Weightless SIG announces M2M hardware roadmap

4th November 2013

Nat Bowers

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The roadmap for the roll-out of Weightless compatible hardware from SIG founder and Promoter Group Member, Neul, has today been introduced by The Weightless SIG. At the recent inaugural Weightless Summit in London, Stan Boland, Neul CEO, set out the company’s launch schedule for the long awaited hardware widely anticipated to catalyse proactive Weightless development activity.

Boland provided significant detail on every aspect of the launch programme starting with the company’s release of its latest and final revision of Iceni silicon. Tape out (silicon returned from the foundry) is scheduled for next month, November 2013, with volume production to follow in Q2 2014.

Professor William Webb, Weightless SIG CEO, commented “This is a huge milestone for the Weightless ecosystem and will for the first time enable the wider developer community to engage meaningfully with the technology” adding “Almost half of the 150 attendees at the Weightless Summit were applications providers, all very keen to take equipment and deliver exciting solutions. The progress of Neul and others shows that they will not have to wait long.”

Measuring 35mm x 45mm, initial Weightless modules shiping in 2014 will cost around $12. The roadmap incorporates $7 modules in 2015 and 24mm x 20mm modules costing $4 or less in 2016. Weightless development kits are scheduled for launch to early access customers in Q2 2014.

The company’s base station, NeulNET 2510 will sample in the first quarter of 2014 with pre-commercial availability in Q2 2014. BTS hardware lease costs will be "tens of dollars" per month. Boland also announced that the company will deploy Weightless networks in at least the UK and USA in the second quarter of next year with further networks elsewhere to follow.

In addition to disclosing the company’s launch schedule Boland talked extensively about Neul’s vision for the future of machine communications and the company’s position within the market setting out the details of its system architecture approach and business strategy.