Availibility of GNSS within DECT NR+ Firmware

[Valentin]

Hello,
We are currently evaluating the use of nRF9131 ICs for a mobile DECT NR+ usecase, in which we want to use the position in space of the different participants. Given the on board GPS receiver we would have liked to regularly scan for a position between transmissions. The nRF Connect SDKs documentation still states in the section on DECT NR+, that GNSS is not available on the DECT NR+ PHY firmware.
Are there technical limitations, which prevent both functionalities being present in the same firmware? If there aren't are you planning on adding GNSS support in future versions of the firmware? If so is there a roadmap for the release of GNSS in the NR+ PHY firmware or maybe even a prerelease version of such firmware available?

If another IC from the nRF91x1 series will be able to provide both NR+ and GNSS in the same firmware, before the nRF9131 gains that capability, I would be interested in that as well.

Thanks,
Valentin

[Elfving]

Thanks for the patience,

I had a quick talk with one of the relevant managers.

GNSS firmware support is not in NR+ firmware, and porting it there is a big effort due to different clocks used by GNSS (GPS) and NR+. Another thing to note is that nrf9131 might not be the best choice for a product like this. Have you considered the nrf9151? He thinks this would be a better choice for you.

I am not allowed to comment on roadmap questions though, for questions about that you would have to ask your regional sales manager. Ask me for his contact info if you do not already have it.

Regards,

Elfving

[Valentin]

Thank you for the fast reply.

Using GNSS together with NR+ could also be achieved with an external GNSS receiver during evaluation. For a finished product this would of course increase parts costs and it would be great to have an on-chip solution.

Is there a specific reason for suggesting the nRF9151 for our mobile scenario? When estimating the performance needed, I found the nRF9131 should be sufficient for my application. The available nRF9131-EK also provides an antenna port with many compatible antennas available on the marked compared to the RF switch on nRF9151-DK & nRF9161-DK.

[Elfving]

I think the 9151-DK and the 9131-EK have the same antenna connector. The point in being careful with 9131 is that it requires the nordic PMIC, and that PMIC has very strict requirements on the PCB layout and vias.

9131 is mainly mde for DECT. It would take a bit for it to pay off to use 9131, if not for larger volumes and DECT only. And if needing the 915 MHz ISM band for dect NR+, in the USA, that is only on 9151.

Regards,

Elfving