Summary of NORDIC THINGY:91 CELLULAR IOT PROTOTYPING KIT
Nordic Semiconductor’s Thingy:91 is a multi-sensor cellular IoT prototyping kit built around the nRF9160 SiP, supporting LTE-M, NB-IoT, GPS, and Bluetooth Low Energy, with many on-board sensors, a pre-loaded asset-tracking application, reprogrammable firmware, and Arm TrustZone-based security.
Parts used in the Nordic Thingy:91:
- nRF9160 system-in-package (SiP)
- Arm Cortex-M33 application processor (within nRF9160)
- LTE-M radio modem (within nRF9160)
- NB-IoT radio modem (within nRF9160)
- GPS receiver/system (within nRF9160)
- Full front-end RF system (integrated in nRF9160)
- Power management system (integrated in nRF9160)
- On-board multi-sensor array (various sensors for asset tracking and monitoring)
- Bluetooth Low Energy radio
- Pre-loaded asset-tracking application (firmware)
Nordic Semiconductor’s multi-sensor kit supports LTE-M, NB-IoT, GPS, and Bluetooth low energy
Nordic Semiconductor’s Nordic Thingy:91 multi-sensor prototyping kit is ideal for cellular IoT projects using the nRF9160 system-in-package (SiP). The kit is equipped with a diverse collection of sensors and interfaces that make it highly adaptable to rapid prototyping and getting a user’s proof-of-concept off the ground quickly.

The Nordic Thingy:91 comes with a pre-loaded, feature-rich asset-tracking application that makes use of the on-kit sensors. LTE-M and GPS work from the device to the cloud and provides users with a working out-of-the-box asset-tracking and monitoring experience with the Nordic Thingy:91. The kit can be reprogrammed with the user’s dedicated application.
The Nordic Thingy:91 is built around the nRF9160 SiP. The nRF9160 has a separate application/radio modem architecture to aid development simplicity and the overall performance. The SiP incorporates the Arm® Cortex®-M33 as a dedicated application processor which is used solely for powerful application processing. The dedicated radio system can support LTE-M, NB-IoT, and GPS technologies for precise positioning. The nRF9160 SiP integrates a full front-end RF system with a complete power management system.
Security is critically important in IoT. The nRF9160 takes advantage of Cortex-M architectures by using Arm TrustZone® for secure boot and secure execution within the device. This technology has been the mainstay of secure operation in Cortex-A devices and is used to build secure operation in smartphones and tablets.
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- What wireless technologies does the Nordic Thingy:91 support?
The article states it supports LTE-M, NB-IoT, GPS, and Bluetooth Low Energy. - Which SiP is the Nordic Thingy:91 built around?
It is built around the nRF9160 system-in-package. - Does the Nordic Thingy:91 include a pre-loaded application?
Yes, it comes with a pre-loaded asset-tracking application. - Can the Nordic Thingy:91 be reprogrammed with a custom application?
Yes, the kit can be reprogrammed with the user's dedicated application. - What processor core does the nRF9160 use for application processing?
The nRF9160 uses an Arm Cortex-M33 as a dedicated application processor. - How does the nRF9160 help with secure operation?
It uses Arm TrustZone for secure boot and secure execution within the device. - Does the nRF9160 include power management and RF front-end?
Yes, the SiP integrates a full front-end RF system and a complete power management system. - Is GPS supported for precise positioning on the Thingy:91?
Yes, GPS is supported for precise positioning.
