GPS World

Tag: internet of things

  • Dragonfly narrowband IoT unveiled with GNSS option

    CEVA Inc., licensor of signal processing IP forconnected devices, and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) have introduced Dragonfly NB1, a comprehensive cost- and power-optimized NB-IoT solution aimed at streamlining the development of LTE IoT devices.

    Dragonfly NB1 leverages CEVA’s heritage of low-power DSPs and modem design and ASTRI’s experience in RF and IC Design technologies. Together, the companies have collaborated to produce a complete machine-to-machine (M2M) endpoint solution that offers best-in-class performance and power consumption, that is easily integrated into a system on chip (SoC).

    GMV Add-On for GNSS. CEVA and ASTRI have teamed up with GMV, a navigation system and solutions company, to offer an integrated GNSS solution for smart devices with location tracking of logistics, assets, wearables and more. The GNSS IP is available as an add-on software that runs on the CEVA-X1 together with NB-IoT and leverages ASTRI’s GNSS RF IP that is embedded into the solution.

    GMV’s software IP supports all four GNSS constellations: GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo. The flexibility enabled by running the GNSS constellations fully in software on Dragonfly NB1 allows seamless switching between constellations when required or to run multiple constellations concurrently in order to improve resolution further and offer a truly global asset tracking solution.

    “Dragonfly NB1 with its multi-mode RF and dedicated IoT processor is a perfect match with GMV’s software GNSS product,” said Miguel Manuel Romay Merino, executive director of GNSS at GMV. “It provides full flexibility in using multiple constellations, either separately or concurrently to serve the various requirements specific to asset trackers, wearables and other IoT endpoint devices.”

    Dragonfly Features

    Dragonfly NB1 not only reduces the time taken to get NB-IoT products certified, but also provides low-power wide-area (LPWA) SoC designers with a flexible, software-upgradeable platform with key benefits in terms of die size and power consumption:

    • The Dragonfly NB1 solution is enabled by a single CEVA-X1 IoT processor, capable of running the complete PHY and protocol stack software for NB-IoT in addition to other associated workloads such as GNSS and sensing. It eliminates the need for additional processors and hardware accelerators in the SoC and allows in-the-field upgrades to Release 14 eNB-IoT and other future releases.
    • The CEVA-X1 IoT processor architecture includes specialized NB-IoT instructions and mechanisms to speed up PHY, MAC and encryption execution, further reducing clock speed and power consumption. It can also support other LPWA standards and workloads such as Cat-M1, LoRa, SigFox and voice.
    • The Dragonfly NB1 solution incorporates highly power-efficient multi-standard RF with embedded PA, LNA, DC-DC and DCXO technology for NB-IoT and GNSS (GPS and BeiDou), shortening development time and reducing the overall module bill of materials.

    Memory is a critical consideration for NB-IoT, as it directly influences the cost, silicon area and overall form factor of the module. Dragonfly NB1 is specifically designed to operate with embedded flash by incorporating an optimized low latency memory subsystem with a dedicated cache controller. The solution also includes a specialized security unit for a fully-trusted system.

    “In the coming years, NB-IoT will become the dominant technology for low power wide area connectivity. For most companies, understanding how to develop this technology is a daunting task,” said Michael Boukaya, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Business Unit at CEVA. “To overcome this, we have worked relentlessly with ASTRI to develop a complete solution from the ground up, that removes the design burden and allows SoC designers to add NB-IoT connectivity to their product designs. We’re extremely excited to announce this solution and demonstrate our leadership in IP for NB-IoT.”

    “We’re pleased to partner with CEVA to address the cellular IoT market opportunity,” said Frank Tong, CEO at ASTRI. “Our joint development efforts have resulted in a highly-integrated modem solution with integrated RF that delivers outstanding performance and is power-optimized for the most rigorous NB-IoT use cases. We look forward to continuing our collaboration as we help our mutual customers get to market.”

    Reference silicon of the complete modem design — including embedded CMOS RF transceiver, advanced digital front-end, physical layer software and third-party protocol stack (MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS) — will be available this June.

  • u-blox and Digicom partner on narrowband IoT products

    u-blox and Digicom partner on narrowband IoT products

    Chip-maker u-blox is parntering with Digicom, a company that offers a wide range of hardware and software with cellular connectivity, to develop narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) products and solutions. Both companies have carried out a series of innovative and successful field trials of the new NB-IoT technology.

