5G-ready cellular modules facilitate more secure and robust IoT connectivity device designs

With an increasing number of connected and complex IoT deployed devices,  maintaining longevity and security on those devices becomes exponentially more challenging.

To that end,  u-blox has announced the SARA-R5 series of LTE-M and NB-IoT modules for low power wide area (LPWA) IoT applications, its most advanced, secure and highly integrated cellular product. The module, built on the u-blox UBX-R5 cellular chipset and the u-blox M8 GNSS receiver chip, offers end-to-end security and long product availability, making it ideal for IoT applications with long-term device deployments.

“SARA-R5 sets a new benchmark for IoT connectivity,” says Andreas Thiel, Head of Product Centers at u‑blox. “By integrating a hardware-based Root of Trust in a discrete secure element within the UBX-R5 chipset, we are paving the way for robust secure communication from the chip all the way to the cloud. The secure element is compliant with EAL5+ High common criteria certification, which makes SARA-R5 ideally suited to protect sensitive assets and communications.”

The module also features a lightweight and low power pre-shared key (PSK) management system that is tailored to the needs of IoT applications, along with a comprehensive set of security features.

“Kudelski and u-blox are making IoT simple and secure for anyone that adopts SARA-R5,” said Jean-Michel Puiatti, SVP IoT Security at Kudelski Group. “By establishing an immutable identity in every module, we lay the foundations for robust protection of the device, data, decisions, commands and actions. This ensures that companies achieve their IoT business objectives and long-term return on investment with confidence.”

“By combining u-blox’s IP with Kudelski’s unique and efficient way of handling security keys,” says Samuele Falcomer  Senior Product Manager at u-blox, “we are able to optimize the module’s power consumption and overall energy efficiency. The “spare” energy allows us to better handle secure key exchange and data over the wire.”

With mobile network operators announcing their plans to roll out 5G networks, 5G readiness is becoming a key factor in selecting cellular communication modules. LTE-M and NB-IoT are forward-compatible with 5G networks and, by implementing key LTE-M and NB-IoT features from 3GPP Release 14, SARA-R5 offers customers a smooth transition towards 5G via software upgrades to already deployed devices.

The SARA-R5 series builds on the new u-blox UBX-R5 LTE chipset and the u-blox M8 GNSS chip, which means that production and product lifetime are not dependent on third-party chipmakers. For customers, this translates into long-term availability, roadmap stability, and technical support down to the silicon level. Core technology ownership enables new features, relevant for positioning, timing, connectivity, and security.

SARA-R5 comes in two product variants. Featuring a built-in u-blox M8 GNSS receiver, SARA‑R511M targets mobile applications in the automotive, fleet management, tracking, and telematics sectors. The GNSS receiver’s chip-down design includes a dedicated GNSS antenna interface and can run in parallel with the cellular connection. This assures maximum design flexibility, while preserving overall system power consumption.

The second product variant, SARA-R510M, is optimized to deliver the lowest achievable power consumption, drawing less than 1 microampere of current in power save mode, making it ideal for metering, smart city, connected health, security and surveillance, remote monitoring and other battery-powered applications.

Samples for the SARA-R5 series will be available in Q4 2019.