Seamless Worldwide IoT: Conexio Debuts Stratus Pro with Global Cellular Compatibility
Nordic nRF9161 SiP in a Feather form factor with data included.
Conexio Technologies unveiled an update on a past product: the Conexio Stratus Pro is a cellular-based microcontroller board for IoT applications in the Feather form factor. It uniquely features the Nordic Semiconductor nRF9161 SiP and nPM1300 PMIC and is launching soon on Crowd Supply.
Stratus Pro uses a Nordic Semiconductor nRF9161 system-in-package (SiP). It provides a microcontroller, LTE cellular radio, and GPS receiver. The board contains a Nordic nPM1300 power management IC (PMIC) and a TI BQ25185 IC for charging Li-ion, Li-Poly, and LiFePO4 battery chemistries. It also has a STMicroelectronics three-axis accelerometer.
The nRF9161 contains an Arm Cortex-M33 with 1 megabyte of flash memory and 256 kilobytes of RAM. Conexio added an external 16-kilobit EEPROM. The cellular modem supports LTE-M and NB-IoT and is DECT NR+ ready. The Stratus Pro relies on external externals for cellular and GPS.
Previously, Conexio introduced a non-pro Stratus. The fundamental difference between the platforms is the SiP. The cellular modem firmware (2.0.x) in the newer nRF9161 has 3GPP LTE release 14 support. Additionally, the SiP has Nordic-specific features like Power Saving mode for roaming devices. You can learn more about the module differences in this Nordic DevZone post.
Conexio used the Adafruit Feather Form Factor for the 66.04 by 25.40 millimeters PCB. This form factor offers 28 GPIO pins, one programmable push button, and a programmable LED. A SparkFun Qwiic-compatible connector allows you to connect external peripherals, such as additional sensors, without soldering. You can program Stratus Pro via the USB-C connector or the onboard SWD/JTAG connector.
The Stratus Pro is a global device designed to work seamlessly in over 100 countries. Its robust support for LTE and NB-IoT provides reliable connectivity wherever you deploy it. The device comes with 500 megabytes of cellular data and 250 SMS messages, and the plan is valid for an impressive 10 years. It also supports eSIM and software SIM, offering flexibility and convenience.
Like other Conexio products, you can program Stratus Pro in VS Code via the Nordic nRF Connect SDK. These projects build applications on top of the Zephyr RTOS. Conexio has Stratus Pro-specific examples available.
Conexio plans to open-source the hardware design after the Crowd Supply campaign ends. The software examples and board design files will be available on Conexio's GitHub. Start exploring the Stratus Pro in Conexio's documentation today.
For more information, check out the Stratus Pro Crowd Supply campaign page. There, you can sign up for notifications for when the campaign goes live.