    The announcement reflects u-blox’s and Digicom’s eagerness to meet pent-up demand for Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) connectivity, as delivered by NB-IoT technology, standardized by 3GPP in June 2016.

    Digicom's narrowband IoT GPS tracker has u-blox inside.
    Digicom’s narrowband IoT GPS tracker has u-blox inside. Photo: u-box

    The benefits of NB-IoT over other cellular radio technologies include lower device complexity, ultra‑low power operation and support for > 50 k devices per single cellular cell. As NB-IoT operates on networks within the licensed spectrum, it also offers greater security and freedom from interference.

    It is therefore suitable for IoT and M2M applications requiring extremely low power consumption and better coverage even in shielded areas.

    The collaboration is driven by a complementary business relationship between the two companies. Digicom offers innovative solutions for the industrial markets using NB-IoT, with a particular focus on connectivity solutions for Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, Industry 4.0 in general and the Automotive industry. Digicom platforms are designed for the protection of vehicles, people and pets, offer ultra low power consumption and several years operation in battery mode.

    Embedded in Digicom’s products and solutions is for instance the u-blox SARA‑N2 NB-IoT module, which was announced in June 2016 as a cellular radio module compliant with 3GPP Release 13. Release 13 defined the NB-IoT cellular air interface standard, specifically targeting devices that need to communicate small amounts of data over long periods of time in hard-to-reach places.

    “We have collaborated with u-blox for a long time and the quality and innovation of their modules enable us to develop cutting-edge products and solutions,” said Stefano Galzignato, business line manager at Digicom.

    “We are excited to be part of this partnership, which showcases u‑blox as a global leader in developing NB‑IoT solutions for IoT applications,” said Stefano Moioli, u‑blox director of product management, cellular.

    The partnership is expected to grow steadily alongside a rising demand for Digicom solutions for IoT markets.

  • Spirent’s new wireless test solution optimized for IoT devices

    Spirent Communications is now offering the Elevate IoT Device Test Solution, a new cellular test solution designed to support a wide range of testing areas applicable to Internet of Things (IoT) applications, including end-to-end cloud server connectivity, security vulnerability assessment and battery-life measurement.

    The announcement was made at Mobile World Congress, which is taking place Feb. 27 to March 2 in Barcelona, Spain.

    The compact and flexible device test solution, available via the Spirent Elevate platform, addresses critical areas that are affected when designing 3G, LTE, and upcoming narrowband wireless technologies into IoT devices.

    Innovative IoT developers are emerging worldwide with many of their applications reliant on communicating via a cellular network. Cellular deployment has several benefits including higher guaranteed service quality, more robust air interface security, and broader coverage availability. Yet designing IoT devices can present a myriad of complex challenges, especially when cellular connectivity enters the equation.

    Testing on a live network has several limitations: data traffic is not visible between the device and cloud server; the appropriate live network may not be deployed where the development takes place; and there is no ability to control network settings such as power levels.

    Spirent Elevate provides easy access to a controllable, lab-based testing environment, allowing developers to explore the special challenges a cellular network presents in a repeatable manner.

    A number of recent events, including widespread Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, has illustrated the very real exposure of IoT device security, highlighting the immediate need for developers to ensure devices are protected from known baseline vulnerabilities.

    The Elevate IoT test solution facilitates access to Spirent SecurityLabs services, including dedicated teams of experienced security professionals offering comprehensive scanning, penetration testing and monitoring services for embedded devices.

    Many IoT devices require operation in hard-to-reach places for extremely long periods of time while in potentially unforgiving environments, making it imperative that batteries perform as expected under variable conditions. The Elevate IoT Device Test Solution allows developers to accurately determine predictable battery life in real-world conditions with actual usage profiles.

    “The Internet of Things is here to stay — it represents a cultural and technology revolution, and has serious implications for security,” said Jeff Wilson, research director and advisor, cybersecurity technology, at analyst firm IHS. “The post-IoT threat landscape is complicated, and the consequences of attacks are increasingly severe. If a device is compromised, it can either fail to work itself, or introduce threats into a wider network, or both; the Mirai and LizardStresser IoT botnets used to launch DDoS attacks were just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Successfully managing connectivity, technology and risk will be vital to IoT implementations from this point forward.”

    Spirent’s IoT Device Test Solution is an integrated suite of tools centered in a compact network emulator that brings a repeatable cellular test bed into any hardware or software lab, providing the ability to replicate service providers’ wireless networks in a portable desktop system.

