AT&T and Qualcomm Put LTE on Drones

Qualcomm and AT&T will test Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, on commercial 4G LTE networks and upcoming 5G networks.

The UAS trials, which begin later this month at Qualcomm's San Diego campus, will be based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight, which offers high fidelity sensor processing, precise localization, autonomous visual navigation and 4K videography.

The team will look at coverage, signal, strength and mobility across network cells and how they function in flight. The goal of the trials and ongoing research is to help enable future drone operations, such as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), as regulations evolve to permit them. The ability to fly beyond an operator’s visual range could enable successful delivery, remote inspection and exploration. Wireless technology can bring many advantages to drones such as ubiquitous coverage, high-speed mobile support, robust security, high reliability and quality of service (QoS).

“The trial with a carrier with the reach and technology of AT&T is a significant step in the development of connectivity technologies for small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), including optimization of LTE networks and advancement of 5G technology for drones,” said Matt Grob, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Not only do we aim to analyze wide-scalable LTE optimization for safe, legal commercial SUAS use cases with beyond line-of-sight connectivity, but the results can help inform positive developments in drone regulations and 5G specifications as they pertain to wide-scale deployment of numerous drone use cases.”

"Many of the anticipated benefits of drones, including delivery, inspections and search and rescue will require a highly secure and reliable connection," said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, IoT Solutions, AT&T. “With a focus on both regulatory and commercial needs, LTE connectivity has the potential to deliver optimal flight plans, transmit flight clearances, track drone location and adjust flight routes in near real-time. Solving for the connectivity challenges of complex flight operations is an essential first step to enabling how drones will work in the future.”

http://about.att.com/story/qualcomm_and_att_to_trial_drones_on_cellular_network.html
http://www.qualcomm.com

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Verizon and Qualcomm Bet on Cat M1 LTE

Verizon will pre-integrate its ThingSpace IoT platform as-a-service within Qualcomm Technologies’ MDM9206 Category M (Cat M1) LTE modem. The joint initiative also utilizes Verizon’s 4G LTE network as the gateway for simplifying the process of building, deploying and managing IoT applications customized for a wide-range of use cases.

The companies said their collaboration would address the barriers most commonly associated with IoT deployments – including firmware management, real-time device diagnostics, device onboarding and  data access. The collaboration also aims to bring even more sophisticated apps to the forefront such as device security and sensor data visualization. Verizon's ThingSpace IoT platform is expected to be available for OEM integration on MDM9206-based solutions in early 2017.

“When it comes to the internet of things, no single company can go at it alone in order to scale from the millions of devices to the billions of devices needed to create cleaner cities, deliver better healthcare, conserve water and make the digital world work better for consumers and citizens,” said Mike Lanman, senior vice president Enterprise Products and IoT at Verizon. “Simplicity is a necessary starting point and working across the ecosystem – at the network, platform and application levels – is also needed in order to capture the real market opportunity of the internet of things.”

“That’s why solidifying our long-standing relationship with Qualcomm Technologies in this manner to give developers worldwide the tools they need to innovate seamlessly, securely and in a cost-effective structure on 4G LTE combined with our ThingSpace platform, built by Verizon Labs, is an exciting milestone for the industry,” Lanman added.

“Wireless technologies, including LTE and 5G in the future, are rapidly evolving to deliver a scalable, unified and interoperable connectivity platform for the Internet of Things,” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our LTE modems bring not only connectivity but also compute capabilities to all kinds of IoT devices, helping leading operators such as Verizon extend their business models into promising new areas including smart energy and metering, building security, infrastructure, industrial control and automation, retail point of sale and asset tracking.”

http://www.verizon.com
http://www.qualcomm.com

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AT&T Brings Connectivity to LeEco Super Bike

AT&T will be the exclusive U.S. wireless carrier for the LeEco Super Bike, which offers tracking features as well as an alarm triggered by movement, a fingerprint scanner, and an electronic parking brake on the rear disc.

The bike comes with a waterproof smart device with a 4-inch display, running Android software, connected to AT&T’s cellular network.

“The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating endless possibilities for consumers and businesses,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T.  “We already connect millions of things - from cars, homes, and wearables to farms, factories, and cities. The Super Bike shows once again how connectivity can change how we work and play.”

