CENTAURI 200 IoT Gateway Solution

Today, businesses are adopting a "start small" strategy. The Internet of Things (IoT) is destined to expand rapidly in the coming years, unlocking new dimensions of interconnected services that enhance consumer lifestyles and enterprise productivity.

How can businesses launch an end-to-end IoT system?

The following are key components of the IoT ecosystem:

IoT Gateway: The gateway is a critical component of the IoT ecosystem, enabling easy management of data flow between IoT devices and the connected network. The importance of IoT gateways can be understood when considering the use cases of IoT connectivity environments. IoT gateways aggregate sensor data, convert between sensor protocols, and process sensor data before transmission.

IoT Networks: Manufacturers and operators deploying large-scale mesh networks in smart commercial and industrial environments require the ability to debug, control, and monitor a large number of end nodes. Network security, flexibility, interoperability, scalability, and robustness are crucial for the commercial success of Large Node Networks (LNN).

IoT Connectivity: In terms of IoT connectivity, IoT devices/sensors collect information and share it with the next layer using different wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Thread, and other proprietary RF protocols for IoT gateway connections, along with Wi-Fi and Ethernet for northbound connectivity.

IoT Devices: With the significant expansion of IoT end devices, there will be a multitude of sensors with various functionalities, such as temperature, light, noise, location of individuals and equipment, security systems, and more. Typically, these IoT devices are low-power, battery-powered terminal devices with one or more sensors. They need to be part of the LNN and respond rapidly to any changes in sensor readings or user-required controls or cloud-based analytics.

Cloud and Mobility: IoT involves not only sensing but also control systems. All data enters the cloud and IoT services run on top of a data visualization platform using secure protocols and communication proxy services, database services, rule engines, and data analytics services. Mobile applications enable end-users to control terminal devices, such as turning lights on/off, HVAC control, network dashboards/status monitoring, and more.

In conclusion, selecting the right IoT platform for building, along with the ongoing support of hardware and cloud technology partners, is crucial for successfully embracing the IoT wave. Starting from a large number of end devices, sensors wirelessly connect to the IoT gateway, which, in turn, connects to cellular or Wi-Fi networks, cloud platforms (PaaS), and end-user mobile applications. The entire ecosystem needs to work efficiently and securely while supporting the scale of large LNNs.

Interconnected devices have brought forth a series of challenges, making them a truly cost-effective and scalable solution for many traditional products. Here are some key challenges of the Internet of Things (IoT):

Identifying IoT connectivity options: IoT devices are connected through various wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Thread, LoRa, Sigfox, and other proprietary radio frequency protocols for IoT gateway connections, as well as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and cellular for northbound connections. Each of these options can connect to different control environments and has distinct management and security models. Given the diverse range of RF network interconnect options, selecting the appropriate platform for a solution is a major challenge.

Reducing ownership costs and accelerating time to market: Product manufacturers and operators want to ensure that their IoT strategies are suitable for the markets they serve and whether they offer cost-optimized solutions that align with the desired features for promotion. Additionally, they aim to enter the market as quickly as possible. Their primary concerns revolve around selecting the right platform, technology, sensors, and a comprehensive end-to-end solution, including cloud choices, hosted PaaS or SaaS solutions, and mobile applications.

End-to-end technology and ownership support: Manufacturers and suppliers need complete support and control over their products from the supplier's side to enable further product enhancement or diversification into another market. Therefore, they require design and support models that provide timely and effective support when needed.

The CENTAURI 200 IoT gateway platform helps OEMs overcome challenges in the following ways:

Built on the energy-efficient and cost-optimized ARM® Cortex-A7® i.MX6UL/6ULL/6ULZ SoC processors, the Centauri 200 IoT gateway supports modular RF connectivity to build multi-protocol IoT gateways. It enables control/monitoring of 200+ devices through Android and iOS mobile applications and integrates seamlessly with cloud platforms such as IoTify, AWS IoT, Ayla Networks, IBM BlueMix*, and Microsoft Azure*.

It also supports AWS IoT Greengrass and AWS IoT Core for rapid development on the gateway while providing all standard security and scalability features offered by AWS for IoT Solutions.

VOLANSYS CENTAURI 200 supports multiple radio connections, facilitating seamless data flow between devices connected via low-power Bluetooth (BLE), Thread, Z-Wave, Zigbee modules, and various cloud options. It also supports LTE modules from Telit (ECEL EG91/BG95/BG96), Ethernet, and Wi-Fi options for northbound connectivity.

The gateway is certified by Verizon for CAT M1 and CAT1 categories, allowing solution providers to focus more on their end-user applications. These features make CENTAURI 200 IoT gateway an ideal choice for OEMs and IoT solution providers to build their solutions.

The gateway reference design includes rapid customization and application deployment, providing production-ready hardware, schematics, bill of materials, and comprehensive software documentation.

Designers can evaluate, develop, prototype, iterate, field test, install, and maintain Large Node Networks (LNN) for commercial environments. It also offers solution providers the opportunity to quickly build their business applications using the CENTAURI software framework on the CENTAURI Gateway platform.

The CENTAURI 200 gateway offers advantages to multiple IoT solution providers and OEMs in building feature-rich business applications based on the open-source Linux platform. It provides secure communication, relevant business logic, real-time alerts, and more. This is a significant differentiator compared to other IoT gateway solutions available in the market. The modular architecture of CENTAURI 200 platform adds further advantages and versatility.

What is the cost and time to market for a gateway built on the CENTAURI 200 platform?

Let's consider an example. One of the leading commercial lighting solution providers wants to expand their IoT strategy and build new functionalities and interconnected lighting solutions for smart cities. They choose to use the CENTAURI 200 IoT gateway platform, initially for concept validation and then for customized design.

Concept validation within 2 weeks: VOLANSYS assists the customer in understanding the concept and their connectivity strategy, helping them build a concept validation using end devices with Thread support integrated into lighting fixtures. They also create an end-to-end demonstration using the CENTAURI 200 gateway solution, all within approximately 2 weeks. The customer can use this for on-site testing and early demonstrations of their product concept.

Customized design changes and production completed in 12 weeks with certification in 6 weeks: After the successful completion of the concept validation phase, the customer intends to adopt a customized version of the gateway solution to remove additional peripheral devices. VOLANSYS collaborates with the customer to streamline and manufacture/produce the customized solution within approximately 12 weeks and helps the product obtain formal certification within an additional 6-8 weeks. Certification activities can run in parallel if there are no significant design changes affecting pre-certification.

Total cost of ownership between $60,000 to $70,000 with a landing cost below $50,000: The customer incurs an expense of around $60,000 to $70,000, including design modifications, branding, custom packaging NRE, and certification costs. They are ready to launch the customized gateway solution within the production timeline. The cost per customized gateway is below $60, and the volume is set at 10,000 units.

If the customer were to design and develop this customized solution on their own without leveraging the CENTAURI 200 Gateway platform, it would easily cost them at least $2.5 million in design, development, NRE, and certification expenses, taking 1.5+ years to reach a product-ready stage. Therefore, the CENTAURI 200 Gateway platform enables them to reduce time to market and design and development costs by a factor of three, which is substantial.