Presented here are recent news announcements regarding the following organizations: A2B Tracking, Avnet, the Filipino Dept. of Transportation, Fresenius Kabi, IOTech, Kit Check, the LoRa Alliance, Nordic Semiconductor, RSA, STMicroelectronics, and the UWB Alliance.
Fresenius Kabi, Kit Check Collaborate on RFID Inventory-Management Solution
Fresenius Kabi and Kit Check have entered into an agreement under which Kit Check’s inventory-management solution will be able to read Fresenius Kabi’s +RFID medication line. The companies say the collaboration will help to foster medication safety and quality patient care in the healthcare sector. Kit Check’s medication-management solutions enable hospital pharmacists to track drugs throughout their facilities, and to better handle expired drugs and recalls. Kit Check’s solution is intended to increase medication visibility in the drug supply chain, as well as provide downstream visibility for pharmacies.
Fresenius Kabi launched its first +RFID medications in September of this year. The medicines contain smart labels with embedded RFID tags that provide data to help hospitals identify, locate and manage inventory. Both companies will work with the Auburn University RFID Lab‘s ARC Program to conduct testing for tag performance and quality. As part of the collaboration, the Kit Check system will be able to read +RFID drugs, beginning with the anesthetic Diprivan (propofol), allowing customers to access information for product-tracking purposes.
“Our partnership with Kit Check will allow hospital pharmacists to have increased visibility into how +RFID medications are being used within their institutions, which will enable them to create a safer, more efficient environment for patients and providers,” said John Ducker, the president and CEO of Fresenius Kabi USA, in a prepared statement. “Fresenius Kabi is committed to supporting such care environments and we are excited to work with another company that shares these values and is working toward a streamlined pharmaceutical supply chain.”
“We are delighted to be partnering with Fresenius Kabi as part of our ongoing mission to increase interoperability across the pharmaceutical supply chain,” said Kevin MacDonald, Kit Check’s CEO and co-founder, in the prepared statement. “By tracking the company’s +RFID medications and storing the information in our cloud-based registry, we are reaffirming our commitment to offering the highest level of quality, efficiency and safety through solutions that streamline operations, reduce risk and protect patients, providers and personnel.”
LoRa Alliance Intros Zero-Touch Device Provisioning for Internet of Things
The LoRa Alliance, an association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for Internet of Things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), has introduced its LoRaWAN Device Identification QR Codes for Automated Onboarding, intended to simplify and accelerate LoRaWAN network management. These new QR codes carry the identification information required to add devices to a network.
The QR codes enable zero-touch onboarding by facilitating network acceptance of LoRaWAN devices via automated information exchange. They can be printed on devices and contain all of the required device and vendor information, preformatted to ensure standardized input into a vendor’s network-management system. The codes use industry-accepted norms for information processing, allowing members to implement a secure and interoperable method for onboarding a device via optical reading.
“One of the LoRa Alliance’s key goals is to simplify LoRaWAN deployments,” said Donna Moore, the organization’s CEO and chairwoman, in a prepared statement. “Implementing QR code-based network management offers tremendous advantages by automating a previously manual process. These benefits build on our recent enhancements of the LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specification, which now provides every element needed for easy development, certification testing and deployment of LoRaWAN. This commitment to ease of use is a strategic goal of the LoRa Alliance and is key to achieving massive IoT globally.”
“As the LoRaWAN ecosystem grows, the alliance is constantly working to identify and implement approaches to accelerate deployments,” added Alper Yegin, the vice-chair of the LoRa Alliance’s Board of Directors and the chair of its Technical Committee, in the prepared statement. “As massive IoT is ramping up and the number of IoT devices being deployed accelerates, we identified a clear need to streamline the device provisioning process to replace the existing manual one. The Technical Committee has developed the QR code approach to support the continued growth of LoRaWAN and the market need for true zero touch deployments.”
Avnet Offers BLE-IoT Cellular Module with Nordic Semiconductor Tech
Avnet has expanded its Internet of Things product line with the launch of its AVT9152 module, designed for a range of embedded applications requiring cellular connectivity, low power consumption and minimal component size. The module utilizes technology from Nordic Semiconductor to provide engineers and developers with NB-IoT/LTE-M, GPS and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless connectivity.
