THE INGENU BLOG

July 19, 2016

LPWA-Disruptive new networks for IoT

Engerati – Julyengerati 19, 2016 – Machina Research has for a long time identified the emergence of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks as one of the most far-reaching trends in M2M and IoT, and in the course of 2015 these technologies have truly come of age. At the moment, practically every technology supplier, service provider, and enterprise that can be regarded as the cutting edge of IoT is trying to understand how LPWA will enable, or impact, its business.  Read more>>

July 18, 2016

Reduce, Rethink, Recycle

When deploying an Internet of Things (IoT) strategy, it is important to consider the longevity of the network as well as the longevity of the devices that will be attached to said network.  The benefit of the IoT lies in its relatively low device costs, but this benefit can be all but negated when the device needs regular servicing or replacement.

Avoiding an expensive service truck roll is paramount, especially when it is just to change out a device battery. Low-power networks typically serve devices which are battery powered, and ideally, these devices should remain operational for years, even decades without the need for attention.

Changing IoT device batteries can harm profitability, but it can be even more harmful to the environment.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries, which equates to about 180,000 tons of waste.  While modern batteries do not contain the same harmful properties of their predecessors, choosing to recycle these batteries is still a better choice as they can take decades to break down in a landfill.

Although the U.S. is a leader in IoT device adoption, it lags far behind other countries in battery recycling initiatives.  It is estimated that European countries such as Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden recycle more than 50% of all batteries, while the United States is in the low double digits for battery recycling, despite the prevalence of clean initiatives throughout the nation.

Aside from changing habits, we should look at changing consumption.  As advances in battery life technology continue to progress, devices can utilize fewer and fewer batteries throughout their lifetimes.  Additionally, designing an IoT network to effectively transmit data at very low power can also help extend battery life.   So, when implementing an Internet of Things strategy, remember that the battery is one of the most important “things” that should be considered.

For more discussion on this topic, download our white paper, The Six Secrets to Extremely Long Battery Life.

July 15, 2016

Is RPMA Just Another Wi-Fi?

When I first received this question I didn’t know how to respond.  In fact, I was a little offended.  After further reflection, I could understand how people could lump Ingenu™’s technology into the Wi-Fi category.  Ingenu offers a wide-area network, utilizing Random Phase Multiple Access(RPMA®) technology, in the 2.4GHz frequency. Most Wi-Fi routers in people’s homes utilize the same 2.4GHz frequency.  I guess it could then be inferred that since RPMA uses 2.4GHz and Wi-Fi uses 2.4GHz they may be similar. However, RPMA is very different from Wi-Fi on many levels.

Without getting too technical, the major difference between the two technologies is that Wi-Fi was created for local area networks designed for people who want extremely fast data speeds to stream high-bandwidth content. Conversely, RPMA was purpose-built for machines that want to transmit small amounts of sensor data over wide areas. Like many other high-throughput technologies, Wi-Fi places priority on downlink bandwidth, whereas RPMA prioritizes uplink, because machines need to upload data far more often than download data (though RPMA has generous two-way communication, including supporting over-the-air  firmware upgrades behind the scenes). Overall, both technologies are different in many ways and the reason is because they were both built for two different purposes, RPMA for machines and Wi-Fi for people’s high bandwidth data needs.

You can compare the two terms of vehicles, Wi-Fi could liken to a Chevy Corvette and RPMA could be likened to a Honda Accord.  The Corvette will allow you to travel at extremely fast speeds but, depending upon who you talk to, is overkill for everyday driving.  Also, the cost of maintaining a Corvette is much higher than the cost of maintaining an Accord.  As for the Accord, it uses gas more efficiently, is less expensive to maintain, and can last a lot longer on the road.  Sticking with the vehicle comparison, it is again important to remember that both vehicles are built with two different purposes, one for speed and horsepower and the other for longevity and reliability.