    When used as part of an expanded Spirent solution that can simulate multiple types and levels of security attacks, the system allows users to accurately understand how a device will hold up against each one and what factors may be impacted.

    Emulating as many conditions as possible helps developers understand exactly how devices, including factors such as battery life, may be impacted in the real world.

    “For IoT developers, many of them new to cellular technology, it can be dauntingly complex to navigate new technologies, manage power performance challenges, and care for imminent cybersecurity threats,” said Saul Einbinder, vice president of new venture development at Spirent Communications. “Our aspiration is to help developers, operators, and service providers optimize their IoT solutions and get to market faster, while also staying considerate of the budget constraints of IoT device realization.”

  • Ceva, Astri unveil NB-IoT GNSS-configurable solution for LTE devices

    Ceva, a licensor of signal processing IP for smarter, connected devices, and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Lt. (Astri) have unveiled the Dragonfly NB1, a comprehensive cost- and power-optimized NB-internet of things (IoT) solution aimed at streamlining and the development of LTE IoT devices.

    The solution also features configurable software, allowing the addition of support for GNSS and sensing.

    According to the companies, Dragonfly NB1 leverages Ceva’s long heritage of low power DSPs and modem design and Astri’s experience in RF and IC design technologies. Dragonfly NB1 has the ability to reduce the time taken to get NB-IoT products certified and also provides low-power wide-area SoC designers with a flexible, software-upgradeable platform with key benefits in terms of die size and power consumption, the companies added.

    The Dragonfly NB1 solution is enabled by a Ceva-X1 IoT processor and incorporates highly power-efficient multi-standard RF with embedded PA, LNA, DC-DC and DCXO technology for NB-IoT and GNSS (GPS and BeiDou). It is specifically designed to operate with embedded flash by incorporating an optimized low latency memory subsystem with a dedicated cache controller.

    “In the coming years, NB-IoT will become the dominant technology for low power wide area connectivity,” said Michael Boukaya, vice president and general manager of Ceva’s Wireless Business Unit. “For most companies, understanding how to develop this technology is a daunting task. To overcome this, we have worked relentlessly with ASTRI to develop a complete solution from the ground up, that removes the design burden and allows SoC designers to add NB-IoT connectivity to their product designs. We’re extremely excited to announce this solution and demonstrate our leadership in IP for NB-IoT.”

    Ceva and ASTRI have also teamed up with GMV, a major player in navigation systems and solutions, to offer an integrated GNSS solutions for smart devices with location tracking of logistics, assets, wearables and more. According to the companies, the GNSS IP is available as an add-on software that runs on the Ceva X1 together with the NB-IoT and leverages ASTRI’s GNSS RF IP that is embedded in the solution.

  • Mobile briefs: Silicon Labs acquires Zentri for IoT

    Silicon Labs acquires Zentri

    Silicon Labs has acquired Zentri, an innovator in cloud-connected Wi-Fi technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT). Zentri helps customers worldwide securely connect and manage products across a range of industrial, commercial and consumer applications. Zentri provides combinations of modules, embedded and cloud software, APIs and other tools for rapid development of secure IoT end-node products.

    Comtech renews LBS contract

    Comtech Telecommunications Corp.’s Commercial Solutions segment received a renewal agreement worth $2.8 million for use of its Xypoint Location Platform (XLP), providing precise location for a major mobile network operator. XLP is a standards-based solution suite that enables wireless carriers to launch a variety of location-based services (LBS). The renewal will support the continued roll out of services during the remainder of a three-year agreement.

    Teleena, Cumulocity partner on IoT

    IoT enabler Teleena is partnering with Cumulocity, an IoT device platform provider. Teleena will roll out its IoT Suite with functionalities for enterprises to build transformational IoT solutions and monetize new business models. The suite consists of five modules and is a configurable one-stop-shop for customers.

  • Esri's advanced analytics designed to increase retail sales

    Esri is partnering with GISinc to analyze customer behavior to help retailers increase sales.

    Esri will integrate itsspatial analytics platform with GISinc’s indoor mapping capabilities to analyze data collected by sensor-enabled overhead smart lighting systems and from opt-in mobile data from customer phones. The solution will enable retailers to track behaviors, using information including customer locations inside the store and items selected for purchase. The store can then tap into such data to improve customer assistance and position merchandise in the places most likely to attract purchases.

