Nordic cellular IoT-powered indoor comfort monitoring devices track wide range of environmental conditions in smart buildings

Leading French IoT sensor specialist Adeunis has launched its ‘COMFORT’ and ‘COMFORT Serenity’ indoor environmental and air quality solution, designed for use in smart buildings. The devices employ temperature, humidity, CO2, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) sensors, delivering near real time data to the Cloud. Powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160 SiP, they provide seamless cellular connectivity supporting both NB-IoT and LTE-M networks.

"With our sensors, building supervisors gain immediate access to crucial data on potential exposure to high levels of CO2 or VOC,” explains Catalina Raba Mora, RF Hardware Developer at Adeunis. “These can have detrimental health effects so monitoring and maintaining safe levels become paramount. Furthermore, our devices ensure optimal comfort for building occupants through precise temperature and humidity measurements.”

Robust communication and range

Nordic’s nRF9160 SiP offers a 64 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 dedicated application processor, that provides ample processing power to manage the suite of sensors integrated into the COMFORT and COMFORT Serenity devices. The SiP’s LTE-M/NB-IoT modem offers 700 to 2200 MHz LTE band support, 23 dBm output power, -108 dBm RX sensitivity in LTE-M, and -114 dBm RX sensitivity in NB-IoT mode, providing a generous link budget for robust communication and extended range. 

Both Adeunis devices employ an intuitive Android application with NFC interface for streamlined network and application configuration. Once the device data is transmitted to an LwM2M server or MQTT broker using the nRF9160 SiP, users can effortlessly review and manage the information.

“The integration with a LwM2M server opens up a world of possibilities for seamless device management," says Mora. "Harnessing the power of the LwM2M standard, users can effectively monitor and control the devices, gaining valuable insights into their operational performance and making informed decisions to enhance the comfort and well-being of building occupants.”

By incorporating the LwM2M standard, Adeunis provides comprehensive and user-friendly solutions for indoor comfort monitoring in smart buildings. This integration further demonstrates its commitment to delivering cutting-edge IoT solutions that prioritize convenience, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The LwM2M server can provide comprehensive insights into the operating status of sensors, battery life, network quality, and data reception. Users can delegate device management, remotely configure devices, and take necessary actions based on the collected data.

Unparalleled flexibility

“The nRF9160’s support of both LTE-M and NB-IoT technologies in a single SiP offers unparalleled flexibility to our global customers," continues Mora. "Moreover, the Nordic SiP's exceptional low power capabilities were a decisive factor. With companies employing multiple sensors in each building, maximizing battery life was crucial. Our devices can achieve a remarkable lifespan of 15 years using a Li-Thionyl battery.”

Setting the benchmark for power consumption, the nRF9160 SiP supports advanced power-saving modes like PSM and eDRX, enabling extended periods of sleep. With a floor current as low as 2.7 µA for both LTE-M and NB-IoT in PSM mode, and an eDRX interval of 655 s resulting in an average current of 6 µA for LTE-M and 9 µA for NB-IoT, the nRF9160 SiP ensures unrivaled efficiency.

“Our decision to partner with Nordic was a no-brainer, given their extensive experience in developing low-power consumption SoCs and SiPs,” adds Mora. “The provided reference designs played a pivotal role in expediting the launch of our product”.

Read more

• About Adeunis
• About Nordic Semiconductor
• About nRF9160