IoT solutions provider Sierra Wireless has announced a new cellular gateway, the FX30, to help businesses connect anything to the cloud.
Sierra Wireless is aiming to lead the market when it comes to low power wide area (LPWA) IoT solutions, and part of that mission is the launch of the company’s latest product: the FX30, a tiny, flexible and rugged programmable cellular gateway that provides an integrated embedded platform to connect any machine to any IoT application or cloud. Sierra Wireless says the FX30 will enable fast, scalable and global deployment of IoT solutions.
The FX30 has been designed to make connecting ‘things’ a lot more simple for businesses looking to harness the power of connectivity, cloud-based analytics and monitoring. It comes complete with Legato open source Linux-based programmability, and can be used across 2G, 3G and LTE networks. Essentially, this breadth of reach will allow the FX30 to manage any type of machine, from industrial equipment to building automation platforms, commercial appliances, and renewable energy systems. Fleets of FX30s can be monitored, managed and controlled remotely through Sierra Wireless’ AirVantage Cloud Services.
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FX30: “rugged, scalable, highly programmable”
“The FX30 provides a flexible, secure platform to connect machines to the Internet of Things, enabling companies to offer new, value-added services for their customers,” said Jason Krause, senior vice president and general manager of enterprise solutions for Sierra Wireless.
“For example, equipment manufacturers can quickly add IoT connectivity to any solution and deploy custom applications to monitor machine performance at the edge, sending data and alerts to any remote service application.”
There are several features that Sierra Wireless will hope push the FX30 ahead of the competition in the market. First of all, the company’s new device is highly Programmable. Custom IoT applications can be put together thanks to the Linux-based embedded programming environment. Second, from a practical perspective the FX30 is small and sturdy, so should have no problems handling industrial environments of fitting into machines and infrastructure equipment. Third, compatibility with 3G, 2G and LTE networks will help applications to be easily scalable and reach a global market. Finally, the time to market for new solutions can be dramatically reduced with Sierra Wireless’ cloud platform, AirVantage.
In a press release, Andrew Newton, managing director at Linkwave Wireless Connectivity, said “Linkwave has been providing communications solutions based on Sierra Wireless programmable modems for more than 15 years for diverse applications including vehicle asset management, vending and security. We’re excited about the new FX30 and believe that it will be a truly unique offering in the market, providing a critical building block for customers developing IoT solutions.”
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Low power use and enhanced security as standard
The FX30 offers low power consumption, using less than 1W in idle mode and 2mW in ultra-low power mode. This will open up avenues for businesses looking to harness solar and battery-powered applications. Security features include support for the Lightweight M2M protocol and pre-shared key encryption.
Speaking exclusively to Internet of Business, Olivier Beaujard, VP of market development at Sierra Wireless, said:
“IoT promises huge productivity gains among other business benefits. But connecting up so many things is turning out to be costly, complex and time-consuming, inhibiting IoT developments. What’s needed are simpler, more flexible ways to set up and manage those connections. To respond to this the FX30 combines open source Linux programmability and multiple network support from 2g to LTE in the most compact possible form factor. Unlike other solutions, there’s also a connectors capability that means our customers can add in many other connectivity options quickly and easily like Ethernet, Bluetooth and WiFi, in addition to exploiting the complete array of cellular connectivity to support a wide span of IoT applications especially in the industrial and utility sectors.”