The lock that has to answer a scan
A shared bike or shared e-bike carries a smart lock with a 4G module inside. That lock does GNSS and LBS positioning, remote unlock and lock, ride billing, fault reports, and operations dispatch. Bikes sit outdoors 7×24, so the module has to take a wide temperature range, dust, and water. SimtoLink modules for this work are 4G / LTE Cat.1 / NB-IoT, industrial-grade, with UART and SPI. The company supports 500+ enterprise customers and has connected more than 10 million shared bikes.
What the lock uses the radio for
A scan to unlock, a position fix, a fare, and a truck that restocks the street all depend on the module in the lock. These are the jobs an operator actually runs.
Scan to unlock
After a scan, the smart lock takes a cloud remote-unlock order over 4G. The link has to answer in seconds and at low delay, which is what the unlock success rate depends on.
Ride billing and distance
Start time, end time, and distance go up through the module to the billing system. Fares can be by time or by distance, which is how revenue and reconciliation stay in step.
Faults and unexpected movement
A failed lock, a low battery, or unexpected movement raises an alarm through the module, so a technician can get there before the bike is damaged or taken.
Dispatch and where bikes are dropped
Operators see where the bikes are and run dispatch, recovery, and drop-off planning. Turnover goes up because bikes sit where the next ride starts.
Dockless and docked
The same module fits a dockless fleet and a docked one: an electronic fence, a designated return point, or parking that can move with the operating plan.
What a lock on the street asks of the module
- Coverage across a whole city: Bikes are everywhere. Several operators and bands are what hold coverage and roaming handover.
- An answer within seconds: After a scan, the unlock has to come back at low delay. That is the success rate the rider feels.
- Standby measured in months: While the lock waits, the module has to draw little, so the battery lasts for months.
- Sun, rain, and the ride itself: −40°C to 85°C, plus dust and water protection, for weather and for vibration on the road.
- GNSS, the lock, and the MCU: Those three, over TCP, UDP, and MQTT, into the operations platform.
Which radio fits a lock
Unlock speed, how tight the position fix has to be, and how long the battery waits should decide the module. A docked station and a bike left on a corner do not share that budget. The rows below are the usual pairing for a shared-bike lock.
| Job | Radio | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Smart lock (the main job) | 4G LTE Cat.1 | Unlock in time, GNSS, ride billing, a response within seconds |
| Infrequent reports / a backup fix | NB-IoT | Very low power, standby life, unexpected movement, geofences |
| Shared e-bikes | 4G | Live position, ride billing, battery reports, operations dispatch |
| Operations and drop-off planning | 4G | Several operators, across districts, fault alarms, where bikes are dropped |
How SimtoLink fits a shared-bike program
For locks, the modules are industrial designs that hold temperature and vibration, with technical support 7×24. LTE Cat.1 or 4G is the recommendation when cost and unlock speed both matter. NB-IoT can carry the infrequent reports and the unexpected-movement watch. An SDK a lock team can bring up quickly, work with mainstream chip vendors, and a named account manager sit with the module.
A lock design is taken from the requirements and the radio choice, through a prototype on a bike, and into volume. Documentation, the AT command set, an SDK, and sample code come with the module, and supply is set for a production run and for the seasons after it. Shared mobility and greener trips keep adding bikes that need a radio, and the module range will follow that.
How a bike project usually moves
A shared-bike project usually moves in this order:
The choice turns on unlock time (seconds after the scan), position (GNSS and LBS tight enough for a geofence and for illegal-parking control), battery life (standby measured in months), and city coverage (bikes everywhere, so more than one operator). Start with a small fleet and check the unlock rate and the fix before the count goes up. A shared bike should use LTE Cat.1 or 4G so unlock and position stay timely.
The radio in the lock is what scan-to-ride, billing, and street dispatch stand on. SimtoLink has supplied modules to shared-mobility operators.