Unitron Connect, a technology partner for customized internet protocol (IP) and radio frequency (RF) solutions, has selected the BG95-M6 module from Quectel Wireless Solutions to enable combined narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE-M connectivity that can operate in low power modes. Unitron Connect, is part of the Belgium-headquartered UnitronGroup, a family owned international group of companies that develops, produces and sells telecommunication, multimedia and Internet of Things applications. The company’s research and development team draws on its expertise in radio-frequency engineering to build connected solutions used on all continents.

UnitronGroup’s solutions are available to many original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers and operators, under their own brand-names. By promoting its core values of connecting, flexibility and innovation, UnitronGroup is ambitious to grow further, supplying electronic equipment to a wide range of markets.

“Unitron Connect was charged to develop a multi-sensor module which is both very low-power and very robust from a connectivity perspective,” explains Jan Bogaert, the Head of Business Unit IoT at Unitron Connect. “Being able to utilize both NB-IoT and LTE-M in combination with deep-sleep modes is extremely valuable to us and we use Quectel’s BG95-M6 in a battery collection and condition monitoring application.”

The Quectel BG95-M6 is a multi-mode low power wide area (LPWA) module which supports LTE Cat M1/Cat NB2 and integrated GNSS and which meets the 3GPP Release 14 specification. The BG95-M6 achieves maximum downlink rates of 588Kbps and uplink rates of 1119Kbps under LTE Cat M1. The module’s integrated RAM and flash memory enables ultra-low power consumption, and the ARM Cortex A7 processor, which supports ThreadX, enables an up to 70% reduction in power saving mode (PSM) leakage and an 85% reduction in extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) mode in terms of current consumption in comparison to its predecessor.

The module has been selected for Unitron Connect’s new platform for battery collection and condition monitoring which is intended for deployment throughout the European market.

“Our customers will be able to optimize battery collection, storage and transportation efficiency with performance gains of more than 25%,” says Bogaert. “In addition to this efficiency gain, the module allows for safety measures to be automatically triggered such as alarms or fire-extinguishment and suppression applications.”

“We selected the Quectel BG-95-M6 module because of the quality and robustness of the product and the engineering support Quectel provides,” he adds. “The combination of NB-IoT and LTE-M with the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport for sensor networks (MQTT-SN) protocol and the user datagram protocol (UDP) transport layer plus the advanced power sleep modes is well-suited to the application and platform we have developed. It has been a pleasure to work closely with the Quectel application engineering and support team to continuously optimize the performance and stability of our solution.”

Emmanuel Maussion, VP Sales – West Europe, Quectel Wireless Solutions added: “We’re delighted that Unitron Connect has selected our BG95-M6 module for its latest battery collection and condition monitoring application and platform. It’s really important that devices involved in vital applications such as safety and fire protection have robust connectivity that also maximises battery life. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Unitron Connect to help build a smarter and safer world.”