    “Analyzing customer choices and mapping go hand in hand,” said Sonny Beech, Internet of Things (IoT) business development manager at GISinc. “Why a person bought something where they did is an example of spatial data. Using ArcGIS analytics, we can enable retailers to make more strategic decisions about where to place merchandise and in-store marketing materials.”

    With more than two-thirds of consumers using smartphones while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, retailers have to deliver more relevant experiences by becoming more precise in how they interact with shoppers. In-store location technologies provide opportunities for retailers to increase touch points in the aisle and on the shelf by delivering messaging and services in real time based on a customer’s location in the store.

    Studies show that the spatial customer behavior analysis Esri provides can boost the probability of purchase by up to 70 percent and increase basket size by up to 60 percent for smartphone-enabled shoppers, Esri said.

    “Esri enables retailers to access vast amounts of customer information while allowing the customers themselves to take advantage of advanced analytics,” said Gary Sankary, retail industry manager at Esri. “With the widespread use of smartphones during in-store shopping, indoor mapping provides businesses with a tool to understand shopper behavior and improve sales accordingly.”

    Indoor-mapping initiatives and smart lighting systems, like other IoT implementations, have become more affordable and accessible — in fact, much of the technology can be integrated directly into the infrastructure of a brick-and-mortar store. Customers benefit by downloading mobile apps and opting in to shared-data environments that make the shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable.

  • OGC invites participation in Electromagnetic Spectrum Working Group

    The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is calling for participation in its newly established Electromagnetic Spectrum Domain Working Group (EM Spectrum DWG). This group will review requirements for an international open standard data model and derived encoding(s) for data describing electromagnetic fields in real-world environments. After reviewing requirements, the group may charter an OGC Standards Working Group to develop the standard data model and encodings.

    Wireless signals, remote sensing radiation, and unintended emissions from artificial and natural sources all interact with both the material environment and the electromagnetic environment. Participants in the OGC EM Spectrum DWG represent the interests of multiple communities that would benefit from being able to easily publish, discover, assess, access, aggregate, disaggregate, and analyze spatial and temporal data describing all the properties of EMFs.

    These communities include the remote sensing, electromagnetic compatibility, and wireless communications communities as well as others. Participants anticipate that the proposed standard will be important in the radio-intense Internet of Things.

    These communities all have in common a set of EMF data definitions, structure and syntax that are almost universally accepted and that are based on well-known laws of physics. The communities also share a set of primary and derived SI units for communicating measurements of the various properties of EMF. In each community, rapidly evolving use cases present requirements to integrate data that includes the spatial properties and other properties of EMF sources and sensors along with data describing properties of environmental features and phenomena that impact, are impacted by, or interact with EMF.

    “On behalf of the Group on Earth Observations, I very much welcome the establishment of the proposed OGC Working Group focused on the Radio Frequency Spectrum with the intent of developing a common international standard data model,” said GEO Secretariat Director Barbara Ryan. “The OGC Electromagnetic Spectrum Domain Working Group will provide an important coordination and harmonization function for future studies of frequency interference. Protecting selected frequency bands for Earth observations is essential for public safety, and hence, of key importance to GEO.”

    The OGC EM Spectrum DWG provides an open forum for the discussion and presentation of electromagnetic spectrum data workflows, interoperability requirements, use cases, and non-OGC EMF standards. It is anticipated that current OGC standards and best practices and inclusion of EMF use cases in future OGC pilots, testbeds and other work will help resolve EMF data interoperability issues. See the OGC EM Spectrum DWG wiki. The wiki includes instructions for joining the EM Spectrum DWG’s public listserv. The DWG’s Charter describes the planned work of the DWG in greater detail.

    The initiators of the OGC EM Spectrum DWG encourage interested parties to learn more and become involved in this important standards activity. OGC members benefit in many ways from their participation in OGC’s standards activities. The first session of the newly formed working group will be held at the OGC Technical Committee meeting in Taichung from 10:15-12:00 CST Dec. 7. The public is invited to attend or call in. Click on the EM Spectrum DWG entry in the TC Agenda for details.

  • U-blox cellular module integrates GNSS with LTE modem for IoT

    U-blox cellular module integrates GNSS with LTE modem for IoT

    U-blox has launched the LARA-R3121, a new module comprising a single-mode LTE Category 1 modem and a GNSS positioning engine specifically designed for Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) devices.