The module supports a variety of applications, including beacons for COVID-19 contact tracing, logistics and asset tracking, vending machines, kiosk terminals, medical devices and smart building automation, all of which require wireless connectivity and power efficiency. The device leverages Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160 low-power system-in-package (SiP) and nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2/BLE multiprotocol system-on-chip (SoC). The nRF52840 SoC features a 64 MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex M4 processor with a floating point unit that, alongside the nRF9160 SiP’s Arm Cortex-M33 processor, ensures the module can offer sufficient computational power to support complex, processor-intensive IoT applications.
The AVT9152 Evaluation Kit facilitates IoT application development with a cloud-connection platform via Avnet’s IoTConnect Platform. It includes Avnet’s global eUICC SIM with 50 MB and a three-month trial service. The evaluation kit is available globally and features a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope, as well as pressure, temperature, relative humidity, ambient light and motion passive infrared sensors.
“To tap the true potential of IoT, engineers must be able to minimize the size and power usage of their devices without compromising on functionality,” said Andy Wong, Avnet Asia’s senior VP of design and solutions services, in a prepared statement. “Our new module takes advantage of some of the industry’s best SiP and SoC technology from Nordic Semiconductor to strike that balance for engineers. The AVT9152 is ideal for IoT applications when low power and small size are at a premium and is the latest addition to Avnet’s robust technology ecosystem.”
IOTech, RSA Partner on Security-Monitoring Software
Edge software company IOTech is partnering with security company RSA to add IoT security monitoring technology to its Edge Xpert software platform, a commercial version of EdgeX Foundry, the company’s ecosystem-enabled open platform for the IoT edge. RSA’s IoT Security Monitor is designed to help companies manage their digital risk, with IoT gateways running EdgeX implementations.
“We’re delighted to be collaborating with RSA. IoT security represents an important area that has not been adequately addressed up to this point,” said Keith Steele, IOTech’s CEO, in a prepared statement. “The addition of RSA IoT Security Monitor to our edge software stack is an important step to reassure our users that they can deploy their IoT systems with confidence, and that their devices are secure.”
Attacks leveraging IoT devices such as IoT gateways are continuing to grow, the company explains, adding that the IoT environment can be monitored by leveraging visibility collected from edge-computing endpoints to which devices connect. RSA’s cloud-based service monitors data from edge devices to identify unexpected or malicious behavior. It leverages threat intelligence, statistical analysis and machine learning to create prioritized alerts for investigation via a Web interface or forwarded to security tools such as RSA NetWitness Platform.
IOTech provides interoperability with RSA IoT Security Monitor, which will be embedded in the Edge Xpert IoT edge platform software, where it can be deployed and managed. The security-monitoring functionality can be activated with a license from RSA. “RSA is pleased to collaborate with IOTech to enable the easy integration of security into IoT deployments,” said Zulfikar Ramzan, RSA’s chief digital officer, in the prepared statement. “IOTech is a key innovator and industry leader that provides an integrated IoT platform, one which now includes security from RSA. This partnership provides a standardized, open and secure platform for edge computing.”
Filipino Dept. of Transportation Urged to Extend RFID Deadline
House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco is appealing to the Philippines’ Department of Transportation (DOTr) to extend the deadline for installing radio frequency identification stickers on vehicles using that nation’s tollways until the first quarter of 2021. “At the rate things are going,” Velasco said in a prepared statement, “I don’t think all 6.1 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon will be provided with RFID stickers by Jan. 11, 2021.”
Velasco said the DOTr should consider the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has constrained many vehicle owners from leaving their homes and applying for RFID stickers. “It would be more practicable if the deadline were further extended to March 31, 2021,” he said, “to give all our motorists enough time to secure the stickers for the cashless payment system, given that we are still in a pandemic where movement of people is limited.” Velasco made the call as tollways experienced gridlock upon the implementation of cashless payment in various expressways on Dec. 1.
