Sep 22, 2017The following are news announcements made during the past week:
PRESS RELEASE:
Asavie, MultiTech Provide Device-to-Cloud Connectivity for Security Services
Asavie, the provider of next-generation enterprise mobility management and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity solutions has announced that it has been chosen by Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. to provide secure IoT connectivity management for its new suite of devices and corresponding services designed to empower enterprise customers by delivering end-to-end security for IoT applications.
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of M2M and IoT communication devices and technology has partnered with Asavie to incorporate secure private networking packaged as a service within its IoT devices. This service is built on the Asavie PassBridge platform which offers organizations secure, seamless, edge- to-cloud connectivity off the public Internet. Pairing Asavie with MultiTech hardware, eliminates the guesswork for enterprises securing their networks. The combined offering enables organizations to protect data collection and transmission from interference, tampering and breach, even on low-power networks, while scaling cloud-based applications over a secure cellular backhaul.
Welcoming the announcement, Lars Jerkland, VP OEM with Asavie, said, "Together, Asavie and MultiTech are eliminating the guesswork for businesses looking to secure their IoT projects. By addressing the secure network connectivity and integration challenges from edge devices to the cloud we are providing companies with a flexible and affordable means of exploiting industrial IoT opportunities across many market sectors."
"Together with Asavie we are committed to removing friction from the IoT adoption process for our customers," said Derek Wallace, Director of Product Management for MultiTech. "We developed these services based on customer feedback in order to address real needs in the market, and we're looking forward to continuing our history of innovation and customer service in conjunction with Asavie, by developing new ways to improve their IoT experience."
PRESS RELEASE:
PureIntegration, Actility Develop LoRaWAN-Based/RDK-B System for Cable Industry to Expand IoT Networks
pureIntegration, the solution integration experts that deliver extraordinary value, and Actility, the industry leader in IoT network enablers and innovator behind the ThingPark LPWAN platform, has announced that on the behalf of cable industry clients they have achieved commercial integration of a LoRaWAN-based solution on the RDK-B software platform. The solution will be demonstrated this week at the Mobile World Congress Americas conference in the Actility booth N.701.
The LoRaWAN specification, from the LoRa Alliance, is a leading global, open standard Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) solution for Internet of Things and Smart City initiatives. It is intended to enable battery operated sensors and devices to communicate updates at very low data rates over long ranges and periods of time, which is ideal for many IoT applications.
RDK-B is the cable industry's Reference Design Kit, a software platform specifically for broadband services. The platform is used by several operators and is a core element for delivering services. As operators move to offer IoT and Smart City services, they are in need of enablers to integrate LPWAN solutions.
"We are excited to work with Actility and our cable clients to deliver innovative, new solutions," says Chris Kocks, Director of pureIntegration's IoT Practice. "Our joint efforts will accelerate high-density network deployments by the operators, enabling them to seize a market leadership role in IoT services. The LoRaWAN specification is one of several wireless technologies we are working with to deliver IoT and Smart City solutions," says Kocks.
He adds, "Regional and global IoT solutions require hybrid wireless network options in many cases. The future will involve integrating low-power solutions on the same platform with low-latency high-data applications. It might also include coordination with 5G cellular or satellite networks depending upon the use case or best path for communication in a specific region of the world."
Actility CEO Mike Mulica comments: "Collaborations like this clearly demonstrate how industrial IoT has now moved into a stage of widespread deployment to solve real problems and deliver concrete benefits. This high-density network solution will be a game changer for operators and connected communities, thanks to its dramatic reduction in the TCO of an IoT solution. We're very excited to be working with pureIntegration to accelerate the deployment of seamless IoT networks that will let our customers focus on delivering business impact with solutions for end users."
LoRa technology is a two-way wireless RF platform that provides unprecedented range, battery life, penetrability and connectivity to effectively enable LPWANs for IoT applications. LoRa-based LPWANs and compatible IoT products have been deployed by LoRa Alliance partners worldwide for next-generation agriculture monitoring, public safety, building and infrastructure management, smart cities, asset tracking, and more. Users can actively collaborate on the LoRa Community and to learn more about LoRa technology, visit Semtech.com/IoT.
PRESS RELEASE:
Black Box Expands IoT Services Portfolio
Black Box (NASDAQ:BBOX), The Trusted Digital Partner for enterprises across the globe, has announced an expansion of its services portfolio. The company's robust services portfolio of end-to-end solutions for IoT, digital retail and smart offices, enables enterprises of all sizes and across all industries to accelerate digital transformation to improve operational efficiency, revenue, customer experience, and product innovation.
The digital edge is a key component of digital transformation. It is where people and devices meet, where users interact, data is created, and where content and applications are shared. Today, with almost 500,000 devices added each hour, the number and diversity of connections is driving complexity at the edge. This complexity is overwhelming networks, computing, and IT staff resources – creating challenges with user experience, connectivity, and security.
