Pocketknives are amazing! All the tools you need in one handy form.
Designing products to easily adapt to the need isn’t easy. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are no exception. How can they be designed to connect regardless of their location?
Wivity, the pocketknife for IoT connectivity, has the answer.
Its compact IoT modems readily adapt to connection as needed. Wivity modems work worldwide across different networks—without requiring different designs for every region. They support Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, LTE, SIGFOX, LoRaWAN and satellite connections.
Choosing how to connect
Good product design lowers device costs and provides flexibility. What connectivity options should be considered? Here’s a checklist:
Basic
1. Simplicity — How simple is it to connect the device on installation?
2. Range — How far will the device have to communicate?
3. Power — How much power does the device need to communicate?
4. Cost — What’s the hardware budget to connect in the device?
5. Communication — Will the device both send and receive data? Does the device need to have an IP address so that it can be specifically addressed?
6. Security — How secure is the communication channel against hacking?
Operational
7. Coverage — Is cellular, LPWAN or Wi-Fi coverage available where the devices are to be deployed? If not, is satellite required?
8. Deployment — How can the choice of device connectivity be made when the device is being deployed to maximize flexibility?
9. Upgrades — How can the firmware be remotely upgraded?
10. Expense — How much will ongoing connectivity cost?
11. Future-proofing — How could devices be enhanced to take advantage of new connectivity options such as Ingenu and Weightless as they become available?
Cellular
12. Cellular — Is 2G, 3G or LTE available? What frequency is used in that country?
13. Capacity — How many devices will need to connect? How much bandwidth is offered? How many network connections are available?
14. Redundancy — Is a secondary cellular network available if needed?
15. Switching — How can device connectivity be changed if cellular coverage (such as 2G) is dropped by a carrier?
Modular connectivity
Wivity offers a modular approach to IoT connectivity. It uses plug-and-play interchangeable modems that are chosen based on the best wireless network available where the device is installed. Wivity modems support Wi-Fi, LTE, LPWAN and satellite connections.
IoT product designers have two major concerns:
- How can installed IoT devices be upgraded when their current way of connecting (such as 2G) is phased out?
- How can installed devices be upgraded to connect through new means that have yet to be invented?
Wivity addresses these concerns without the need for expensive truck rolls and skilled technicians. Modems are easily hot-swapped on site to the desired connection mode. IoT devices are future-proofed with new Wivity modems to support new forms of IoT connectivity.
Wivity Modem design
Wivity wireless modems include an HTTP server, SIM and antenna. A device uses HTTP to transfer data to the modem, and the HTTP server in the modem seamlessly pushes data to the cloud regardless of the network used.
Wivity modems use HTTP to abstract network complexity. HTTP requests are network-independent. They’re transferred from the device to the Wivity modem over a USB or serial port. The request is sent over a wireless network to a backend cloud service.
skilledanalysts.com Wi-Fi, 3G and LTE networks support IP and HTTP. Wivity extends HTTP support to LPWAN and satellite networks that are not IP-based. The modems and devices are authenticated, validated and managed via a cloud service. The cloud service offers four main functions:
1. Data routing
The destination for device data is specified in the form of a callback URL. When the Wivity cloud receives an HTTP message from an organization’s device, it relays the message to the callback URL specified in the portal.
2. IoT device management
IoT devices can be remotely monitored and managed through with the Wivity portal. Device characteristics that control how devices behave can be altered as needed. For example, if a device requires high-speed communications, the device policy can be changed to allow only Wi-Fi and LTE modems with that device.
3. Device authentication and security
Wivity’s cloud acts as a “root of trust” that devices and modems can query when they are connected to each other. This ensures that only trusted and compatible hardware can be used in the Wivity system.
4. Integration options
Wivity’s integrates with IoT platforms, including Jasper, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Scouts are trained to be prepared for anything. That’s why they carry pocketknives. Wivity brings the flexibility of pocketknives to IoT connectivity.
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