    The LARA-R3121 is designed for IoT applications including smart utility metering, connected health and patient monitoring, smart buildings, security and video surveillance, smart payment and point-of-sale (POS) systems, as well as wearable devices, such as action cameras.

    “Most IoT modules on the market use LTE modem technology, developed by handset-focused silicon vendors. They may not provide the best fit for IoT applications, because they focus on features targeted at Tier 1 handset makers, limited by short life cycles. The LARA-R3121 is different with features and qualifications crafted for the industrial markets,” said Andreas Thiel, u-blox co-founder and executive VP, Cellular Products and IC Design. “This is the only cellular module comprising a LTE Cat 1 modem and a GNSS engine, with complete module hardware and software all developed by a single supplier. With our focus on the IoT market, we bring an ‘IoT first’ approach to silicon design.”

    The LARA-R3121 is supplied in the small 24 x 26 mm LARA LGA form factor for compact IoT devices. This standardized package enables straightforward automated manufacturing and is pin-compatible with the u-blox LARA-R2 series, which supports multimode LTE Cat 1 with 2G/3G fallback.

    LARA-R3121 module by u-blox.
    LARA-R3121 module by u-blox.

    According to the company, it is a landmark in u-blox’s long-term strategy to create modules based on the UBX-R3 LTE modem technology platform, an internally developed, flexible, software-defined modem architecture specifically designed for IoT and M2M.

    The essential modem, positioning and module components of the LARA-R3121 are developed in-house, allowing for freedom for innovative feature development, for enabling end-to-end security and giving full control of product quality, while ensuring the long term product availability required by many IoT applications. Because modem and GNSS technologies were all developed in-house, u-blox is also able to provide unparalleled technical support for developers.

    The LARA-R3121 features FOTA, providing customers with a solution to issue firmware over the air updates. It also benefits from end-to-end security features, such as secure boot, secure transport layer, secure authentication, secure interfaces and APIs. Like other cellular modules from u-blox, it complies with a nested architecture, which allows for easy migration, and future-proof, seamless mechanical scalability across cellular technologies.

    As a single mode, LTE-only device, LARA-R3121 takes advantage of the fact that LTE networks are becoming universally available. Increasingly, products do not require fallback to 3G or 2G, which means that non-essential components can be removed, reducing cost and power consumption.

    The 10 Mbits downstream and 5 Mbits upstream maximum throughput of LTE Cat 1 provides data rates sufficient for good quality video streaming.

  • u-blox brings ARM mbed OS 5 to low-energy IoT modules

    u-blox brings ARM mbed OS 5 to low-energy IoT modules

    u-blox has announced ARM mbed OS 5 support for the ODIN-W2 wireless Internet of Things (IoT) gateway module and the NINA-B1 Bluetooth low energy module.

    The ARM mbed OS 5 incorporates a real-time operating system (RTOS) in the core of the operating system. This open environment provides all the features needed to rapidly deploy and develop connected IoT products based on an ARM Cortex-M microcontroller, including security, connectivity and drivers for sensors and I/O devices. On existing u-blox ODIN-W2 and NINA-B1 hardware, customers can now rapidly develop wireless IoT applications making it easier to cut costs, development time and footprint, the company.

    ublox-iot-ub066At ARM TechCon, held Oct. 26-27 in Santa Clara, California, u-blox will showcase the NINA-B1 and ODIN-W2 in a powerful and responsive IoT sensor-to-gateway-to-cloud scenario. In the live demonstration, the ODIN-W2 will read sensor data via Bluetooth low energy technology from NINA-B1-equipped sensors, and simultaneously stream it via Wi-Fi to an IBM cloud server, allowing for real-time data visualization and analysis.

    “The unique combination of u-blox’s ODIN-W2 and NINA-B1 with ARM mbed OS 5 creates the best performing complete IoT architecture solution for applications from sensor data collection to flexible intelligent gateway processing and cloud connectivity, with full support for customer code — all based on the most proven embedded application platform,” said Hakan Svegerud, head of Product Strategy, Short Range Radio, at u-blox.

    The already certified ODIN-W2, NINA-B1 and wireless stacks are designed for typical embedded applications, which require a small footprint implementation with responsive, high-performance hardware and an open CPU architecture. Usage scenarios include IoT, and medical and industrial applications, that use multiple sensors and/or smart gateways linked by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. ODIN-W2’s 1-MB of flash memory offers ample space for all the customer software required to create a powerful gateway.

