Hotshot of the Month | Svenn-Tore Larsen, CEO, Nordic Semiconductor

Meet Svenn-Tore Larsen | Chief Executive Officer | Nordic Semiconductor as he demystifies the pandemic’s global impact, the challenges in global semiconductor chip supply. The hotshot in this month’s biggest interview talks to Niloy from BISinfotech anchors across Nordic’s pivotal focus on sustainability, the importance of the Chinese market and their key offerings and extended focus tapping the market trends of 2022 and beyond. Exclusive edited excerpts are below.

Q What are the challenges and possibilities Nordic encountered in 2021?

The pandemic’s global impact on society and the world economy has in turn affected the organization and operations of Nordic Semiconductor. The company’s focus during a challenging year has been to foremost safeguard our staff, followed by ensuring business continuity for customers, suppliers and partners.

While Covid-19 has had a huge negative impact on the world overall, on the positive side it has been the catalyst behind a dramatic mainstream uptake in a range of technologies that were previously confined to niches. For example, the boom in online shopping and the need to transport billions of vaccines across the globe has accelerated technologies in the logistics, asset tracking and location services sectors. The pandemic has also triggered major interest in wearables and other connected devices that initially supported social distancing and contact tracing to slow down the progress of Covid-19 but can now be turned to other novel applications. Nordic’s technology has been used in dozens of innovative designs for these and many other boom sectors during 2021 resulting in the company’s revenue doubling over the last two years. But Covid-19 has brought challenges to Nordic too. For example, semiconductor chip supply has been subject to major constraints which have extended lead times. The impact has been felt most in booming sectors such as healthcare, smart home, asset tracking, and Virtual Reality (VR)/Augmented Reality (AR), but there are supply challenges across all sectors. Nordic staff has worked tirelessly with the company’s suppliers to increases inventory and with customers to help them overcome component shortages. The situation is improving but it will be many months before normal lead times return.

Q Many leading companies in the semi biz has already committed to carbon neutrality. Does Nordic have any thoughts or policies in this area that we need to know about?

Sustainability is one of the megatrends Nordic has identified as driving its business in 2021. Internally the company is doing much to ensure its own business is sustainable. The company is a member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), the world’s largest industry coalition dedicated to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in global supply chains. As part of the RBA and other initiatives, the company is committed to developing technology that will help realise the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The design of Nordic’s products is heavily influenced by sustainable practices. Every device we produce is designed to maximize battery life – reducing the environmental impact of millions of batteries. As the fog of the pandemic lifts, looking after the planet will become one of the most important business imperatives and one which will continue to inform Nordic’s future direction.

Externally, Nordic is committed to helping its customers use the IoT to solve sustainability challenges. The company’s technology is helping to clean up the air and water, limit carbon emissions, tackle deforestation and protect endangered species. Nordic’s technology is also helping educate disadvantaged children, boost agricultural yields and deliver affordable and clean energy. Everywhere you look there is evidence of Nordic technology powering sustainable products. At our own HQ, we house several beehives that showcase Nordic wireless technology, energy harvesting, edge computing and machine learning functionality that help bees go about their honey-making business. Elsewhere, BrandNew is using Nordic’s short-range wireless technology to power Heatle, an alternative to the often wasteful and expensive electricity requirements of a traditional kettle. Heatle is a smart liquid heater that combines induction and immersion technology to heat any fluid directly in its intended vessel to a specified temperature. In operation, the user sets the desired temperature via the Heatle smartphone app. The temperature information is communicated to the base unit using Bluetooth LE connectivity provided by Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC, and in turn, relayed to a heating rod that employs Nordic’s nRF52805 WLCSP.

ART Sewer from Metasphere is targeted at wastewater utilities worldwide. Powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160 SiP, the device is deployed below utility hole covers in a wastewater network. Each sensor takes a sample measurement of the wastewater level every 15 minutes using radar, with the data sent to Metasphere’s data analytics servers once a day via either NB-IoT or LTE-M cellular IoT wireless technology. SODAQ Track Solar is an asset-tracking device is powered by a PV panel and is claimed to operate perpetually on energy harvested power alone. The tracker is a cellular IoT solution based on Nordic’s nRF9160 SiP and integrates a light sensor, accelerometer, temperature sensor and status LEDs.

