Since its inception in July 2015, NB-IoT, driven by Huawei and numerous global companies, has developed into the preferred technology for low-power, wide-coverage applications after nearly six years. In July of last year, it was officially incorporated into the 5G technical standard, synchronizing with the 5G lifecycle and undertaking the crucial task of connectivity for vast low-speed applications. During NB-IoT's rapid development, module manufacturers have played a vital bridging role in the industry chain, attracting increasing attention.
In terms of shipments, domestic NB-IoT module shipments exceeded 60 million units in 2020 and maintained a positive growth trend. However, with the further expansion of NB-IoT applications, new applications, new scenarios, and new demands are constantly emerging, and various NB-IoT module solutions are gradually evolving into a new stage of development.
Based on industry observations, the driving forces behind the continuous iteration of products by various module manufacturers mainly come from two aspects: On the one hand, there are internal industry forces, with each manufacturer continuously reducing module costs, pursuing the ultimate in size, requiring lower power consumption, and demanding more stable performance, while the integration of functional modules such as BLE/GNSS/Cat.1 and the embedding of software and hardware security features have become mainstream; on the other hand, there are the driving forces from the differentiated needs of vertical industries in the Internet of Things, which require module manufacturers to demonstrate their comprehensive capabilities in manufacturing, industry solutions, technical services, and business support.
Therefore, for IoT module manufacturers and upstream participants, accurately predicting the future development trend of NB-IoT modules is particularly crucial. Currently, "module-to-chip" integration is becoming an emerging trend in the industry.
New Module Solution: Module Chipization
With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) industry, a wide variety and a large number of IoT terminals have emerged to meet the diverse application scenarios of IoT. Last November, IoT Analytics, a well-known international market research institution, released data indicating that for the first time, the number of global IoT connections has surpassed the number of non-IoT connections, and pointed out that IoT devices have become the main driving force for the rapid growth of global devices over the past decade.
In terms of connection numbers, China Telecom leads the pack in China with 87 million NB-IoT connections as of February 2021, followed closely by China Mobile with 48 million NB-IoT users as of October 2020. From an application perspective, the industry has developed dozens of application scenarios, including smart meters, smart tracking, smart smoke detectors, smart streetlights, smart parking, smart door locks, and smart air quality monitoring, forming a scale pattern of "4 (tens of millions) + 7 (millions) + N (emerging potential)".
The Internet of Things (IoT) is developing at an incredible pace, and at the same time, IoT manufacturers are facing new challenges. As we all know, the requirements and value of consumer electronics products and industrial terminals are vastly different. Unlike previous consumer electronics products such as computers, mobile phones, and tablets, which were less sensitive to the size requirements of core components such as chips, the large number of smart hardware, wearable devices, and smart metering products emerging in the IoT era have extremely stringent requirements for product size, power consumption, and cost.
For example, bicycles, which are seemingly larger than mobile phones and computers, require communication devices that need to be discreetly deployed, while also considering cost and comprehensive functionality. In contrast, consumers might be more willing to buy expensive hardware like Apple's AirTag to attach to their keys. Because the purchasing entities and the value they serve are different, the two business mindsets naturally differ. For instance, the "prestige" value of AirTag beyond preventing loss is not a consideration for industry users.
Currently, the mainstream chip manufacturers that have launched commercially viable NB-IoT chips are generally 6mm-6mm in size. These chips are then delivered to downstream module manufacturers who integrate and package the MCU, memory chip, filter chip, and other components according to their respective designs, ultimately producing a complete NB-IoT module. At this point, the size of the NB-IoT module has increased several times compared to the original chip size. Previously, the smallest NB-IoT module released globally was 16mm-18mm in size, roughly the size of a one-yuan coin, but this remains an Achilles' heel for terminal manufacturers in their product deployment.
In contrast, when NB-IoT chip and module size and price are already optimized to the extreme, chip-based NB-IoT modules and highly integrated NB-IoT solutions tailored to vertical industries may be more effective in identifying core user value. Based on this, Suzhou Wuaiyida IoT Co., Ltd. recently launched two chip-based, ultra-small NB-IoT modules—SNS521S and SNS521H.
Among them, the SNS521S is the world's smallest high-performance ultra-low power chip-level NB-IoT communication module, with a size of only 8mm x 8mm. Compared to the previous world's smallest NB-IoT module, it is only one-quarter the size, almost the same size as mainstream NB-IoT chips. Moreover, it integrates all the functional components required for NB-IoT communication.
The SNS521H is a dedicated chip-level solution for the gas industry, measuring only 12mm x 12mm. More importantly, it is designed specifically for the smart metering industry, not only meeting basic communication needs but also offering a higher degree of integration. It can replace traditional gas meter MCU microcontrollers and provides secondary development capabilities.
Besides 5iYida, a large number of chip and module manufacturers, including Xinyi Information Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Weifeng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Aolandi Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd., have begun to explore the path of "module chipization" and use SiP technology to empower modules to enter a new era.