    The ARM mbed development environment, with its extensive tools and libraries, gives embedded application designers and developers full access to each u-blox module’s ARM Cortex-M4 based microcontroller. This allows them to avoid the need for an external host CPU — not only saving bill of materials costs and development resources, but also keeping the board footprint to an absolute minimum.

    In addition to providing a consistent development process across multiple products, this environment allows an extremely broad range of sensor and actuator-based IoT designs to be implemented on a single, compact, certified wireless module. Moreover, the u-blox open standard approach ensures ease of IoT connectivity, while still accelerating type approval certification by controlling access to the wireless stacks. All of these advantages combine to reduce time to market to a minimum.

  • HellaPHY wireless positioning better than 50 meters for IoT

    Acorn Technologies Inc., a semiconductor and wireless technology company focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), has developed and  demonstrated new wireless long-term evolution (LTE) positioning technology for the location of things. The LTE location-based technology meets the new Enhanced 911 (E911) mandate performance requirements and performs well in very low bandwidth conditions. HellaPHY technology provides better than 50-meter accuracy for next generation location of things in the machine-type communications (MTC) and IoT markets.

    Location of devices acts as an organizing principle for anything connected to the internet, helping organize the billions of internet-connected devices based on the sensors and other location-centric elements in them. The installed base of IoT endpoints will grow to more than 25 billion in 2019, hitting 30 billion in 2020, according to a recent IoT forecast.

    “We are achieving accuracy in low bandwidth scenarios,” says Steven Caliguri, VP of wireless products at Acorn Technologies. “We believe that our advanced LTE positioning solution is the lowest complexity, lowest cost and lowest power solution available today for LTE based applications from high-end smartphones to loT.”

    Acorn has demonstrated better than 50-meter accuracy in live network testing of their user equipment (UE)-based positioning algorithms for low bandwidth CAT-M devices. (Cat-M refers to Category M, the second generation of LTE chipsets meant for IoT applications.) The network tests were conducted on a network that has not been fully optimized for LTE-based positioning.  Further gains are expected when optimizations begin to rollout.

    Acorn’s network testing has demonstrated the ability to exceed the 2021 E911 mandated performance requirements even in low-bandwidth scenarios.

    The technology has been developed from the core hellaPHY Channel Estimation algorithm that employs machine-learning techniques. The positioning algorithms are  suited for IoT applications due to their extremely low complexity, and require less then 10 kilobytes of memory and only a fraction of a low-end DSP during the maximum processing interval. It has further proven to exceed the performance of super resolution algorithms at a fraction of the complexity.

    HellaPHY RSTD is an advanced signal processing algorithm that was developed to improve LTE wireless network indoor and outdoor location accuracy. It is designed to be a drop-in replacement for existing Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) algorithms in UE chipsets and can be customized for any unique DSP or interface requirements. The hellaPHY RSTD IP core is designed to support advanced LTE features contemplated by operators as well as for LTE Release 14 including Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) muting, Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS) plus PRS transmit diversity, and fractional Ts reporting. The hellaPHY RSTD IP core is scalable and can support CAT-M through CAT-15.

    (” … the ubiquitous parameter Ts. This nameless parameter is the most basic unit of time in the LTE air interface and pretty much everything in the LTE frame structure is based on multiples of this basic time unit, capital “T”, sub small “s”. Ts is defined exactly as: Ts = 1/(15000 x 2048) seconds, a little more than 32 nano-seconds.”

    — from LTEuniversity.com)

    Acorn Technologies is a provider of performance scaling semiconductor and wireless intellectual property for the Internet of Things. With nearly 200 patents issued and pending, Acorn’s IP addresses the fundamental building blocks with algorithms for wireless and IoT. The company’s semiconductor IP portfolio includes buried silicon stressors and metal insulator silicon  technologies to significantly boost semiconductor transistor performance.

  • u-blox announces its first LTE Cat M1 module

    u-blox announces its first LTE Cat M1 module

    u‑blox, a global leader in wireless and positioning modules and chips, today announced plans to launch modules supporting Category M1 (Cat M1) LTE networks, which will allow a larger number of devices to connect to the Internet of Things (IoT).

    sara_3d_transThe first SARA‑R4 module developed by u‑blox will be available in Q4 2016 targeting mobile network operators in the United States market. With the recently launched SARA‑N2, the world’s first cellular NB‑IoT module, the new LTE Cat M1 complements u‑blox’s extensive product offering for the IoT.

