u-blox announced certification by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) of the UBX-R5, u-blox’s proprietary multi-band LTE-M/NB-IoT chipset featuring end-to-end device security, data security, and access control management. It is the first IoT chipset to be certified under GCF’s IoT chipset program. Launched in January this year, the program is designed to certify IoT chipsets covering NB-IoT and LTE-M to allow the IoT ecosystem to easily integrate and embed certified chipsets into modules and devices.

The u-blox UBX-R5 is a 5G-ready cellular chipset for low power wide area (LPWA) mission‑critical or long life-cycle IoT applications such as smart metering, telematics, tracking, security systems, building automation, as well as smart lighting solutions and connected health. With mobile network operators announcing their plans to roll out 5G networks, 5G readiness is becoming a key factor in selecting cellular communication modules.

LTE‑M and NB‑IoT are forward‑compatible with 5G networks, and, by implementing key LTE‑M and NB‑IoT features from 3GPP Release 14, UBX-R5 offers customers a smooth transition towards 5G via software upgrades to already deployed devices. 

UBX-R5 also offers unmatched built-in end‑to‑end security thanks to a hardware‑based root of trust (RoT) integrated in a discrete secure element compliant with EAL5+ High common criteria certification, which makes it ideally suited to protect sensitive assets and communications.