On-Ramp Wireless, a San Diego-based provider of long-range, low-power communication technology for machine-to-machine (M2M) systems, has changed its name to Ingenu as part of a rebranding process that also includes launching a network of access points across the United States. The company’s Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA) technology is so named because it enables thousands of devices to share a single radio channel. It was purpose-built for transmitting data over a wide area while consuming low power.
RPMA employs a proprietary RF modulation scheme and transmits data over the 2.4 GHz band. An end node, integrated with a sensor via a serial peripheral interface, can transmit up to 100 kilobytes of data per day to access points located at an average maximum distance of 25 miles (this varies widely based on geography and the presence of structures that may block the RF signal—in some cases, nodes can be read from up to 50 miles away).
In the past, Ingenu’s clients have deployed the company’s technology within private networks, with each client installing access points for its own use. For example, utilities use RPMA to enable smart metering programs, and companies in the oil and gas industry utilize the technology to transmit data from sensors attached to extraction and storage equipment, as well as pipelines, in order to monitor flow rates and identify maintenance problems. But by building out a nationwide infrastructure of access points and selling public network access on a per-device basis, Ingenu is making its technology accessible to businesses that want to deploy a system across a very wide geography or at multiple locations, explains Landon Garner, Ingenu’s chief marketing officer.
Both types of customers—those that build their own private networks and those that use the Ingenu public network—need to incorporate Ingenu-compliant radios into their smart meters, sensors or other devices, in order to communicate with Ingenu access points. Ingenu sells an RPMA wireless radio module, known as a microNode, for this very purpose. The company also provides a reference platform, called rACM, that allows a third party to create an Ingenu-compliant radio. This means customers will need to either have the microNode radios integrated into their own devices, or seek out a third party that provides compliant radios or devices with the radio integrated.
A private network customer must develop or purchase software from a third party to provision and manage these devices, Garner explains. But Ingenu will provide public network users with access to its device-provisioning and -management platform. “With a public network,” he says, “we will give those tools to the customer. Connectivity, the depth of coverage, etc., is all ensured through Ingenu. And if there is a network outage, we will handle that.”
In either a private or public network, the end user must acquire or develop application software from a third party or develop it internally.
For a prospective customer, choosing between a private or public network comes down to whether it needs to operate multiple networks at multiple locations, in which case the public network would be the obvious choice. On the other hand, if a company or organization needs to maintain complete control of the network and its devices, or prefers to augment Ingenu’s integrated security measures—which comply with a number of security standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-53 for industrial control systems—with additional security measures, a private network is the way to go. Otherwise, Garner explains, the deciding factor may be whether it wants to make a bigger capital or operational expenditure.
Meterlinq, an Ingenu reseller and a provider of smart metering systems for gas and electric utilities, has already launched a public network in Bari, Italy, where a national regulation, passed in 2008, requires that all gas meters be capable of remote management by 2020. Meterlinq has worked with gas utility providers to retrofit 1,000 gas meters with Ingenu RPMA modules to date, and plans to add 10,000 more by the middle of next year, according to Massimo Cesaro, Meterlinq’s CTO. The longer-term vision, he says, is to support many types of smart meters on the public network, including water and electricity meters, across Italy.
In the United States, Ingenu is currently building out an infrastructure of access points in Phoenix and Dallas, where it will roll out the public network (or Machine Network, as the company is branding it) in January 2016. The firm plans to finish building out the network of public access points—starting with the southern third of the United States and covering all major metropolitan areas—by the end of 2017. Ingenu says the work is being made possible through “significant capital investment,” though it has not disclosed the sources of that funding, nor has it shared the amount of funding it received.
Ingenu is one of many M2M communication technology providers working to gain market share as cellular network providers begin phasing out support for 2G networks. Other technologies vying to provide long-range, low-power communication systems that transmit small packets of data on an ongoing basis from remotely or widely deployed sensors include:
• Narrow Band Long-Term Evolution (NB-LTE) technology, a variant of LTE cellular technology optimized to meet the performance requirements of IoT nodes and currently being standardized
• LoRa technology, developed jointly by IBM and Semtech
• The SigFox protocol, developed by the eponymously named French firm
• The Weightless protocol, developed by Chinese company Neul
Among these competing technologies, there are differences in transmission range, RF frequency, data packet size, the number of end points supported by each access point, network topology, and uplink and downlink data rates. Ingenu and SigFox support the longest read ranges—SigFox claims its nodes can be read from up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away, provided there is an open line-of-sight. Ingenu says its nodes can communicate over a distance of 500 kilometers (311 miles) with an open light-of-sight.
But NB-LTE technology supports higher data rates than any of the other technologies. NB-LTE offers the advantage of leveraging an existing global network of cellular antennas, whereas the infrastructures needed to support the other technologies are still being built out in various countries. Intel recently announced its plans to produce an NB-LTE chipset, while Nokia and Ericsson announced plans to support the standard on their respective networks.
But other telecom players, including Bouygues Telecom (France), SingTel and Swisscom, are developing LoRa networks. Last week, French telecom company Orange announced its plans to build an IoT network across France, using the LoRa protocol.