Finally, Nordic technology is being widely embraced in smart meters and associated technology. For example, utilities want to connect groups of smart meters to the IoT so that the data can be analysed by powerful Cloud servers to optimize energy efficiency. That requires aggregating the data transmitted over wMBus from hundreds of smart meters and then forwarding that data over kilometre-range LPWANs to the Cloud. Nordic Semiconductor customer, Lobaro, has met this demand with its Wireless MBus Gateway. Lobaro says the gateway is a cost and energy-efficient device that receives, caches and forwards metering consumption data from up to 250 wMBus enabled smart utility meters to the Cloud using NB-IoT.

Q Do you think the shortage of the component will be continued in 2022? If so what key reasons will be behind the turmoil? Also, what critical key role of distributors comes into play to keep the supply and demand at par?

Nordic believes component shortages will continue in 2022 as demand will continue to exceed supply. The company’s wafer suppliers are working hard to resolve this situation, but there is considerable inertia in ramping up wafer fab capacity. Nordic has taken early and decisive action with its wafer suppliers to secure customer deliveries for 2022. And the company is working hard every single day to secure additional capacity. However, Nordic faces a continuing and challenging exercise to meet customer allocations. These allocations have been based on agreements with each customer but are also based on the company’s moral obligation to support them. We have tried to balance the allocation to both tier 1 customers and smaller customers as we want to protect high volume customers with long commitments while seeding new applications which exhibit high future growth potential. The policy has enhanced the relationship with long-term customers and new start-ups alike, resulting in strong estimates of rapid growth.

Q Importance of Chinese market for Nordic and overall experience in a scenario where the country faced the heat of global pandemic? And your expectations in 2022?

Nordic has seen strong design activity in general in China and has formed a solid customer base. We believe this will continue to increase and are planning for strong expansion in both sales resources and technical support in China in 2022. The pandemic has spurred even greater innovation among China’s companies and Nordic intends to position itself to support this new wave of innovation which will see engineers using our technology in many new ways.

Q What is/are the most important new item(s) in Nordic’s industry segment in 2021 and what has been the impact on the market?

Nordic believes Covid-19 has accelerated the IoT from an emerging technology to a mainstream one. Moreover, the pandemic has been the catalyst for the adoption of technologies that were previously regarded as niche solutions. These technologies have been driven by market uptake in sectors such as digital healthcare, home working, asset tracking, gaming and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR). Now the IoT is set to completely transform how we live, work, and play. There are many examples; for example, the IoT is already powering applications as diverse as crowd-sourced predictions of infections, blood glucose monitoring, vaccine delivery tracking, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving endangered animals in Africa. And the use of AI and machine learning (ML) is bringing a level of autonomous ‘intelligence’ to IoT applications that were previously impossible. Nordic’s solutions are powering many of these applications. Recent examples include a Bluetooth LE- and Thread-enabled smart bulb that can be controlled from a connected device or via voice command, developed by Chinese IoT company, LEEDARSON. The A1 Tunable White Bulb is designed to replace conventional bulbs either in the home or in commercial buildings and integrates Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 SoC for wireless connectivity. Once connected to the network, the smart LED bulb can be wirelessly controlled using Nordic SoC-enabled Thread – a wireless protocol designed for low-power, low-bandwidth network applications including mains-powered devices such as smart lights. Another Nordic-powered example is the NOLO Sonic VR. This is a VR headset with two interactive controllers all integrating the Nordic nRF52833 SoC. Nordic technology not only provides low latency (<10 ms) Bluetooth LE connectivity to relay data from the controllers to the headset device but also the processing power to support the controller’s vibration motor data processing requirements.> <10 ms) Bluetooth LE connectivity to relay data from the controllers to the headset device but also the processing power to support the controller’s vibration motor data processing requirements.

And in the medical arena, EOFlow has introduced a low-cost alternative to the insulin infusion pump in the form of its EOPatch insulin management system. The product—which can be worn for up to three-and-a-half days—is a wearable and disposable insulin delivery system that incorporates a Nordic nRF52832 SoC. Once EOFlow has been attached and activated, the patient can use a smartphone to control and deliver insulin from the patch. The insulin requirement is calculated based on the user’s current blood glucose level, amount of insulin already in the body and carbohydrate intake.

