The STMicroelectronics B-L462E-CELL1 Discovery Kit integrates the key hardware and software modules needed to develop cellular iot devices

     The STMicroelectronics B-L462E-CELL1 Discovery suite integrates key hardware and software modules required for the development of cellular iot devices, including the GSMA certified Embedded SIM (eSIM), to facilitate the rapid development of energy-efficient cellular iot devices. It can connect to the Internet via LTE-Cat M and NB-IoT iot, making it ideal for embedded developers and iot enthusiasts, and is also priced within the reach of OEM and mass market customers.

     The kit development board integrates a very small all-in-one cellular communication module developed by Murata Corporation [1]. The module includes ST's STM32L462* ultra-low power microcontroller, GSMA certified embedded SIM (eSIM) module ST4SIM-200M and LTE-M/NB-IOT chipset. Among them, the eSIM module comes preloaded with the bootstrap connection profile of ST's licensed partner Truphone. The kit features out-of-the-box data connectivity and supports remote SIM provisioning and SIM wireless update. Users can start the development board by connecting the USB cable to the power supply or loading three AAA batteries into the connector, and then activate the eSIM card, connect the board to the cellular mobile network, and start developing the application project.

     The B-L462E-CELL1 suite based on Arm® SecurCore® SC300's ST4SIM-200M eSIM solution (certified by CC EAL5+ and GSMA SGP.02 v3.2) is designed to defend against cellular attacks. ST4SIM can build a Root-of-Trust applet to improve network attack defense.

     To simplify the development of motion sensing and environmental monitoring solutions, a suite of sensors is also integrated on the board, including ST's LSM303AGR accelerometer - magnetometer, HTS221 relative humidity and temperature sensor, and LPS22HH pressure sensor. In addition, the board has a 0.96 inch OLED display, several LED indicators, and a USB port.

     The STM32Cube software extension package X-CUBE-CELLULAR drives this Discovery suite and supports Berkeley (BSD) socket application programming interfaces (apis). Through BSD's standardized Internet communication function call, users can connect product prototypes to the Internet without developing AT command drivers to control modems. X-cub-cellular contains the source code for the demo program and CELLULAR framework modules, making importing and configuring the extension packages simple and simple with the free and powerful STM32Cube software toolset.

     St's STM32L4 uses ultra-low power technology, consuming about 2µA in STOP 2 mode and less than 1.4µA in cellular chipset Power Saving Mode (PSM), and the B-L462E-CELL1 Discovery Kit provides a platform for developers to develop iot devices with battery life of up to 10 years. Suitable for smart city, smart industry, smart agriculture, smart metering and wearable devices. The ST4SIM-200M business card printing and card personalization are carried out at ST's GSMA certified facility and pre-loaded with embedded SIM configuration data to simplify networking in more than 160 countries 

     Hakim Jaafar, Director of Wireless MCU Marketing at ST, said: "Cellular networking will be a big part of the iot market, which is why ST is working with Murata to develop cellular modules with STM32L4 and embedded ST4SIM eSIM. For the best out-of-the-box experience, ST has also worked closely with Truphone to launch the LTE-M free data plan, which allows IoT Cellular Discovery suite users to quickly develop test applications."

     Yong Fang, Product Manager for Cellular iot in the Americas at Murata, added: "This announcement underscores the importance of our partnership with ST. Together, we have developed a solution that addresses two major pain points for cellular iot device developers - software development and cellular certification. The module also provides excellent optimization and flexibility for global connectivity through a highly integrated software package."