LeEco Super Bike also features a push-to-talk intercom feature, as well as heart rate monitor, accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature and humidity sensors and compass capability.

http://about.att.com/story/att_the_exclusive_wireless_carrier_for_leeco.html

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Intel to Acquire Movidius for Machine Vision Silicon

Intel has agreed to acquire Movidius, a start-up developing a programmable, ultra-low power vision chip. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Movidius is based in San Mateo, California, with design centers in Dublin, Ireland, and Timisoara, Romania.

Intel said the acquisition brings low-power, high-performance SoC platforms for accelerating computer vision applications. Additionally, this acquisition brings algorithms tuned for deep learning, depth processing, navigation and mapping, and natural interactions, as well as broad expertise in embedded computer vision and machine intelligence. Movidius’ technology optimizes, enhances and brings RealSense capabilities to fruition.

http://www.intel.com

• Movidius is headed by Remi El-Ouazzane (CEO), who previously spent 15 years at Texas Instruments where he served as Vice President and worldwide general manager of the Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP) Business Unit. In this role, he led development of strategic relationships with Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

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Sequans Demos LTE Cat M1 Chip

Sequans Communications is demonstrating its LTE Category M1/NB1 chip at this week's CTIA’s Super Mobility Week in Las Vegas.

Sequans’ Monarch chip will be shown in live communication with an LTE eNodeB (base station) emulator, the Amari OTS 100 from Amarisoft.

Monarch is an LTE Cat M1/NB1, LTE Release 13 solution. It is designed specifically for narrowband IoT applications, including sensors, wearables, and other low data, low power M2M and IoT devices. Monarch complies with the ultra-low-power and reduced complexity feature requirements of the 3GPP release 13 LTE Advanced Pro standard, defining narrowband, low data rate LTE technology for machine type communications.

“We are very proud to highlight the key capabilities of Monarch in this first-in-the-industry live demo of a Cat M1/NB1 chip,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. "In designing Monarch, we worked from day one to make sure it would be fully optimized in both cost and power consumption to fully unleash the LTE for IoT market potential. I am very excited to say that Monarch is operating as designed and we expect to have it ready for network deployments in Q4.

http://www.sequans.com/

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Zayo is Awarded 1,800 Site National Mobile Infrastructure Contract

Zayo announced its largest mobile infrastructure contract to date, but did not disclose the customer or financial terms.

Zayo will upgrade and expand the customer’s fiber-to-the-tower (FTT) network, which includes dark fiber to more than 1,800 cell sites in 26 markets across the U.S. With this expansion, Zayo’s FTT network will surpasses an estimated 10,000 cell sites nationwide, including those under construction.

“Close collaboration between Zayo and our customer resulted in a solution that achieved a low price per site for our customer and strong financial outcome for Zayo,” said Dan Caruso, chairman and CEO of Zayo. “Zayo believes the opportunity in these markets is far greater than the scope of this initial award, and the buildout will provide the scaffolding for serving broader requirements in the coming years.”

“The power of second tenant economics is demonstrated through this award, including where the other tenants are from a variety of verticals, such as content providers, technology companies, traditional enterprises and school districts,” added Chris Morley, chief operating officer at Zayo. “The financial merits of a multi-tenant platform will become even more compelling as wireless carriers move toward small cell, 5G and CRAN.”

http://www.zayo.com

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Lanner's Network Appliance Certified with NTT Lagopus SDN

Lanner Electronic's FW-7551  Intel x86 based network appliance has been certified to be compatible with NTT Lagopus SDN software switch. The appliance is powered by Intel Atom CPU C2000 SoC up to 8-core and 8GB 1333/1600 DDR3 memory.

Lagopus, functioning as Open Source Software (OSS), is developed by NTT to provide a high-performance and flexible functionality suitable for data centers and wide area network applications. In the mean time, Lanner has certified Lagopus as a software switch compatible with FW-7551 and potentially Lanner’s other network appliances. The exchanged co-certifications will enhance both parties to be even dynamic in the SDN ecosystem.

Lanner also certified NTT Lagopus SDN virtual switch on its hardware platform for its usability and stability. The co-certification will enhance both parties to be even dynamic in the SDN ecosystem.

http://www.lannerinc.com/

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