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M2M Connectivity Newsletter February 2015

M2M Connectivity

M2M Connectivity

FEBRUARY EDITION OF CONNECTED

February 2015

This month Beecham Research predicts almost 1 billion cellular M2M connections worldwide by 2020. In the coming 2 years we expect to see LTE technology develop to address many of the specific needs of M2M/IoT devices and LTE will be an impetus to the growth of M2M cellular connections.

The use of low-power, wireless short range RF will further increase  M2M/IoT connections in the future. Further enabling development of IoT applications are development platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, which offer different connectivity options including 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, 6LoWPAN, ZigBee and Bluetooth.  The extended range offered by the LoRa technology, described in the IoT feature in this newsletter, is available for these open source development platforms.

If you would like further information on any item in this newsletter please contact us. Click here to request more information

Darren Moroney – General Manager, M2M Connectivity

Product News

NEW IDP 200 Series Satellite Modems from SkyWave an ORBCOMM Company

TSkyWave IDP 280 satellite modemhe SkyWave IDP 200 Series delivers simple, off-the-shelf, low-cost two-way satellite messaging over Inmarsat’s IsatData Pro network.

Offering easy-to-integrate monitoring of vehicles and industrial equipment, the IDP 200 Series is quick to deploy with built-in GPS and antenna, power supply, and AT Command set and encased in a rugged, fully certified, environmentally sealed enclosure for harsh environments.  An intuitive AT Command set is SkyWave IDP290available for quick integration with external PLCs and general purpose controllers.

For further information on the IDP280 pictured above, click here.

The IDP 290 option provides a low elevation antenna suitable for marine applications. For further information on the IDP290 click here.

Tallysman TW4421 Wideband Dual Feed GPS/GLONASS Antenna

Tallysman TW4421 GPS Glonass antennaThe TW4421 by Tallysman™ is a low cost dual feed GPS & GLONASS magnetic mount antenna covering the GPS L1, GLONASS G1 and SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS & MSAS) frequency band (1574 to 1606 MHz).

The TW4421 features a novel 25mm dual feed wideband patch element that provides excellent multipath rejection and a more linear carrier phase response by virtue of the axial ratio that is greatly improved across the full frequency bandwidth. It has a very tight Phase Centre Variation (PCV). It is especially suitable for high accuracy applications, and also offers high out of band signal rejection.

Applications for the TW4421 include fleet management & asset tracking, cost sensitive mission critical positioning,military & security, and surveillance. The TW4421 is the smallest dual feed, high performance antenna available  in a compact IP67 magnetic mount enclosure and comes with a wide range of connector options and cable lengths.

For further information on the Tallysman TW4421 antenna, click here.

Maxtena M1227HCT-A2-SMA L1 L2 GPS  GLONASS Antenna

Maxtena M1227HCT-A2-SMA L1 L2 GPS GLONASS AntennaThe latest Maxtena M1227HCT-A2-SMA is a high performance active antenna designed for the L1/L2 GPS and GLONASS bands.  This rugged antenna comes in a high quality; durable IP67 sealed radome housing.  It is terminated with a gold plated SMA connector for RF feed/input and DC bias/power typically powered from the applications’ GNSS RF module.

The M1227HCT-A2-SMA active helix design features Maxtena’s patented compact and light weight Helicore™ Octofilar antenna technology, offering up to 30dB gain, for GNSS applications that utilize GLONASS and GPS, in one radome housing with a single 50 Ohm SMA connector.

For more information about the Maxtena M1227HCT-A2-SMA antenna, please click here.

LTE Update: LTE for M2M

The LTE-M is expected to be available in some markets towards the end of  2016 and will give an incentive for IoT OEMs and companies currently using 2G/3G to migrate to LTE.  LTE-M will integrate with existing LTE services and address the specific needs of M2M devices. New applications will be possible taking advantage of lower cost and enhanced coverage of LTE-M at the same time improving efficiency and functionaility of applications currently being used.

M2M adoption and migration to 4G/LTE will be further supported by the expected availability of smaller, simpler LTE modules working on LTE-M that could, in the future, sell at prices similar to the price of a 2G module today.

IoT: New Radio Technology LoRa

Waspmote LoRaLibelium has added long-range wireless coverage to Waspmote and Plug and Sense! sensor nodes, by integrating Semtech’s LoRa™ RF technology in a new module-on-a-chip embedded radio design for Smart Cities and Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.

Waspmote sensor nodes are designed to deploy by the thousands, connecting any sensor using any communication protocol to any Cloud system. The LoRa communication protocol extends wireless connectivity so that Waspmote sensors can transmit data at distances of several miles, even through buildings, and over 20 miles in open spaces. With LoRa’s high sensitivity of 138dBm, the Waspmote long-range module can receive data packets transmitted through difficult conditions and long links, thus reducing infrastructure costs for city uses.

For more information on Libelium’s Waspmote LoRa module, please click here and LoRa Plug & Sense! here.

Tech Tip – SkyWave

Using Messenger to Send and Receive IsatData Pro Messages

Messenger is an application in the IDP Developer’s Toolkit that allows users to send messages to and receive messages from IDP terminals. It connects to the IsatData Pro gateway using the IsatData Pro Gateway Web Service (IGWS).

To send a message to an IDP Terminal using Messenger:

  1. 1.  Launch Messenger application from the IDP Developer’s toolkit.
  2. 2.  Connect to the mobile device.
  3. 3.  Click New on the toolbar to create a new to-mobile message to send to the mobile device.
         The New To-Mobile Message window appears.
  4. 4.  Select the Mobile ID of the IDP terminal to receive the message.
  5. 5.  Click either the Encoded or Raw tab.
  6. 6.  Select the appropriate SIN (Service Identification Number). Refer to Document T202 for more
          details.
  7. 7.  Select the MIN (Message Identification Number) for your message. Refer to Document T202 for
         more details.
  8. 8.  Modify the field values if necessary.
  9. 9.  Click Send. The message is submitted to the Gateway.
  10. 10. Click the To-Mobile folder. Once the message transmits the state of the message changes.
          Right-click the message to view the message details.
     
  11. SkyWave IDP messaging

While Messenger is provided as a convenient and simple test interface, it is not meant for production use. Production applications use the IsatData Pro Gateway Web Service (IGWS) interface directly. Document N201 – IsatData Pro Gateway Web Service (IGWS) User Guide provides detailed information on how to use the IGWS interface along with several code samples.