In closing, RPMA uses the same frequency as many Wi-Fi routers, but Wi-Fi and RPMA are two completely different technologies built for two completely different purposes.

July 15, 2016

We Have Interference Covered

Any good business lives by the mantra that the customer is always right.  At Ingenu™, we follow that mantra and strive to provide all of our customers with excellent service. However, there may be just a few things that our potential partners may initially have wrong when inquiring about the RPMA® (Random Phase Multiple Access) technology and the significant role it plays in the M2M/IoT space today. We take pride in clearing up theses misconceptions and are excited to set our potential customers on the right track.

When finding out that Ingenu’s RPMA technology operates on the globally free unlicensed band of 2.4GHz, the first response and concern we typically get is, “There is no way you can utilize such a crowded spectrum like 2.4GHz and not have a problem with interference.” Although interference is a valid concern, it was one that our founders considered when they were developing the technology over eight years ago.   I typically find myself trying to share all of the things that our engineers did when designing the technology to battle interference. I share how Ingenu built the RPMA technology from the ground up with interference in mind and has the capability to control all layers of the technology stack.  Not only do we have access to the application layer, but Ingenu has full control over the network, MAC and Physical Layer as well. This gives Ingenu a huge advantage when it comes to interference.

I also like to share several other advantages, such as that RPMA is a DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) technology that allows for unprecedented processing gain, which helps to curb same channel interference or any noise from adjacent channels in the spectrum. We have added forward error correction and data acknowledgment to minimize transmission times by only sending the data that was lost and sending back an acknowledgment message to ensure all data was received. From there, I make sure that customers know that what makes the RPMA technology even more robust and resistant to interference is its capability to run an entire network on a single 1MHz channel of the 80 available on the 2.4GHz spectrum. This allows us to avoid the well known channels of large contributors of interference like Wi-Fi modems. The RPMA technology is even capable of choosing another tower to communicate with altogether if the interference is too great. Simply put, our technology is smart enough to choose the best communication path to make sure there is no data loss during the transmission.

There are several other things that we do to handle interference and the items listed above are all great attributes of the technology. But, I sometimes think that even after sharing all of the technical advantages of RPMA, the best argument to be made on handling interference doesn’t lie in the technical details.  The best way to put to rest any concern is to simply share the success that RPMA has already had worldwide. We have 38 private networks in 16 different countries sending 4.3 million messages every day on that same congested, overloaded 2.4GHz band, and have been doing this for more than five years.  We have interference covered.

July 14, 2016

Solving Coverage Issues

Coverage, coverage, coverage, this is what the market is looking for. It is ready to have a solution that can meet its coverage demands and yet not sunset. All it takes is a quick conversation with Ingenu™ and the attention quickly turns to, “how fast can development begin?”

So how does Ingenu help solve the long-term coverage issues plaguing IoT/M2M?

Low cost of infrastructure means low network costs. Ingenu has purpose-built its technology from the ground up with this very thought in mind. With a two-year deployment plan for domestic ubiquitous coverage, there has to be minimal infrastructure in order to make that happen. It starts with the access points. Our APs have an expansive range to which no other LPWAN or even cellular carrier can compare. In perfect topography, each access point can reach 400 square miles (like some down in Texas). It takes 10 times that amount with a cellular tower. The ability to scale is clearly seen with that kind of range and coverage availability. Our APs also have an incredible ability to “talk” to multiple devices simultaneously. One of our APs can talk to over 260,000 end points with no loss of message. We have built message acknowledgement into our technology and have protocols assigned to avoid things like message congestion and interference. The scalability factor is also just as impressive. To cover a given area in the United States, it takes one Ingenu AP compared to 18 with LoRa and 70 with Sigfox.