The Speaker shared the observations made by the House Committee on Transportation, which conducted a hearing on Nov. 25 in anticipation of the problems arising from the implementation of the cashless payment scheme at tollways. Based on its calculation, the committee said it would take more than two years for all vehicles using the tollways to be provided with RFID stickers.
Edgar Sarmiento, the chairman of the Philippines’ Transportation Committee, said Thailand and Indonesia each took a year and a half to go fully cashless. “In comparison, it’s been barely five months from the issuance of the (DOTr’s) Department Order 2020-012 since the implementation of cashless payment,” he said. “The concerned agencies should have ensured first the feasibility of going cashless in the amount of time given to vehicle owners. Instead, the implementation on Dec. 1 looked like a dry run. This defeats the purpose of having our tollways becoming efficient in going cashless.”
STMicroelectronics Joins UWB Alliance
STMicroelectronics, a semiconductor company for electronics applications, has joined the UWB Alliance as a Promoter Class Member and has accepted a seat on its Board of Directors. The Alliance’s mission is to advocate a favorable regulatory environment to promote ultra-wideband (UWB) technology innovation and growth. This includes working to secure new updates to rulesets in the United States and Europe. The group works to accelerate the adoption of UWB technology by providing a center of excellence for regulatory knowledge and guidance, and it cooperates with other organizations to help members increase their market presence.
“As a leader in the UWB space, ST feels a responsibility to contribute toward regulatory development in the E.U. and the USA,” said Jean-Marie André, the head of STMicroelectronics’ STM32 UWB wireless product line, in a prepared statement. “With UWB being widely adopted in consumer products, we join the UWB Alliance to offer our 10-year experience in the field and play a significant role in continuing this trend.”
UWB technology has gained increasing attention in recent months. Major smartphone vendors have introduced UWB into their latest mobile phones, while the technology has also been added to PCs and smart-wearable products. At the same time, some companies are deploying UWB for such applications as passive keyless car entry, high-resolution COVID-19 contact tracing, secure payment solutions, entertainment, healthcare, smart IoT services and more.
The company has nominated UWB innovator Jean-Marie André for the UWB Alliance’s Board of Directors. “I am delighted to welcome Jean-Marie to our Board of Directors and look forward to contributions from the STMicroelectronics team to the UWB Alliance organization and working groups,” said Tim Harrington, the UWB Alliance’s chairman, in the prepared statement.
A2B Tracking Updates Its Software Platform’s RFID Capabilities
A2B Tracking has announced the latest update to its software platform, which includes enhancements to improve efficiency and the user experience; boost inventory processing, asset check-in and check-out, RFID capabilities and government compliance; and increase organizational productivity and workflow output. The software helps users track, manage and report critical assets in order to maintain asset accountability and compliance to government regulations using RFID and barcode technologies. The latest release includes the following features:
A2B Tracking has improved its middleware that manages Impinj’s fixed RFID readers, including the xSpan gateway transition reader, bringing read rates up to 100 percent in most use cases, the company reports. The software is also fully integrated with Zebra Technologies’ fixed RFID readers, including transitional readers, such as the ST5500 and SR5502 models. These capabilities provide greater flexibility in creating solutions custom-designed to specific RFID projects, A2B explains.
In addition to integrating with internally hosted Deltek Costpoint, the platform now integrates with cloud-based Deltek Costpoint. A2B Tracking’s Costpoint Integration Agent (CIA) allows users to migrate asset data between Costpoint and A2B’s platform. A2B’s RFID Tracker app now supports Zebra’s TC series mobile devices, enabling the devices to harness the app’s functionality.
The upgrade enables users to batch-process and -report all assets and inventory with the use of barcodes or RFID in order to boost accuracy to more than 99 percent and reduce counting times. Detailed asset information is provided by location, with time and lifecycle stamps to offer insight into asset movement and lifecycle events. A new enterprise-identification scheme, using the unique entity identifier as assigned by SAM, replaces DUNS numbers.
In addition, the platform features XML file-upload capability for faster bulk processing of XML files to the U.S. Defense Department’s Wide Area Workflow system. This, according to the company, allows users to provide optional asset check-out validation with a digital signature capture and GPS coordinates at the point of checkout, along with a manifest for the asset custodian.