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November 23, 2016

Telit EVP Dishes on the Company's New Modules


ADVERTORIAL

Telit offers a broad portfolio of modules to enable companies with Internet of Things products and deployments to get the most of out of their solutions. The company recently expanded its product line with an array of new IoT modules. IoT Evolution recently interviewed Felix Marchal, executive vice president of GNSS and Short Range for Telit, to learn more.

Telit at CTIA introduced five new LTE single-mode IoT modules that are compliant with the 3GPP’s Release 13 standard. What important market requirements does Release 13 address?
Marchal: Release 13 is a standard out of the 3GPP, an industry group that guides the evolution of the cellular technology industry globally. Release 13 includes Cat M1 and NB1 standards, which were devised to address specific needs of IoT applications, including optimized power consumption and enhanced coverage. Telit’s Release 13-compliant solutions address the pressing need in the U.S. market for migration paths away from 2G as well as strong global demand for Cat M1 and NB1 modules to enable a wide variety of brand new product concepts.

What kind of performance do these new Telit IoT modules deliver?
Marchal:
Our new solutions include two ME910 LTE UE Category M1 modules and two ME866 LTE UE Category M1 modules to address the needs of major U.S. mobile operators, as well as the NE866 LTE UE Category NB1 module for the European market. 

The Telit LTE UE Category M1 modules offer peak downlink and uplink data rates of 1Mbps. These enhanced machine type communication products support power saving mode and extended discontinuous reception, which together allow the module to wake up periodically, exchange small amounts of data with the network, and return to sleep – providing for years of battery life. Meanwhile, the NE866 features a battery life of 10 or more years, and peak data rates of 250Kbps on the downlink and 20Kbps on the uplink.

How does Telit simplify ease of implementation and use for its customers?
Marchal:
Telit IoT Portal-ready modules, powered by deviceWISE, make device onboarding simple to program, maintain, and scale. All of Telit’s M1 and NB1, Bluetooth, GNSS and Wireless modules are Telit IoT Portal-ready. That means they feature high-level commands for quick and hassle-free onboarding of device and data to back-end systems, the cloud, customer apps, and servers. 

When will these Telit Release 13 solutions be available in the marketplace?
Marchal:
This new portfolio is being fast-tracked so it’s ready when our customers are. 

These products will begin sampling later this year. Commercial availability of the modules is slated for early first half of 2017, which aligns with American operators’ service launch timelines.   

Telit recently announced the commercial availability of its BlueMod+S42 Bluetooth 4.2 module. What do we need to know about this product?
Marchal:
Telit has added the industry leading BlueMod+S42 product line along with the existing BlueMod+S and BlueMod+SR family of modules. BlueMod+S42 is a SOC solution with a 64MHz ARM Cortex M4 processor, Bluetooth radio, integrated ceramic antenna and full software stack along with custom profiles and applications. BlueMod S42 is a true embedded SOC module that enables IoT companies to create innovative solutions that offer the shortest time to market, and are simple and easy to deploy with lowest opex and capex costs. Our BlueMod+S42 boasts of an extended antenna range of 850m in line of sight, deep sleep power of 400nA with UICP enabling many years of battery life from coin cell batteries like CR2032.
 
The BlueMod+S42 family provides a holistic solution that can be deployed as an IoT target device, IoT hub/gateway or IoT device connected to sensors that is connected to the cloud; and can be remotely controlled and managed. Additionally, 4.2 features and functionality make the BlueMod+S42 safer with privacy and secure connections, more efficient for connecting to the internet with IPv6 and 6LoWPAN, and 2.5 times faster.

The BlueMod+S42 complies with the Bluetooth SIG v4.2 standard. That includes important upgrades that make Bluetooth low energy applications faster and more secure.

This product is the first Telit module to include Wirepas Connectivity. What is Wirepas, and why is it important?
Marchal:
Wirepas is a de-centralized radio communications protocol that can also be enabled on BlueMod+S42. Wirepas allows for the creation of Multi-Hop mesh networks for the Internet of Things, and eliminates the need for traditional repeaters by turning every device in the network into a smart router – thereby creating a high level of scalability. Wirepas is suitable for large-scale mesh deployments like smart meters, lighting, smart cities, smart buildings, and logistics.

