U-Blox has expanded its offering for both in-vehicle communication and industrial automation with the Jody-W2 module.

The series comes in a 13.8×19.8mm footprint and operates from -40ºC up to 105ºC. The manufacturer says it’s also well suited for industrial applications.

The module incorporates AEC-Q100-qualified wireless system-on-chip (SoC) technology. One variant (non AEC-Q100) is specifically targeting industrial control and monitoring applications, such as patient monitoring, surveillance systems, and in-building asset tracking.

It features dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), covering 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency channels, as well as built-in WPA3-compliant security mechanisms. Alongside this, it offers Bluetooth 5 capabilities, with both classic and low energy capabilities.

The module has separate antennas for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for cross-protocol coexistence.

Designed for applications in modern automobile infotainment, telematics systems, and industrial gateways, the Jody-W2 can provide an access point for connection with up to 8 devices, with enough bandwidth for video streaming via several devices at once.

It can support parallel transportation of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, and simultaneously act as an access point and as a station, or conduct peer-to-peer communication

As this module has the same form factor as the Jody-W1, it’s easy for engineers to upgrade their existing designs.

As Pelle Svensson, senior principal product strategy, product strategy short range radio at U-Blox, says: “Through our Jody platform, we are able to meet automotive OEMs’ requirements, and also address the subsequent aftermarket opportunities that are emerging. Jody-W2 sets new performance benchmarks and assures continued data security while coping with the elevated temperatures and challenging operating conditions that are unavoidable in automotive and industrial environments.”