Swiss electronics firm ST Microelectronics and Canadian communications firm Sierra Wireless are working together to simplify and accelerate connected IoT deployment.

The aim is to combines the low power, performance and security of STM32 microcontrollers (MCUs) with Sierra Wireless’ global cellular connectivity and edge-to-cloud services to simplify deployment of IoT devices. This means the STM32 user community can leverage flexible cellular IoT connectivity and edge-to-cloud offerings from Sierra Wireless.

“Sierra Wireless brings a rich portfolio of cellular connectivity and cloud-services to the STM32 ecosystem that enable us, together, to provide a complete end-to-end solution for connected IoT,” said Ricardo de sa Earp, vice president at ST Microelectronics. “Our STM32 MCUs and ecosystem, combined with connectivity services and device-to-cloud software from Sierra, creates an offer of greater depth, capability and useability than any other on the market today.”

The agreement should help developers tackle the diverse challenges involved with creating and deploying IoT, including device design and development, enrolment with a cellular network, and connection to cloud services, enabling a quicker time to market.

Jim Ryan, senior vice president at Sierra Wireless, said the collaboration would help solve the IoT deployment problems users face from provisioning custom hardware to configuring and connecting turnkey modules as quickly as they need.

“Sierra Wireless is bringing its world-class IoT connectivity to the industry-leading STM32 ecosystem, so that customers developing a wide range of IoT using STM32 MCUs will now be able to easily build solutions with cellular connectivity,” he said.

The STM32 family, available through regular sales channels, including the STM e-store, contains over 1000 variants that span a broad performance spectrum and combine energy efficiency with real-time processing capabilities and connectivity. The MCUs also provide IoT security including cryptography, secure firmware installation and update, secure boot, and resistance to side-channel attacks. There are product lines engineered for low-power consumption as well as wireless MCUs that integrate long-range modulation. There are also Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4 radios on-chip.

Moreover, to accelerate design, the STM32Cube ecosystem provides development tools, middleware including STM32 hardware abstraction layer, STM32Cube expansion packages such as X-Cube-Cellular, and application-code examples. A selection of evaluation boards and fully tested development kits help accelerate prototyping.

Sierra Wireless’ connectivity delivers convenience for connecting IoT devices to cellular networks. Various SIM options including global, smart multi-IMSI and enhanced regional single carrier offerings, as well as a selection of turnkey cellular modems, simplify connection. The collaboration with STM provides access to a wide selection of Sierra Wireless’ connectivity.

STM employs 46,000 creators and makers of semiconductor technologies mastering the semiconductor supply chain with manufacturing facilities. An independent device manufacturer, it works with more than 100,000 customers and thousands of partners to design and build products and ecosystems.

Sierra Wireless is an IoT provider that combines devices, network services and software. Companies globally are adopting its 4G, 5G and LPWA connectivity to improve operational efficiency, create better customer experiences, improve their business models and create revenue streams.