Q Looking forward to 2022, which market segment Nordic has decided to expand across and is optimistic about? Key strategies behind Nordic’s expansion into the Wi-Fi solutions market?

Nordic believes Covid-19 has accelerated the IoT from an emerging technology to a mainstream one. Moreover, the pandemic has been the catalyst for the adoption of technologies that were previously regarded as niche solutions. These technologies have been driven by market uptake in sectors such as digital healthcare, home working, asset tracking, gaming and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR). Now the IoT is set to completely transform how we live, work, and play. There are many examples; for example, the IoT is already powering applications as diverse as crowd-sourced predictions of infections, blood glucose monitoring, and vaccine delivery tracking, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving endangered animals in Africa. And the use of AI and machine learning (ML) is bringing a level of autonomous ‘intelligence’ to IoT applications that were previously impossible. Nordic’s solutions are powering many of these applications. Recent examples include a Bluetooth LE- and Thread-enabled smart bulb that can be controlled from a connected device or via voice command developed by Chinese IoT company, LEEDARSON. The A1 Tunable White Bulb is designed to replace conventional bulbs either in the home or in commercial buildings and integrates Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 SoC for wireless connectivity. Once connected to the network, the smart LED bulb can be wirelessly controlled using Nordic SoC-enabled Thread – a wireless protocol designed for low-power, low-bandwidth network applications including mains-powered devices such as smart lights.

Another Nordic-powered example is the NOLO Sonic VR. This is a VR headset with two interactive controllers all integrating the Nordic nRF52833 SoC. Nordic technology not only provides low latency (<10 ms) Bluetooth LE connectivity to relay data from the controllers to the headset device but also the processing power to support the controller’s vibration motor data processing requirements. And in the medical arena, EOFlow has introduced a low-cost alternative to the insulin infusion pump in the form of its EOPatch insulin management system. The product—which can be worn for up to three-and-a-half days—is a wearable and disposable insulin delivery system that incorporates a Nordic nRF52832 SoC. Once EOFlow has been attached and activated, the patient can use a smartphone to control and deliver insulin from the patch. The insulin requirement is calculated based on the user’s current blood glucose level, amount of insulin already in the body and carbohydrate intake.><10 ms) Bluetooth LE connectivity to relay data from the controllers to the headset device but also the processing power to support the controller’s vibration motor data processing requirements. And in the medical arena, EOFlow has introduced a low-cost alternative to the insulin infusion pump in the form of its EOPatch insulin management system. The product—which can be worn for up to three-and-a-half days—is a wearable and disposable insulin delivery system that incorporates a Nordic nRF52832 SoC. Once EOFlow has been attached and activated, the patient can use a smartphone to control and deliver insulin from the patch. The insulin requirement is calculated based on the user’s current blood glucose level, amount of insulin already in the body and carbohydrate intake.

Q Key technologies shaped 2021 and tech trends you foresee in 2022 and key facets behind Nordic’s leadership in the cellular IoT segment?

Nordic sees the short-range wireless sector continuing to exhibit good growth during 2021 and that will likely accelerate into 2022. And cellular IoT, a Low Power Wireless Area Network (LPWAN) technology, has gained good traction during 2021 and looks set to take off in 2022. Nordic is in a strong position to take advantage of this growth with its nRF9160 SiP which integrates a powerful Arm Cortex-M33 dedicated application processor, LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GNSS. The nRF9160 is suitable for global operation and continues to gain certification with network operators across the world. The SiP is a compact cellular IoT solution with class-leading battery life and software support and is perfectly matched to the demands of applications across a wide range of industrial, commercial and consumer sectors.

While Nordic is a relative newcomer to the cellular technology market it has deep expertise in the sector through its Finland engineering group. This expertise has been combined with Nordic’s renowned low power wireless experience to produce the award-winning nRF9160. As a result, Nordic’s cellular IoT revenue is now seeing good growth and has more than trebled to $14 million from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. The revenue is spread across multiple customers with projects ramping up over time. Customers are supplying Nordic-powered cellular IoT products into the logistics/asset tracking sectors, as well as industrial and environmental segments. Cellular IoT will be a driver for the digitalization of society, and the technologies in which Nordic has invested will open new markets both for M2M and M2People applications.