When the function of the mobile phone becomes more and more complicated, every millimeter space in the machine becomes very important, and the SIM card slot which takes up more space has been a major problem for the handset manufacturers. Recently, the chip design company ARM published iSIM technology, Add the SIM card to the device's SoC processing chip, so that the mobile phone processing chip and SIM card will be combined in the same chip, with the current rising eSIM contend.
ARM said that the iSIM's own SIM card area will be less than 1 square millimeter, which is much smaller than the current Nano SIM standard size of 12.3 x 8.8mm and does not require a SIM card slot, in addition to saving space, helping to reduce Costs ARM points out that the new technology eliminates the need for carriers to pay dozens of cents per card, at a fraction of the cost for handset makers.
In the past, eSIM needed to occupy one chip on the motherboard, while ARM's iSIM technology combined the SIM card with the SoC processor, saving more space inside the device than eSIM, which ARM said does not produce its own chips, Partners to provide the design, is expected before the end of this year there will be finished products available.
iSIM new technology will be first applied to small IoT devices such as wireless sensors that require a cellular network connection, etc. With the rapid development of smart home technology in recent years, ARM's new technology will further reduce the cost of related products, and iSIM technology Promoted to other products.
In the design, iSIM can even Modem, processor and SIM at the same time on a chip
However, it remains unclear whether telecom service providers will work with iSIM technology because of the growing use of eSIM in mobile phones, tablet computers and other small personal devices such as Google Pixel 2 and Apple Watch series 3 LTE version.
ARM is still optimistic about iSIM's development prospects, after all, telecom service providers are happy to see more IoT devices can connect to their network.