Network guarantees are just as important. When creating a network dedicated to IoT and M2M connectivity, a long lifecycle of the network is crucial. Unlike the carriers whose constant battle is network sunsetting, Ingenu will never face that problem. That comes from spectrum choice. We operate on the 2.4 GHz ISM band. This is globally available and costs nothing to use. It’s the same band that Wi-Fi uses and supports everything from your home microwave to large wireless networks. The decision to use this spectrum gave us the ability to offer these 20 years-plus network guarantees. When you look at the cellular carriers, they’ll always have to be thinking of the next best network. They will always prioritize on the heavy data and voice users as that is where the majority of the revenue is derived. Cellular carriers rededicate 40% of their yearly revenues to spectrum, quite an expensive task. AT&T, for example, will complete their 2G shutdown by January 1, 2017.

We have defined Ingenu as “Simply Genius” and that truly is what our network represents. Not only have we built this technology from the ground up, we’ve made it accessible to all. Ingenu is just getting started and with global markets already built and domestic sites already completed, we will continue to dominate the IoT market in a way no other carrier can.

July 14, 2016

Why RPMA? Why Now?

In reading through all of the technology and MNO (mobile network operator) strategies, the question many business owners contemplate is, “Which technology should I invest in, and when should I do so?

Google the “Cycle Hype of IoT”, and there are copious eye charts of each emerging technology and productivity. It is no wonder why some companies are afraid of adopting new technologies.

There is always comfort in the known. However, even within the known technologies there is an extreme amount of movement, and with each release a faster, smarter or new wave of communication.

The pace of each dying technology is also rapidly evolving, for example 2G, 3G and 4G have already begun or will be sun setting their networks in the very near future.

If you attended any large conferences this year there is already marketing activity surrounding 5G and NB-IoT and of course the various categories of LTE (M, O, 1, etc.) These all sound like alphabet soup to me!  How do you know which category of LTE to select?  When will the hardware for that specific category be widely available? Will that category have all the frequencies you need in the US or internationally?  How long will it last before another category replaces it and what sort of network performance are you left with? There are so many questions with few answers available.

What I know, have tested and proven, is that with RPMA® (Random Phase Multiple Access) you get a network that is built for real IoT solutions that closes the gap on network and communication problems.  There is not a list of frequencies, categories and service features you have to navigate and understand from an operator perspective.  As a business owner, you get what you ask for: TRANSPORT of your data from your device to your solution, one simple selection, service!  It is pretty simple and straightforward as it should be.

But let’s return to the question at hand – which technology should a business owner invest in?   Which technology can stand the test of time? Is it possible a technology can be implemented beyond two or three years anymore?  Will a business owner need to constantly plan for this type of technology evolution and at this extreme pace?

Ingenu’s RPMA, I know, another technology acronym, a new(er) technology, but certainly tested and used by some industry giants, provides the security and communication confirmations used in IoT solutions.

RPMA has the same out-of-the-box connectivity you get with a cellular network, with security layers and redundancy, but with distinct advantages cellular doesn’t have because RPMA is designed exclusively for machines. For instance, RPMA can support 20-year battery life, something cellular couldn’t even dream of.

Is the frequency different? Absolutely. However, if you look around the world and examine the frequencies used over the last five years, there has been quite a bit of shifting as the frequencies used needed to be re-optimized for more and more users of each network. These networks have been built for consumers and the million of Android and Apple phones among others along with wireless tablets and gadgets all streaming applications, videos and other apps. It’s no wonder they are crowded and sometimes even throttled.  There have been numerous articles outlining the frequency crunch with US operators but let’s leave that to Washington to settle.   However, with RPMA, you have access to the “Machine Network” which is carefully crafted and designed to allow machines to talk to one another.  Are there millions of machines all talking together? Absolutely, but this network was designed for this traffic, navigating it carefully and efficiently. Additionally, there is no re-optimization or change for the RPMA frequency. So, you may be thinking, what happens when the next generation presents itself?  Technology updates can be managed over the air, resulting in not touching the device you have deployed.  You can simply manage your update over the air. It has been built to last.

So why now?  Technology is rapidly changing and evolving and the timeline to your next truck roll should already be a part of your business plan if you’re continuing down the cellular operator path.

