New Opportunities for Short Range Device Technologies
Tony Spizzichino, President Telit RF Technologies SaS
m2m Markets and New Opportunities in Short Range Devices (SRD)
>> When talking about m2m markets, it is quite evident that the different machine categories which can be connected do not all present the same level of market maturity and penetration. This is essentially due to the nature of m2m and the optimization of the relevant, individual ROI processes that have driven the evolution of these different categories. The result is that some m2m vertical segments such as Security, Track & Trace, Automotive, and to a lesser extent Automated Utility Meter Reading are already settling into their full potential with healthy and growing penetration rates. This is however, only a small part of the total m2m addressable market which is estimated at some 800 million machines per year. The largest segments making up this tremendous volume include Home Appliances, Residential Utility Meters, and HVAC Equipment all of which require wireless technologies other than cellular.
This is the arena where SRDs in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequencies are found and from where they will be challenging other wireless contenders in the coming years. Telit, following its medium and long term strategy, entered this arena one year ago with the acquisition of ONE RF (now Telit RF Technologies), clearly positioning the company as the only wireless m2m technology provider covering nearly all m2m commercially viable wireless transmission technologies.
What are the challenges for SRD technologies?
As a general statement, project costs as well as the quality and efficiency of the services are largely dependent on the optimization level of the local wireless area network which in turn depends principally on:
- Network topology and configuration
- Frequencies adopted
- Capabilities for remote and self configuration
- Capabilities for remote and self repairing (alternate path)
As far as the network topology is concerned, the most complex and unfortunately common situation to be considered is the coverage of buildings within densely populated urban areas. In this case, the low power dedicated mesh network, explicitly optimized for such requirements, can represent the most suitable solution. Another important parameter for the system design is the selection of the right frequencies to maximize overall performances while reducing power consumption. In fact, whenever the area to be covered presents physical obstacles such as concrete walls, etc., the signal attenuation, which directly impacts power consumption (and thus battery size and cost), is a function of the ratio between the wavelength and the dimension of the obstacle to be penetrated (see figure 2).
It is also clear that the ability to self and/or assisted configure and repair the network as well as the possibility to remotely control all the machines in an IP fashion is not only a “nice to have” but more likely “a must have” when the magnitude of the system reaches several thousands or millions of connected devices.
Telit is well on its way to provide the right market answers to all these issues with an extensive portfolio of IPR developments and products explicitly structured to meet these requirements. Currently made up of 13 products covering almost all IS M frequencies and network topologies, the Telit portfolio offers an exhaustive range of available RF power levels accommodating nearly all existing country specific regulations.
The Progress of Telit RF to Become the Leader in SRD
ZigBee technology is establishing itself as “the standard” for Home Appliances and HVAC equipment. In 2009, Telit RF Technologies released the first ZigBee product family (the ZE50/60) with the successful certification of the fully Telit-developed ZigBee stack. Moreover, in the first quarter of 2010 Telit will become the first company to release ZigBee Pro modules – the ZE51/61 which is 100% compatible with the existing ZE50/60 – based on the new breakthrough chipset, the CC2530. These modules will be equipped with up to 256 KB of memory in a single System on Chip (SoC) providing a real competitive advantage to all Telit partners and customers.
Further consolidating this strong position, Telit signed a development contract with ELECTROLUX, a leading white goods company, for the ENERGY@HOME initiative with ENEL (the largest utility conglomerate in Italy and EU) and TELECOM IT (the largest telecommunications company in Italy and one of the largest in Europe). The Energy Meters segment, integral to the Smart Grid, AMM/AMI m2m markets, is shaping up to become the strongest m2m growth market of the coming five years thanks to a strong push from initiatives spawned by climate change control efforts and strong US and EU legislation. Wherever wired PLC technology cannot be used, ZigBee in the US and Northern Europe, and Wireless M-Bus in Central EU are likely to be the standards of choice for the solution.
In order to play a leadership role in this market as well, in 2009 Telit released its first Wireless M-Bus stack available in two products. The new ME50, pin-to-pin compatible with the new ZE50/60 family, available in the first half of 2010 becomes the smallest and highest performing product in the Wireless M-Bus market. One example of the magnitude and strength of this market is the Italian Gas Metering Project, the largest AMM Gas Meter project which has ever been announced globally, totaling € 3 billion, with a total available market for Telit RF of € 180 million, to be implemented from next year to 2016.
In this case, to reduce the overall costs, an SRD technology in the ISM band will be used to connect the residential gas meters to the AMI with an average concentration factor of approximately 1 to 12.
As part of this effort, Telit has become an active member of the UNI-CIG Committee (Comitato Italiano Gas) which is now defining the standards for the system and the relevant wireless transmission technologies. Telit RF also signed a development and supply contract with Schlumberger, a leading company in AMM, to address the Remote Water Metering market with an innovative and efficient solution that will be released during 2010.
The Telit RF Unique Selling Points
Because our product families maintain the same form factor, Telit partners have readymade and cost effective solutions for whichever RF data connectivity requirements they may have from their applications. Additionally, Telit is uniquely positioned to optimize its various proprietary protocol stacks (i.e. S – for point-to-point/star network applications; M – for low-power, high-efficiency dedicated mesh; and Z – for ZigBee and Wireless M-Bus) to all customization requirements, thereby simplifying architecture and reducing costs as well as time-to-market. On the contrary of our competitors or when a make-it-by-yourself approach is used, Telit, owning and controlling the full IPR on the stacks, is able to assure long term supply, customization, deployment and field support, after sales extended warranty, and maintenance. The result of this unique strategy dramatically reduces the application TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), providing a competitive advantage to our customers by improving the ROI. <<
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