate development for its industrial customers and reduce time to market.
The Muon development board is available for pre-order at $49. Wi-Fi + cellular + LoRaWAN Muons are projected to ship by the second quarter of 2024, while Wi-Fi + cellular + satellite + LoRaWAN models will ship by the third quarter. Engineering samples of the M-SoM chips will be made available for evaluation by filling out a contact form.
Tomisin is a writer specializing in hardware product reviews, comparisons, and explainers. He is very passionate about small form factor and single-board computers.
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Very cool! How do you manage the different subscriptions for simultaneous LTE and satellite coverage?