KPN to Launch Dutch Nationwide LoRa Network
Dutch telecom operator KPN is installing a nationwide low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) in the Netherlands using Actility‘s ThingPark Wireless solution. Full coverage throughout the country is expected to be achieved by the end of 2016.
For the deployment, KPN is equipping long-range (LoRa) base stations on the company’s existing 3/4G cellular tower locations. KPN reports that clients can use its LoRa network for such applications as street lighting, smoke alarms, smart parking, asset tracking and utility metering.
With the installation, KPN expects to attract a variety of partners to launch smart-city, automotive, energy, smart building, health-care and smart-home applications. The Actility solution also includes the ThingPark Store, an online marketplace engine for use with IoT sensors, applications and network solutions.
Actility’s LoRa technology will enable KPN to offer low-power, low-overhead and low-cost networks, while also providing two-way communication, localization and dynamic bandwidth assignment, according to Jacob Groote, KPN’s VP of mobile operations. KPN reports that only a few base stations are needed to cover an entire city or country, making the Internet of Things possible at minimal infrastructure investment.
Intel launches New Intel IoT Platform
Intel has released its new Intel IoT Platform reference architecture, as well as new hardware and software products, as part of a comprehensive Internet of Things solution. The platform includes a portfolio of products from Intel, along with software. For instance, it features the new Intel Quark processors for IoT, as well as free and simple operating systems and a comprehensive cloud suite from Intel’s Wind River subsidiary. The processors offer analytics capabilities and are designed to build IoT solutions.
Intel is working with companies such as Levi Strauss and Co. on proof-of-concepts or pilots, to address inventory management at three of its stores. Levi’s proof-of-concept allows its stores to view inventory and replenishment needs, the company reports, making the process of inventory management more effective.
The Intel IoT Platform reference architecture for smart and connected things is focused on enabling the broad Intel ecosystem to simply develop, secure and integrate smart things, the company reports. The platform provides a blueprint for delivering innovations to market faster, by reducing complexity and defining how smart devices will securely connect and share trusted data to the cloud. The first company to announce IoT solutions based on the new platform is SAP, which will develop its IoT enterprise end-to-end solutions using the Intel platform, along with its SAP HANA Cloud Platform.
As part of the offering, the new Intel Quark SE SoC for IoT provides an integrated sensor hub, as well as pattern-matching technology to deliver real-time insights from sensor data. Smart building technology provider Yanzi is using the Intel Quark SE SoC to develop its Yanzi Plug and Motion products. The plug, an energy-monitoring sensor that enables optimized energy use based on space utilization and predictive maintenance in smart buildings, provides analytics and is designed to lower a building’s operating expenses.
Honeywell has demonstrated a prototype of its connected-worker, industrial wearable device that uses Intel Quark technology. The device monitors the environments of mission-critical workers like first-responders, industrial workers and firefighters. The Intel Quark SE SoC for IoT will be available in the first half of 2016.
Wind River is offering free cloud-connected multi-architecture operating systems, known as Rocket and Pulsar Linux, and a comprehensive cloud suite of software-as-a-service (SaaS) products. Altogether, they are dubbed the “things to cloud” solution.
The offering targets developers or those just experimenting who want to create solutions using IoT technology. It also offers users a path to commercialization, Intel says.
Tata Communications to Deploy IoT Network Throughout India
Tata Communications customers are beginning tests of a new IoT network across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The network will rely on low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN), based on Semtech‘s LoRa technology for connected devices.
According to Tata, the network will drive new and unforeseen uses for connected devices in India, allowing those devices to bypass smartphone functionality and usage habits—similar to how payment technology on the phone circumvented the desktop Web in Africa.
Tata’s LoRa network is intended to foster economic and cultural benefits in developing nations like India, by enabling automated flood alarms, pollution monitoring, water-pump management and other sensor-based alerting systems in rural areas of that country.
Tata says its network has a low-power-consumption approach to allow the end device’s battery to last for more than a decade without requiring replacement.
Mentor Graphics Releases End-to-End IoT Solution With Embedded IoT Gateway
Mentor Graphics is releasing an end-to-end Internet of Things solution that includes customizable gateway hardware and software, cloud services and edge devices.
The solution consists of a customizable IoT gateway System Design Kit (SysDK) reference design comprising both hardware and software. The Edge-to-Cloud security software supports secure convergence in the gateway with ARM TrustZone technology.
The company reports that the new solution enables the most demanding IoT requirements, from 8-bit microcontrollers to the latest 64-bit microprocessors, and deployments of 100,000 or more gateways, each supporting dozens of edge devices.
The Mentor Graphics hardware and software gateway platform can be used as is, or both the hardware and software can be customized to meet specific gateway requirements. The Gateway SysDK hardware uses the ARM Cortex-A9 based I MX 6 series applications processor from Freescale Semiconductor. The software features a Linux BSP. To support secure gateway partitions, it also utilizes TrustZone, which enables certificate management and secure remote firmware upgrades. According to Mentor Graphics, customers that leverage the Gateway SysDK can move from concept to production in approximately eight weeks.
BlipTrack Queue Diagnostics Solution Analyzes Key Factors for Queue Development
BlipTrack‘s new Queue Diagnostics solution is designed to analyze all key factors for queue development, such as real-time queue wait times, passenger forecasts versus actual passenger numbers, planned versus realized passenger capacity and production per lane.
Queue Diagnostics offers minute-by-minute real-time information about a user’s current operational status, unexpected changes and the effects of either. It also allows for immediate actions, such as adjusting same-day operational plans and allocating the necessary staff resources. In addition, the accurate wait times can be displayed on screens and mobile devices in order to reduce passenger frustration by creating realistic travel time expectations.
The solution employs Wi-Fi device detections and data from third-party sources, such as people counters and boarding pass scanners, to capture relevant information. The queue measurement data is collected via sensors that detect mobile phones and tablets in “discoverable” mode. When a device passes the sensors, its unique ID number is recorded, encrypted and time-stamped. By re-identifying the device from multiple sensors, Queue Diagnostics can provide queue, travel and dwell times, as well as movement patterns.