nRF9160 DK Product Brief Version 1.0
KEY FEATURES
Single board development kit for the nRF9160 SiP
Bands supported:
yUS: B2, B4, B5, B12, B13
yEU/APAC: B3, B8, B20, B28
Certifcations: CE, FCC
nRF52840 board controller
Arduino Uno Rev3 compatible
LTE-M/NB-IoT, GPS and 2.4 GHz antennas
SWF RF connectors for all antennas
4FF SIM card slot and MFF2 SIM footprint
Segger J-Link OB programmer/debugger
Pins for measuring power consumption
User-programmable LEDs(4), buttons(2) and switches(2)
3.3 - 5.5 V supply from battery, external or USB
nRF9160 SiP
Multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem
yPre-certied for global operation
y700 MHz - 2.2 GHz band support
y23 dBm output power
yAssisted GPS
yeDRX and PSM power saving modes
yCoverage enhancement modes
ySingle pin 50 Ω antenna interface
yUICC interface
Application processor
y64 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 CPU
yArm TrustZone® for trusted execution
yArm CryptoCell 310 for application layer security
y1 MB Flash & 256 KB RAM
y4 x SPI/UART/TWI, PDM, I2S, PWM, ADC
nRF52840
Board controller
Bluetooth 5, Bluetooth mesh, Thread and Zigbee
64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4F CPU
1 MB Flash & 256 KB RAM
APPLICATIONS
Logistics and asset tracking
Smart City
Smart Agriculture
Industrial & Predictive maintenance
Wearables & Medical
Product Overview
The nRF9160 DK is an aordable, pre-certifed single board
development kit for evaluation and development on the
nRF9160 SiP for LTE-M and NB-IoT. It includes an nRF52840
board controller that for example can be used to build a
Bluetooth® Low Energy gateway.
It has a dedicated LTE-M and NB-IoT antenna that supports a
wide range of bands, to operate globally. It has a dedicated
antenna for GPS, and a 2.4 GHz antenna to be used with
Bluetooth 5, Bluetooth mesh, Thread and Zigbee. SWF RF
connectors are available for all antennas.
All GPIOs and interfaces are available via connectors. The
kit is Arduino Uno Rev3 compatible, meaning it can be easily
interfaced with external device shields. User-programmable
LEDs(4), buttons(2) and switches(2) are available to easily give
input and get output.
The nRF9160 DK has both a 4FF SIM card slot and an MFF2
SIM footprint, to support both plug-in and soldered (e)SIMs. It is
bundled with a eSIM card from iBasis preloaded with 10 MB.
Programming and debugging is enabled through the Segger
J-Link OB, which also supports external targets.
The nRF9160 DK is supported by a full suite of development
software and tools. All free to download and use commercially.
nRF Connect SDK includes everything needed to get started,
application layer protocols, examples, peripheral drivers and
more. The kit can easily be connected to our cloud solution,
nRF Connect for Cloud. The LTE Link Monitor tool provides an
AT command interface that enables you to test your link, and
extract information about the network.
Everything is available for download from www.nordicsemi.com.
nRF9160 DK
Development Kit for LTE-M/NB-IoT/GPS/Bluetooth Low Energy
nRF9160 DK Product Brief Version 1.0
nRF9160 SiP
The nRF9160 SiP is a low power SiP integrating a dedicated
application processor and a multimode LTE-M and NB-IoT
modem. It is the most compact cellular IoT (cIoT) solution on the
market, measuring just 10×16×1 mm.
The application processor includes a 64 MHz ARM Cortex-M33
CPU with 1 MB of Flash and 256 KB of RAM dedicated for the
application. It has ARM TrustZone for trusted execution and ARM
CryptoCell for application layer security. It has a wide range of
interfaces to communicate with sensors and actuators.
The multimode modem supports the eDRX and PSM power saving
modes and the coverage enhancement features modes of LTE-M
and NB-IoT, and has an assisted GPS integrated. The global RF
Frond End supports bands from 700 MHz to 2.2 GHz, has 23 dBM
output power and oers a single pin 50 Ω antenna interface.
The LTE stack layers L1-L3, IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP, TLS/DTLS
will be in the modem rmware. The application processor can
communicate with the modem through a BSD secure sockets API
and will include the application layer protocol, for example CoAP,
MQTT and LWM2M, and the application itself.
Designed for true low power cIoT
The nRF9160 SiP is specically designed to take full advantage
of the energy eciency possibilities associated with the LTE-M
and NB-IoT standards. All hardware and software is designed
at Nordic, and as such oers an unparalleled, high ecient and
optimized low power cIoT solution.
It can do application processing at 70 uA/MHz, maintain
connection with the cellular network at as low as 10 uA average
and upload small amounts of data (4 bit/s = 1.8 kB/hour) at as
low as 25 uA average current.
Headquarters:
Trondheim, Norway
Tel: +47 72 89 89 00
For more information
Visit nordicsemi.com for the complete
product specication about this and any
other wireless ULP products.
About Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless
semiconductor company specializing in
ULP short-range wireless communication.
Nordic is a public company listed on the
Norwegian stock exchange.
WORLD WIDE
OFFICE LOCATIONS
ORDER INFORMATION
nRF9160-DK
Development Kit for nRF9160 SiP
HEAD OFFICE
ESPOO, FINLAND
TURKU, FINLAND
BEIJING, CHINA
SHANGHAI, CHINA
TAIPEI,
SHENZHEN, CHINA
PORTLAND, USA
SAN JOSE, USA
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
SEOUL, KOREA
TAIWAN
CHINA
HONG KONG,
OULU, FINLAND
KRAKOW, POLAND
TRONDHEIM,
NORWAY
OSLO, NORWAY
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY
LAGUNA,
PHILIPPINES
Security
The integrated cryptographic and security features enables the
nRF9160 SiP to meet the latest requirements on internet security
and authentication. By including trusted execution capability
on the application processor, it takes security a step further
by securing the most critical processes and peripherals in the
application.
The on-chip modem is its own security island and runs only
encrypted and signed rmware images from Nordic. It oers TLS/
DTLS secured sockets to the application over an on-chip inter-
processor communication interface.
SIM and eSIM support
The nRF9160 LTE modem supports both SIM and eSIM, plug-in
or soldered. It provides power and handles all communication
automatically.
Flexible modem rmware
The necessary rmware for the LTE modem in nRF9160 SiP is
oered as pre-qualied and precompiled downloads, and can be
programmed using a serial programming tool or over-the-air.
For latest status on certications go to: nordicsemi.com/9160cert
RF Front End
PMIC Pass & xtal
Application
Processor
Modem
nRF91 SoC
Flash
RAM
TrustZone
Cortex-M33
Sensor (e)SIM
PWR
GPS
Peripherals
RF transceiver
Flash
RAM
GPS
Baseband
UICC-IF
LTE
BAT
RELATED PRODUCTS
nRF Connect SDK Software Development Kit for the nRF9160 DK
nRF Connect
for Cloud
Cloud solution for LTE-M and NB-IoT
LTE Link Monitor Development tool providing an AT command
user interface
Programmer Programming user interface