Black Box's solutions and unique partnerships resolve these challenges. Leveraging communication, networking and intelligent end-point technologies, Black Box engineers the right IT architecture to support engagement and processing at the digital edge – and does it at scale. With extensive highly trained technicians in staging points across the world, Black Box ensures its clients remain competitive whether they are upgrading a single location or hundreds of locations overnight. Customers gain a highly personalized consistent user experience, mobile-first capacity, and built-in security – all with best-in-class service level agreements.
"With forty years of experience connecting people and devices, and more than fifteen years deploying at the digital edge, we provide industry-specific end-to-end solutions across nine markets," states E.C. Sykes, President and CEO of Black Box. "Our expertise, global deployment capabilities and highly-rated managed services, allows our customers to scale their digital transformation in a way no other technology provider can. We are The Trusted Digital Partner."
Black Box has a strong track record of success deploying at the intelligent digital edge, including: deploying location-enabled wireless in 2,000 stores at a home improvement chain to drive new customer shopping experiences, deploying up to 100 stores per night; and designing a pervasive medical-grade mobile infrastructure to enable bedside medication verification at a children's hospital—leading to compliance well above the industry norm
PRESS RELEASE:
Small Cell Forum, Telecommunications Industry Association Partner to Accelerate Smart Cities, Enterprise Connectivity
Small Cell Forum (SCF), the telecoms organization driving universal cellular coverage, and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech connectivity networks, has announced a far-reaching alliance to address two of the most important growth areas in connectivity – smart communities and smart buildings.
The two organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on technical, commercial and regulatory solutions. They will share existing work and expertise and develop solutions that simplify and accelerate deployment of dense networks and in-building connectivity. This effort will help make smart communities a reality everywhere and drive advanced connectivity into every enterprise building.
David Orloff, Chair of SCF, said, "Every enterprise and community needs to be 'smart' to provide the best services and take advantage of the Internet of Things and other developing technologies. But this presents complex challenges which no one organization can fully address. TIA and SCF share many of the same goals and we expect this alliance to lead to significant results, especially in advancing our drive towards 5G."
Brenda Boehm, Chief Strategy Officer of TIA said, "Industry collaboration is clearly needed to realize the full potential of smart communities, whether they take the form of buildings, campuses or entire cities. There are enormous opportunities to drive efficiencies, improve operational effectiveness, deliver faster and safer transportation, and more. Working together, we will be well positioned to accelerate the development and deployment of critical micro-wireless 5G technology in the community ecosystem."
At SCF's first-ever Partners' Day, the two organizations discussed the priority areas where combined efforts can lead to meaningful progress. From that came several specific goals, including: simplified regulatory regimes, especially in cities; new approaches to enterprise deployment, including neutral host; common deployment frameworks that meet the needs of all stakeholders; and, new architectures, such as virtualization, to enable flexible, efficient networks.
As part of its "Transforming the Network" strategic initiative, TIA previously identified smart communities and smart buildings as critical areas of focus. These dovetail with SCF's two major programs for 2017: Hyperdense Networks – including a focus on smart cities; and, the Digitized Enterprise. The common factor is that densification will bring high quality connectivity to every citizen and business, and enable a wide range of new services.
To drive progress in these areas, the partners will share technical and commercial solutions, identifying common ground and avoiding duplication. The organizations have also agreed to explore opportunities for technical collaboration, particularly in the following areas: process for efficient implementation of small cells across a campus or city, in-building infrastructure and wiring for smart enterprises, and creation of a smart building 'blueprint' that can be used across the real estate market.
PRESS RELEASE:
WiSilica Health-Care IoT and Smart Lighting Solutions Support Bluetooth Mesh-Networking Standard
WiSilica, Inc., a leading Enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) platform company, has announced its support for the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) mesh networking standard for emerging applications in building automation, sensor networks and asset tracking. WiSilica's Bluetooth Mesh solutions include all the required components to deliver a complete secure lighting and sensor connectivity platform for healthcare IoT and smart lighting applications.
Bluetooth Mesh, is the new standard designed for smart homes, public and manufacturing facilities. An extension of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol, WiSilica's first products supporting the Bluetooth Mesh specification are available now. WiSilica's Bluetooth Mesh solutions uniquely meets the reliability, scalability and security requirements in healthcare IoT and smart lighting markets that demand true industrial-grade solutions, proven global interoperability, and based on trusted Bluetooth technology.
The arrival of the Bluetooth SIG's Mesh technology is a significant milestone in standardization and market adoption. It will help bring interoperability to Bluetooth devices and new use cases including lighting, indoor positioning and asset tracking for the Internet of Things. Bluetooth Mesh support in smart lighting offers a range of expanded features, including real-time location sensing. This is especially critical for the healthcare industry, where patient and asset tracking, workflow optimization and hand hygiene compliance can all be supported under a unified energy management solution.
WiSilica's high-efficiency cloud-to-device IoT Platform powered by Bluetooth Mesh is designed to allow high-density deployments of IoT devices connected over BLE. In addition, WiSilica's platform supports Bluetooth 5 for extended range and higher throughput, providing customers with a complete full stack solution on a standard-based mesh network. WiSilica Bluetooth Mesh provides IoT devices with secure, full-mesh connectivity between devices.
