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Appareo Releases New Open Platform Telematics Device with Truly Global Connectivity

NEWS RELEASE

Appareo Releases New Open Platform Telematics Device with Truly Global Connectivity

The IP67-rated Gateway 370 features Iridium® SBD, 4G/3G/2G, and eSIM, certified for use in the USA, Canada, Europe, Brazil, and more.

FARGO, North Dakota (January 21, 2021) — Appareo today released a new product in the company’s award-winning line of telematic control units (TCUs). The Gateway 370 is a rugged yet lightweight edge computing platform for mobile equipment applications that provides a wide range of communication technologies. This release builds on the Gateway 270 model that was launched in 2020, adding an Iridium short burst data (SBD) satellite transceiver for truly global communication capabilities, and a 433 MHz receiver for use with sensors and active RFID tags.

Gateway 370 is built on an open and flexible platform that supports standard programming languages and tools, allowing Appareo customers to quickly and easily develop their own applications on the hardware. The device is built on a popular distribution of embedded Linux (Yocto) with Docker support, allowing a convenient development environment for C++, C#, or other common development languages.

“This flexibility and approachability gives Appareo customers the control they desire — allowing them to use a variety of approaches and resources to achieve the maintenance, service, and operational benefits customized to their needs,” said David Batcheller, President & CBO of Appareo.

In addition to the satellite and 433 MHz radios, the Gateway 370 comes with the full set of features found in the Gateway 270 model, including global LTE CAT 4 cellular radio with 3G/2G fallback and eSIM; dual core processor for handling significant computational capabilities at the edge; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces for communication between mobile devices and the machine for control and/or monitoring purposes; 6x CAN bus interfaces; Ethernet; BroadR-Reach; RS-232; GPS; and more.

These capabilities are housed in an IP67-rated rugged enclosure for use outdoors and for mounting on construction and agricultural machinery. The device’s array of wired and wireless communication technologies make it well suited for a broad spectrum of equipment control, monitoring, and connectivity challenges.

Wide Area Network
The Gateway 370 is certified for deployment in a broad range of North American, South American, and European markets, making it ideal for equipment manufacturers with broad geographic distribution. Appareo worked with carrier partners Vodafone International and Tata Communications to maximize the geographic potential of the Gateway 370. However, cellular coverage is still limited in some geographies. Appareo’s inclusion of an Iridium transceiver in Gateway 370 ensures that Appareo customers stay connected with their machines and that critical machine data can be retrieved, wherever that equipment may be (land, air, or water).

Local Area Network
The LAN connections (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 433 MHz) allow machines to communicate directly with each other and with the operators or passengers. For example, people near the machine can be connected, informed, or in control, using real-time data with zero latency and no network costs. Further, the Gateway 370 can communicate with active RFID products (e.g., asset trackers), tire pressure sensors, and other wireless machine sensors. This capability allows for machines to receive information from hydraulic and mechanical attachments, and despite the lack of electrical power on those attachments, use information from the active RFID tag to recognize the attachment, and automatically adjust machine control settings accordingly.

For applications where Iridium is not required and the application may be more cost sensitive, defeatured variants of the Gateway telematic control units are available with the same open platform principle. This family design approach allows Appareo customers to access and utilize a variety of TCUs, on the same open platform, with a variety of capabilities and price points to address specific needs.

Appareo Gateway Series

To contact Appareo, acquire a development kit, and begin working with Appareo Gateways, visit appareo.com/gateways.

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About Appareo
Appareo is a recognized leader in the custom design, development and manufacture of innovative electronic and software solutions for aerospace and terrestrial applications. Through the creative application of cutting-edge technologies, Appareo creates complex end-to-end solutions that include both mobile and cloud-based components. The company is privately held, with headquarters in Fargo, N.D., and a design office in Paris, France. All products are built and supported in the USA.

Product Photos: appareo.com/media

https://www.appareo.com/2021/01/21/appareo-releases-new-open-platform-telematics-device-with-truly-global-connectivity/

Understanding 4G LTE Categories

LTE consists of a range of different categories of modem, which can be integrated into telematic devices. These different categories include:

    • CAT NB1 (also referred to as NB-IoT)
    • CAT M1 (also referred to as CAT M)
    • CAT 1
    • CAT 4

In general, as you progress down the list above, the power consumption, throughput, and price of the devices increases (all considerably). When comparing specifications and capabilities of different telematic devices, it can be difficult to know what is the right level of capability for your cellular data transfer needs. This post will provide a brief summary and application-level insight to this area of potential confusion when specifying or purchasing telematic products.

NB-IoT and M1

Although these newer, low-energy cellular technologies are grouped together, they are not exactly the same thing. Most hardware that supports one also supports the other, so you can prototypically get both capabilities in a single package. This is new and cool, and will continue to grow in things it can accomplish within the geographies where it can be deployed.

Although you’ll hear NB-IoT and M1 discussed in the context of vending machines, pollution monitors, electric meters, and wearables, these technologies absolutely have a role to play in mobile vehicles and equipment. Here is what’s great about both NB-IoT and M1:

  • Very low power
  • Provide superior range over CAT 1 and CAT 4 modems (our testing has shown that NB-IoT and M1 devices frequently have cellular connectivity in areas where cell phones do not)
  • Lowest cost of any cellular components or data plans
  • Deploys using existing cellular infrastructure, so lots of new support is expected to come online
  • Secure

As my mother always told me growing up, nothing is free. There’s a trade-off for the lower power consumption, lower price, and improved range of the NB-IoT and M1 technologies. Here’s what you spend to get that goodness:

  • Lower data rate (~375 kbs)
  • Higher latency for wake-up applications

If you have a few sensor parameters, or a couple of buses of CAN data, to send on M1 is a great technology for mobile applications.

CAT 1

This is the bread and butter of telematic connectivity technologies. LTE CAT 1 is capable of supporting feature-rich telematic products with enough throughput to support streaming meaningful amounts of data while vehicles are on the go. The maturity of the technology makes it broadly available in a large number of geographies, with mature modem hardware and firmware support and a full-featured build-out of carrier capabilities. This technology is a little more expensive than NB-IoT and M1, but has the following advantages over those technologies:

  • Higher data streaming throughput (up to 10 Mbs)
  • Lower latency for wake-up applications
  • Broader global coverage

If you need to deploy a solution broadly for mobile equipment (touching dozens of countries), need to offload a fairly large amount of machine data in a hurry, or require support for streaming video or other data-intensive content, then CAT 1 is going to be the way to go for your application.

CAT 4

LTE CAT 4 modems can absolutely scream data. These modems can hit 150 Mbs, more than ten times the throughput of their CAT 1 counterparts. They are also complex, expensive, and power hungry. These modules are typically reserved for spaces like the handset market. Unless you need to aggregate a lot of data from a lot of machines, or provide streaming services to a large number of passengers onboard a vehicle, it is unlikely that the cost or complexity of this technology will be appropriate for your mobile application.

David Batcheller – President & CBO

https://www.appareo.com/2020/11/09/understanding-4g-lte-categories/