If you’re looking for your next-generation device, and may be moving from an older 2G or 3G technology and want to ensure your capital investments are materialized into a long-term plan, you should think about RPMA.  Perhaps you are a new company looking for a long-term strategy to design your solution? Again, the clear answer is RPMA. With RPMA, you have a network with a proven commitment to solutions with only the machines talking to one another.

Take a walk outside your comfort zone and take a look behind the curtain and see what RPMA is really all about.  In turn, your dollars and cents will add up quickly, returns on investment will outperform and increase your bottom line and the technology will stand well beyond the next decade.

July 13, 2016

My Fascination with RPMA

“How can a 2.4 GHz radio signal from one tower cover 300 square miles when my 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi access point can hardly cover my house?”

This is a question I often get asked when I first tell people about the capabilities of the Ingenu Machine Network.

I wondered the same thing when I first started following all the low-power wide area (LPWA) network industry.  Sigfox, LoRa and Weightless-N were all using 868/915 MHz frequencies to cover long distances at low power.  I thought Ingenu was exaggerating their claims.

That coupled with the fact that the industry analysts I’d been following for the previous three years had said that the company was a niche player.  They didn’t appear to be interested in expanding beyond the utility and oil & gas industries.

Boy, were they wrong.  Things changed dramatically when John Horn came to Ingenu.  He is a 14-year veteran of the machine-to-machine (M2M) industry and was appointed CEO in mid-2015.  With the blessing of the board, he immediately changed the company name from On-Ramp Wireless to Ingenu and committed Ingenu to deploying its Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA®) technology on the company’s public Machine Network™ in 30 metropolitan areas in the US by the end of 2016.

When I read that, while preparing to do a presentation to update the Dallas IEEE chapter, I did a lot more digging to understand why Ingenu was so confident and willing to commit to such an aggressive goal.

As I researched the technology behind Ingenu’s RPMA protocol, I began to understand the power of the technology and why the company would ultimately be successful.

The first thing I learned was that two engineers from Qualcomm had started On-Ramp Wireless back in 2008.  I knew the technology that Qualcomm had created was very powerful.  Their radio protocols were used for clandestine communications during the Cold War.  Those techniques evolved and became the basis for the cellular industry’s CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) standard.  Powerful stuff.

Then I also discovered:

  • Ingenu had installed 38 private RPMA networks worldwide since 2008
  • Over the eight years of its existence, the company had invested over 300 person-years in development, enhancements and real-world field testing to create an extremely sophisticated radio protocol dedicated for machine-only communications
  • The radio signal is a highly processed signal that uses such techniques as:
    • Spread spectrum
    • Extreme “processing gain”
    • Selectivity
    • Tight control of remote node transmit power
    • Antenna diversity
    • Custom ASIC to control the node’s complex calculations and functions
    • The list goes on…

The more I read about Ingenu and their intensely scientific and highly engineered approach the more impressed I was.

As a final step in my research, I decided to reach out to the two engineers that left Qualcomm to start On-Ramp/Ingenu.  Dr. Ted Myers, the CTO of Ingenu connected with me and agreed to talk briefly on the phone.  We expected the call would last maybe 10 or 15 minutes but after an hour we were still talking “geek” about the protocol and how Ingenu planned to build out the RPMA nationwide… then worldwide.

After that call, I was convinced Ingenu’s RPMA protocol was heads and shoulders above the rest of the LPWA players.  I then set my sights on working for Ingenu, and invited their business development team to come to Dallas-Ft. Worth to present their story and spread the word.  I arranged a 90-person meet-up at UT Dallas and took them around to several prospects in the area to explore ideas of how to build an eco-system around the Ingenu Machine Network.

The rest is history.  I’m now working with Ingenu to promote the launch of the Dallas-Ft. Worth network then Austin, Houston and San Antonio as they go live.  What a ride.

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