NRF9160-SICA-R7 datasheet(14/400 Pages) NORDIC

14 / 400 page

3 Product overview

3.1 Introduction

The nRF9160 is a low-power cellular IoT (Internet of Things) solution, integrating an ARM® Cortex®-M33

processor with advanced security features, a range of peripherals, as well as a complete LTE modem

compliant with 3GPP LTE release 13 Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1, and 3GPP LTE release 14 Cat-NB1 and Cat-NB2

standards.

The ARM Cortex-M33 processor is exclusively for user application software, and it offers 1 MB of flash

and 256 kB of RAM dedicated to this use. The M33 application processor shares the power, clock and

peripheral architecture with Nordic Semiconductor nRF51 and nRF52 Series of PAN/LAN SoCs, ensuring

minimal porting efforts.

The peripheral set offers a variety of analog and digital functionality enabling single-chip implementation

of a wide range of cellular IoT (Internet of Things) applications. ARM TrustZone technology, Cryptocell 310

and supporting blocks for system protection and key management, are embedded to enable advanced

security needed for IoT applications.

The LTE modem integrates a very flexible transceiver that in hardware supports frequency range from

700 to 2200 MHz (through a single 50 Ω antenna pin), and a baseband processor handling LTE Cat-M1/

NB1/NB2 protocol layers L1-L3 as well as IP upper layers offering secure socket API for the application. The

modem is supported by pre-qualified software builds available for free from Nordic Semiconductor.

On specific nRF9160 device variants, the LTE modem supports A-GPS operation during sleep intervals in

the LTE operation (RRC idle and PSM modes).

Note: Cat-NB2 is supported in LTE modem HW, but needs modem firmware support to get

enabled. Please refer to nRF9160 modem firmware release notes found under nRF91 FW binaries

downloads concerning availability of Cat-NB2 feature support".

3.2 Block diagram

This block diagram illustrates the overall system. Arrows with white heads indicate signals that share

physical pins with other signals.

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NRF9160-SICA-R7 Datasheet(PDF) 14 Page - Nordic Semiconductor