It eliminates the need for traditional repeaters and turns every wireless device in the network into a smart router.

What applications are appropriate for the BlueMod+S42 Bluetooth 4.2 module?
Marchal:
Bluetooth can wirelessly connect devices together. It can connect your headset to your phone, or speakers to a car, or best of all anything around us, take lights, door locks, TV, shoes, toys, almost anything you can think of. Additionally with beaconing, it can connect shoppers, travellers, attendees in events, and provide relevant information.
 
So it is very hard to include all the verticals and market segments addressed and to be addressed by the Telit Bluetooth Family. However, Bluetooth today has a very strong presence in beacons, wearables, automotive, telematics, home automation, HID/entertainment, logistics, smart city, smart meter, lighting, medical/health care, consumer electronics, and industrial.
The new Telit modules were designed for sensor-to-cloud solutions. They are appropriate for use in a wide variety of use cases and verticals – from cold chain, to oil & gas, to telemetry, and beyond.

The company at CTIA also was showing its new SL869-V3 and SL869-ADR solutions. Tell us about these new products.
Marchal:
The SL869-V3 is a flash-memory based, pure GNSS receiver module. It is capable of tracking three constellations simultaneously. The use of multiple constellations provides advantages over previous GPS-only receiver modules, including improved positioning accuracy and a better ability to accommodate very weak or blocked satellite signals that can occur in natural operating environments.

The SL869-ADR is a multi-constellation satellite navigation receiver module. . Its connections to car sensors can be used to monitor such parameters as reverse modes and wheel speed. And it features embedded automotive dead reckoning.The SL869-ADR includes embedded support for automotive dead-reckoning using vehicle odometer for wheel ticks and direction (forward or reverse) input signals.

What is dead reckoning?
Marchal:
 DR provides position and velocity information during periods when satellite-based navigational fixes have been lost due to conditions in environments causing satellite signal blockage, for example inside traffic tunnels, underneath large parking structures, or on a city street flanked by very tall buildings. DR enhances position accuracy when satellite-based fixes are available but are impacted by poor satellite signal receiving conditions in automotive environments.Dead reckoning boosts position accuracy. 

In what kinds of scenarios would the SL869-V3 and SL869-ADR products be employed?
Marchal:
These SL869-V3s products can be used in a variety of telematics, wearables, metering, timing, utility, alarm & security, and consumer metry applications. Because of the SL869-ADR automotive dead reckoning feature in the SL869-ADR, the module works even in environments like parking garages, tunnels, urban canyons, and places where it’s very overcast,  enabling this product to be widely deployed by automotive applications.– which traditionally make receiving a satellite signal a challenge.

Earlier this year Telit formed its Short-Range and GNSS business unit. What else can we expect from this business unit going forward?
Marchal:
Yes, this provides our commitment to focus on the enabling innovative wireless and locationing technologies most needed for the IoT market. We expect to productize and create a leading IoT product portfolio covering all the standards, multiple frequency bands, communication protocols for a wide variety of use cases and various IoT applications. You’ll have to stay tuned for that. But I can tell you that Telit also has introduced new developer kits to enable rapid prototyping of solutions based on the new and upcoming modules.

Why are Telit’s modules the logical choice for companies with IoT implementations?
Marchal:
Telit offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of integrated products and services for end-to-end IoT deployments – including cellular communication modules in all technologies, GNSS, short-to-long range wireless, Bluetooth, ZigBee modules, IoT connectivity plans, and IoT platform services. All the modules can be bundled creating a full platform and with our IoT platform services can enable a full solution that can be productized in a few weeks if not days.

Our products are unique in that they support the full range of cellular technologies – including CDMA, EV-DO, GPRS, HSPA, LTE CAT-x, and UMTS.

We also bring a lot of expertise to this space, which helps us ensure that customers have the best possible experience. We deliver great service and support, and our solutions are easy to install and manage.




Edited by Ken Briodagh


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