Apr 14, 2014M2M Spectrum Networks has launched plans for a nationwide machine-to-machine (M2M) communications network that would enable a variety of electronic devices, including RFID systems, to send data to a server without requiring a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. The company is initially setting up its network in Jacksonville, Fla., and expects it to be ready for use in a pilot by June of this year. The firm is partnering with RFID company GlobeRanger, which will provide its iMotion Edgeware platform to link RFID data to the M2M network, says George Brody, GlobeRanger's founder, CEO and president. Although initial piloting is taking place in Florida, Barclay Knapp, M2M's CEO and co-founder, says the network will be installed within 194 cities by the end of 2014.
Funding for the project comes from individual investors and family offices, Knapp says, adding, "We are also approaching selected larger, institutional investors, as well as potential strategic partners." The company has funding in hand for the initial rollout of nearly 200 cities, he reports.
Knapp, whose personal background is in cellular networks, says he conceived of the M2M network as an alternative to a cellular one, to enable the transmission of small pieces of data (as opposed to the large volume of information transferred via cellular connections). Initially, he had considered launching a system that would include GPS sensors in E-ZPass RFID transponders, in order to send not only a vehicle's ID but also its location to a server that would—for a fee to a user—identify data for the vehicle operator, such as parking details specific to that location. However, he says, he discovered several connectivity obstacles. RFID would not work, he explains, since RFID readers have not been installed all over cities, and he also learned that a connection with a cellular carrier would cost a monthly fee of about $8 per device, which was twice the cost for the service he wanted to charge customers. Therefore, he began considering a different type of network that could send data to radios installed on towers. "I decided to build my own network," he states.
M2M Spectrum Networks will deploy three different sizes of what Knapp calls "cognitive radios" that send and receive data via 800, 900 or 200 MHz signals. M2M's system is designed to be used with data culled from a variety of devices, not exclusively RFID. In fact, he expects the largest usage to come from 2G devices (predecessors to 3G- and 4G-capable devices) that are being decommissioned by cellular carriers. GlobeRanger's software will be used exclusively at this point for RFID systems, but not for other technologies, such as 2G.
The largest version of the cognitive radio acts as the network's gateway, receives signals from M2M Spectrum's two other types of radios, and forwards the collected data to servers via the Internet. The device, the size of a traditional stereo receiver, can transmit a signal up to about 35 miles. The gateway radio could be installed at locations such as on cell towers, while a midsize cognitive radio, about the size of two stacked cell phones, could be mounted within a building indoors, or on a post or utility pole outdoors, and transmit up to five miles. The smallest radio, about half the size of a credit card, has a transmission range of a half-mile and can be connected to an electronic device, such as an RFID reader, or a phone or computer that collects RFID data from that device via GlobeRanger's iMotion middleware. All three types of radios form a mesh network so that cognitive radios in more remote locations can pass data from one radio to another until it reaches a gateway device. The cognitive radios are made by Raveon.
Some potential users, Brody says, would include GlobeRanger's existing customers that have RFID systems in place at multiple locations, but that do not have a simple source of connectivity that would link data from the multiple locations or provide location data when a tagged item was beyond the reach of the readers.
For example, a company that tags assets at an oil field may currently use a cellular connection to forward RFID data from GlobeRanger's iMotion Edge Controller software to a server, or to store data to be uploaded, if the Edge Controller has no Internet connection. In this case, the company could connect the smallest M2M Spectrum cognitive radio to an onsite computer via an Ethernet connection, in order to transmit the data back to a server via the M2M Spectrum network.
The Edgeware platform will interpret data and forward it to the M2M network, and the company also intends to publish application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) to allow programmers to program their own configurations.
If a vehicle were moving tagged items from one site to another, instead of dropping out of the system entirely, an RFID reader could also be installed on a vehicle and send data back while it is en route via M2M Spectrum's midsize and gateway cognitive radios installed on towers and utility poles, spaced two miles apart or more. The reader's iMotion middleware would feed its data to a computer connected via an Ethernet cable to an M2M Spectrum radio that would then forward that data to a server.
In the long run, Knapp envisions the system being used ubiquitously as part of the M2M management of things, with radios even receiving data related to the reads of pet transponders. However, he says, RFID devices will initially represent only a small percentage of the devices using the network.
Knapp intends to begin working with smaller clients (end users), though he expects large companies to start piloting the technology in the future. GlobeRanger and M2M Spectrum Networks have yet to identify which GlobeRanger customer will trial the technology first.
M2M Spectrum Networks has selected Crown Castle for its tower-leasing and site-development services. Once the system is up and running, users would be billed according to a percentage of the application's determined value. Thus, smaller applications may cost less than larger ones, Knapp explains, though the network would not charge per tag or reader used.
