Samsung has now announced its latest Exynos-branded chip solution, the Exynos i S111. Although unlike traditional Exynos products, this one is designed to facilitate the needs of narrowband (NB) Internet of Things (IoT). This is actually not the first IoT chip Samsung has released due to the arrival of the Exynos i T200 in early 2017, and furthermore, this won’t be the last. With Samsung also taking today’s announcement as an opportunity to make clear its intentions to solidify its Exynos i line as a go-to NB-IoT option in the future. With this being an NB-IoT solution, the Exynos i S111 has been specifically designed to support a wide range of IoT-related devices, and not just those in the home, or those manufactured for personal use.
For example, Samsung states the Exynos i S111 is just as suitable in smart meters as wearables, and so will be an option when it comes to the building out of smart areas and cities. One of the reasons it will be of benefit in this respect is the extremely low-power consumption associated with the chip. With Samsung explaining the Exynos i S111 has the ability to enter a power saving mode where the chip could in theory remain dormant (but operational as and when needed) for over ten years. In addition, the chip is capable of delivery data, including very low packages of data, reliably and even over very long distances – something that is of more importance when used outside due to the general distance between connection points and the greater chance of interference with short-distance communications. On this point, Samsung states the Exynos i S111 is capable of delivering data from as far as 10-kilometers away from another connection point.
The Exynos i S111 includes an LTE Rel. 14-supported modem, and is capable of achieving down speeds of 127 kbps, and up speeds of 158 kbps. Furthermore, it has also been designed with security in mind to ensure data sent is protected at both the local and transmission levels. Padding out its feature list, is the inclusion of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) support which will facilitate approximate device tracking, if needed.