    Along with NB‑IoT, LTE Cat M1 is part of the new 3GPP Release 13 standard supporting low power wide area (LPWA) technologies in the licensed spectrum and is designed for IoT applications with low to medium data throughput rates, as well as devices that require long battery lifetimes.

    Additionally, M1’s vehicular handover capability delivers the technology necessary to support vehicle, asset and people tracking. It also supports lower latency applications and a data rate of 375 kbps in half duplex mode and 1 mbps in full duplex mode.

    The market focus for the LTE Cat M1 technology is extensive and will cover applications in many areas, such as the smart home, security systems, industrial monitoring and control, asset tracking, telematics, connected health, smart metering, smart cities, and wearables.

    “u‑blox is a global leader in developing cellular modules designed for IoT applications,“ said Moti Tabulo, product manager of cellular at u‑blox. “We are excited to add LTE Cat M1 modules to our LPWA product portfolio. We will now be able to offer our customers both LTE Cat M1 and NB‑IoT modules.”

    The SARA‑R4 modules follow u‑blox’s “nested design” philosophy to maintain form factor and software continuity. This allows customers to easily upgrade their products with each new generation of u‑blox wireless modules without having to change their PCB designs. Such easy migration maximizes investment return, simplifies logistics and drastically reduces time‑to‑market, u-blox said.

    The first module out of the SARA‑R4 series will be available in Q4 2016.

  • Decawave ships 1 million ultra-wideband micro-location chips

    Decawave ships 1 million ultra-wideband micro-location chips

    Decawave-DW1000Chip4-WDecawave, which specializes in precise location and connectivity applications, has reached a milestone for its micro-location, impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) technology, surpassing one million Decawave chips shipped.

    The chip’s popularity reflects the increasing demand for accurate micro-location solutions from end users and customers within Internet of Things (IoT), consumer and industrial markets. According to the company, Decawave has a target to reach five million units shipped in the course of 2017.

    Decawave offers IR-UWB wireless technology for precise location and connectivity applications that can identify the specific location of any object or person within a guaranteed indoor location accuracy of 10 centimeters.

    IR-UWB is becoming a key factor in the IoT market and is impacting how developers are taking devices and smart applications to the next level of context awareness, Decawave said in a press release.

    The increase in demand for accurate location-based applications is evident across sectors including consumer markets such as connected homes, phone accessories, drones and sports analytics; industrial with connected buildings, factory automation and healthcare.

    Decawave technology also will be embedded in cars in 2017.

    The industrial market has been the first market to leverage Decawave’s technology and several Decawave customer solutions are already in the field. Decawave has 15 industrial partners that can deliver software, hardware or turn-key systems to end customers.

    “The market for next-generation indoor location technologies with improved accuracy is beginning to advance with solid use cases and adoption. UWB is clearly carving out its space, with ABI Research forecasting strong growth across a range of verticals,” said Patrick Connolly, Principal analyst at ABI Research. “The market opportunity is quite large and companies like Decawave that are leading the charge in UWB are well positioned to experience continued growth.”

    Consumer products. The consumer products —  some of which were presented at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January — are starting to ship now. For instance, Pixie tags allow customers to accurately locate, protect and organize their valuables.

    Also at CES, Decawave highlighted ShotTracker, developed with sporting-goods company Spalding, for multi-player basketball tracking. The chip was also featured in Jaguar’s connected car demonstration.

    ShotTracker captures every player statistic for multiple players in real time.
    ShotTracker captures every basketball player’s statistic for multiple players in real time.

    In the consumer segment, there will also be opportunities in access control, remote controls, connected light, home robot and trusted-zones applications that leverage IR-UWB accuracy, reliability and immunity to relay attack schemes to grant or deny access to wireless-networks and connected devices.

    “Two years after launching the technology, Decawave continues to gain traction with 1,800 customers across 68 countries using Decawave’s IR-UWB and an extra 70 to 80 new customers each month,” said Ciaran Connell, CEO of Decawave. “This is phenomenal and shows our commitment as well as market interest and future demand. We’re thrilled that UWB is finally seeing market momentum. We know its potential and now our customers are experiencing it as well.”

    Decawave’s partner Quantitec showed its RTLS indoor positioning at Nokia’s booth at Mobile World Congress and at the Bosch Connected World where it was featured in the company’s advanced localization technology, as a key element of a Track and Trace solution.