Low-power modules simplify IoT deployment

Article By : Telit

IoT enablers Telit IoT Portal connectivity management dashboarding tool and the xE866 data communication module aim to alleviate IoT deployment.

As networks and technology evolve, future-proof designs transition from desirable to essential for businesses that need scalable solutions for global, mass production. At the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain, Telit presented two of its end-to-end IoT solutions, the Telit IoT Portal connectivity management dashboarding tool and the xE866 data communication module.

Telit data communication module

The xE866 is a single LGA form factor module that offers multiple Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) connectivity options as well as Wireless Personal Area Networking (PAN) short range wireless technologies and Wireless Wide Local Area network (WLAN).

Telit devises IoT-based business solutions to support various “IoT standards like LoRa, NBIoT, Wi-Fi, in combination with our Telit IoT Platforms and IoT Connectivity, we are establishing the xE866 as the go-to data communication module for applications in the most varied environments,” stated Ronen Ben-Hamou, Telit Executive Vice President of Products and Solutions.

IoT solutions, many of which are battery-dependent, are deployed in various environments that demand different technologies, such as smart buildings and cities, tracking and telematics, healthcare and remote monitoring, including smart meters in the utilities sector. The xE866 modules enable companies to add any number of popular low power wireless connection to their IoT innovation, without the need to modify their designs to accommodate each new standard—all while extending the battery life of devices. With this approach, an application designed for use in an environment that is best suited for the licensed spectrum 3GPP standard Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) could easily be deployed in another environment better suited for unlicensed band proprietary LoRaWAN, with little to no impact.

“Smart metering, for example, often requires a single meter control board and application software that can easily be used to support utilities needing a mix of coverage types,” Ben-Hamou continued.

The ultra-compact data communication module is already well adopted in the market with long-standing GE866 2G/GPRS and UE866 3G/UMTS series, now includes LTE Cat 1, NB-IoT, LoRa in combination with BLE and Wi-Fi models—all with a common AT command set and additional unique features. The xE866 family form factor follows a nested scalability concept with models from 15mm x 19mm to 15mm x 25mm respecting pin out compatibility.

The agnostic flexibility of the Telit xE866 Single Form Factor LPWAN, WLAN and WPAN modules include:

• LE866: Smallest LTE Cat 1 module with multiple regional variants for worldwide deployment.
• ME866: Natural evolution to LTE Cat M1 in the Telit miniaturised xE866 family.
• NE866: NB-IoT module with dual band LTE FDD B8 and B20 and an optional on-board Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC).
• RE866: Innovative combination of BLE 5, NFC and LoRa enables remote management/configuration via PC/mobile.
• WE866: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 | b/g/n companion module to Telit 3G to LTE modules offers the fastest path to adding 2.4 GHz wireless capability to product.

Telit IoT Portal expansion

Meanwhile, Telit has also expanded the capabilities of its connectivity management dashboarding tools via the Telit IoT Portal. The expanded dashboarding features give users access-at-a-glance to variables critical to the connectivity management of any IoT deployment, including network health, location information and data consumption. Telit’s Connectivity Management capabilities let users manage a connection life cycle, analyse connection quality and set all provisioning and data plan parameters.

 

Figure 1: Telit’s connectivity dashboard.
 

The new dashboarding tools feature built-in graphing and visualisation fed by real-time data from individual SIMs or an entire IoT deployment. As a result, users gain real-time intelligence and analytics on various aspects of global deployments, including deployment status, usage trends, location, roaming and unusually high data volume SIM cards. The main connectivity dashboard user benefits include:

• Gain at-a-glance technical and business intelligence
• Take advantage of further investigation on a per-SIM basis
• Stay informed with real-time data feeds

All connectivity management tools, including the new dashboarding functions, can be accessed from the Telit IoT Portal, a pay-as-you-go web-based IoT subscription service. The do-it-yourself cloud service enables instant access to all the necessary tools and resources for any IoT deployment.

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