"As a Bluetooth SIG associate member, WiSilica is excited to support the organization's push to increase the effective range and reliability of Bluetooth mesh," said Suresh Singamsetty, founder and CEO of WiSilica. "Our years of proven experience and customer success can provide our customers the opportunity to rapidly develop differentiating product features and performance enhancements. Our standard-based approach in combining a full-stack solution for location sensing and control means that new untapped markets, such as healthcare and smart lighting, can now leverage ever-present mobile devices to easily control and monitor their systems."
WiSilica's platform of IoT products are available as software and hardware components to enable end-products to be designed and manufactured with very short time-to-market. WiSilica's IoT module provides full stack from mesh networking to model layer application firmware that supports external interfaces including digital GPIO, PWM and analog inputs, enabling products from smart home appliances to industrial control to be designed very quickly.
PRESS RELEASE:
Software AG Intros IoT Technology Portfolio for Cloud-based IoT Platform Services
Software AG (Frankfurt TecDAX: SOW) has continued its Internet of Things innovation drive with the launch of an extended Cumulocity IoT technology portfolio for cloud-based IoT platform services enablement. Cumulocity IoT will address today's market demand for easy, fast, and scalable IoT solutions to support enterprises of all sizes, regardless of the level of sophistication of their IoT requirements.
Recent market research shows that whereas nearly 90 percent of executives surveyed feel the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is critical to their companies' success, only 16 percent have a comprehensive IIoT roadmap. The new Cumulocity IoT portfolio addresses this gap by offering self-service IoT solutions to enable organizations to develop their own IoT applications and solutions. Supporting customers, partners and suppliers through innovative, collaborative digital business models and "smart" IoT products and services is the driving force behind Software AG's portfolio strategy.
The Cumulocity IoT portfolio operates at the edge, in the cloud or on premise – giving total customer freedom and choice in designing, building, deploying and upgrading enterprise IoT platform, solutions and services. It includes a range of pre-packaged solutions such as Condition Monitoring, Predictive Maintenance and Track & Trace, as well as quick and easy device and sensor management, thus bringing the worlds of IT and operational technology (OT) together. This freedom of choice allows for faster IoT innovation and adoption at a customer driven pace: from streamlining and efficiency of enterprise production processes – through total customer interaction and increased retention – by developing digital business models and the smart products and services demanded by today's digital markets.
Cumulocity IoT brings together the power of Software AG's Digital Business Platform and the original Cumulocity products portfolio into a single, comprehensive and leading IoT portfolio. The Cumulocity IoT portfolio will take full advantage of Software AG's industry-leading integration, business process, advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities, based on its heritage in enterprise middleware platform leadership.
Wolfram Jost, Chief Technology Officer, Software AG, noted: "Cumulocity IoT is unique in that it provides enterprises with the ability to very quickly start limited scale, cloud-based IoT projects and, as their sophistication grows, be confident to build IoT platform and IoT services that will grow effortlessly with them. Enterprises can develop and implement IoT services at the optimal balance between risk and ambition, at their pace, at their choice. Cumulocity IoT is already in use by leading technology companies like Deutsche Telekom, Gardner Denver, Octo Telematics, NTT Communication, Reliance Group, and many more. This gives us a head start in our ambition to become a leading Technology provider in the IoT domain."
Jost continued: "We recently announced a joint venture in the IoT area which fully underlines our commitment to this growing market. The joint venture called ADAMOS is a major IoT collaborative alliance with the leading manufacturing enterprises Dürr, Zeiss, DMG Mori and ASM PT. The purpose of this IoT alliance is to establish global industry standards for the manufacturing sector using Software AG's Cumulocity IoT as the technology foundation. ADAMOS partners and their customers will be able to leverage a comprehensive IoT platform and services at a fraction of the cost of developing their own solutions in a significantly shorter period of time."
PRESS RELEASE:
Taoglas Launches RF Filter Division for IoT, Mobile Applications
Taoglas, a leading provider of IoT and M2M antenna products, has announced at Mobile World Congress Americas that it is launching a new RF Filter division specifically developed for Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile applications. Taoglas is utilizing its deep understanding of the RF component design and manufacturing process to provide high-quality, small-form-factor, cost-effective and easy-to-implement RF filters.
The new Filter division will feature a range of off-the-shelf filters for a variety of applications, including filters for emerging license-free bands used for IoT, L1/L2 and L1/L5 GNSS applications. Taoglas can also work with customers to develop custom filter solutions.
"Today's mobile and IoT applications require high-performance RF filters, in a form factor and cost that makes sense for our customers," said Dermot O'Shea, co-CEO at Taoglas. "We've seen the frustrations our own engineers have had in quickly sourcing reliable components for active antenna and electronic designs. Taoglas is eliminating that frustration with its own filter division, applying the same principles for success that we've demonstrated with our antenna business."
The filters are manufactured in Taoglas' purpose-built production facilities in Taiwan, and shipped immediately anywhere worldwide. Support is available from any Taoglas location globally. Filters are available through regular Taoglas sales and distribution channels.