RoadCloud to offer real-time information on how the weather affects the road network.

RoadCloud, the connected vehicle data platform that provides real-time information for transportation services and systems, and HERE Technologies, a leading location data and technology platform, today announced that they have teamed up to make RoadCloud road friction estimates, road condition data and weather data available via the HERE Marketplace.

As a global location data exchange hub, the HERE Marketplace enables RoadCloud to benefit from its global reach across industries and ecosystems and help the company to broaden its total addressable market and revenue opportunities.

By equipping commercial vehicle fleets with high-fidelity sensors, RoadCloud continuously collects high quality data on the state of the entire road network, including road pavement quality, black ice and potential aquaplaning scenarios. Its optical sensor (infra-red spectrometer and cloud-side calibration) can also collect information on water depth on the road and provide a continuous road friction coefficient.

The RoadCloud data offering consists of both normal vehicle CAN bus (Controller Area Network) data and premium data sets that are produced by RoadCloud's proprietary sensors.

RoadCloud data helps OEMs to increase the safety of their Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and accelerate autonomous vehicle development by providing an accurate view of the road conditions 'behind the next curve'. It also helps smart cities and road authorities maintain roads up to 20% more efficiently and with a 15% lower impact on the environment in both summer and winteri. "Through the HERE Marketplace, we're tapping into an extensive ecosystem of companies and developers. This will enable OEMs and smart cities to seamlessly access and integrate our data into their existing systems", says Ari Tuononen, CEO at RoadCloud.

"The HERE Marketplace is designed to give companies and developers the opportunity to utilize location data at an unprecedented scale and to accelerate data-driven innovation," said Sanjiv Ghate, Vice President and Head of Data Monetization & Marketplace at HERE Technologies. "We welcome RoadCloud as a provider of highly relevant data for the development of safety-critical services for the automotive industry and beyond."

Source: RoadCloud

Semtech Collaborates with AWS and TensorIoT to Simplify IoT Solution Development

Asset Tracking and Smart Building Kits integrated with AWS provide accelerated solutions for Systems Integrators and Enterprises

Semtech Corporation, a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, announced it is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and TensorIoT to simplify Internet of Things (IoT) solution development by offering Asset Tracking and Smart Building Kits that integrate Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® protocol with AWS IoT services. Systems Integrators and Enterprises are now able to use AWS IoT services to accelerate the pilot-to-production lifecycle for their digital transformation applications, while leveraging key AWS native services, such as AWS IoT Core, Amazon API Gateway, AWS Lambda, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon DynamoDB.

The new Asset Tracking and Smart Building Kits are the first vertical product offerings based on the LoRaWAN protocol built using AWS IoT Core and a serverless architecture. In combination, these offerings pave the way for other industry verticals such as utilities, smart home, smart community, and smart healthcare to provide similar solutions that benefit from long range, low power IoT capabilities that LoRaWAN provides.

“LPWAN technologies represent a rapidly growing frontier of connectivity choices for IoT. Hundreds of millions of constrained devices are being connected to solve real world challenges in every vertical. These devices need to be able to communicate through multiple levels of concrete for smart structures or over miles of distance in remote telemetry cases while running on tiny batteries that last 10+ years,” said Michael MacKenzie, General Manager, IoT Connect and Control, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With companies like Semtech, AWS IoT Core customers are delivering LPWAN solutions using LoRa without sacrificing scalability, availability or security.”

In addition to the hardware, the kits provide out-of-the-box Cloud dashboard capabilities to quickly demonstrate the value of IoT solutions in the asset tracking and smart building industries. In many industries such as construction, it is critical to be able to monitor and track fleet equipment to ensure maximum utilization. In other industries such as shipping and logistics, regulatory compliance for “just in time” shipping is driving the need to be able to provide precise information and traceability of inventory from source to destination. The Asset Tracking Kit allows users to locate outdoor assets around a specific location, including performing a regular automated inventory of assets that are available on site. With the data generated by the GPS industrial trackers included with the kit easily viewable on a Cloud dashboard, customers can evaluate the possible benefits of tracking their assets with an out-of-the-box kit.

Market research has shown a strong interest from commercial real estate owners to have more insights into building occupant wellbeing and productivity as well as maximizing space utilization. The Smart Building Kit addresses some of these needs by allowing users to monitor doors and windows, desk and room presence, environmental conditions, and detect water intrusion in near-real time accessible via the Cloud from anywhere.

The solution can be used, for example, in the event of a fire, chemical spill or other hazard to determine the number of employees in that area and ensure they are evacuated quickly and safely. The portable nature of the Smart Building Kit allows users to move sensor locations to assess completeness of network coverage.

“Customer safety is paramount for us at our dine-in restaurant and the Smart Building Kit is going to help us achieve that goal,” said Naga Kolli of Saravanaa Bhavan. “With a solution built on LoRa, AWS IoT Core and other serverless technologies from AWS, we are able to provide confidence to our customers that their safety is our priority.”

For large-scale IoT deployments, scalability is essential, and these kits take advantage of the highly available and scalable infrastructure AWS provides. These kits are built entirely upon the AWS IoT stack, and the Cloud dashboards are designed to be largely serverless from the ground up, relying on native AWS offerings, such as AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Core Rules Engine, AWS IoT Gateway, AWS Lambda, and AWS IoT Device Shadow. TensorIoT, helping customers accelerate the integration of IoT and machine learning (ML) in products and processes across the business, created the Cloud applications to connect the sensors to the AWS Services, providing a complete out-of-the-box experience for the kits.

“The Asset Tracking and the Smart Building Kits are a perfect example of how TensorIoT is working with AWS and Semtech to provide best-in-class IoT solutions leveraging highly scalable AWS Services like AWS IoT Core and Semtech’s LoRa devices,” said Ravi Raghunathan, CEO of TensorIoT. “We are extremely delighted that our customers are able to go from proof-of-concept to production on these solutions rapidly due to the scalable nature of the implementation on AWS.”

The Kits include:

• The functional capabilities of devices based on the LoRaWAN protocol (long battery life, enhanced distance/coverage and a proven protocol), coupled with the power of AWS underneath

• Dashboards built on AWS are open-sourced and can be completely customized

• Functionality allowing easy scalability, from taking the Cloud dashboard “as-is” from proof-of-concept, to pilot-to-production as the underlying infrastructure is “outsourced” to AWS

“Semtech’s LoRa is a proven IoT solution that has been implemented in a variety of industries ranging from smart home and community to asset tracking and smart buildings. Our collaboration with AWS shows that LoRa devices are connected everywhere and LoRa is the de facto platform for IoT LPWAN applications,” said Alistair Fulton, General Manager of Semtech’s Wireless & Sensing Products Group.

The new Kits are available on TensorIoT’s website. To register for the two webinars that will focus on the key benefits of the new Asset Tracking and Smart Building Kits, visit here.

Source: Semtech

Flexible, Secure & Cost Efficient: Why Police Forces Are Turning to Cellular Connectivity for ANPR

Fixed line infrastructure is typically the default method of connectivity for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), the technology relied upon when it comes to helping police forces in criminal investigations and traffic enforcement. Designed to help forces detect, deter and disrupt crime at all levels, ANPR is used for time-critical issues and is responsible for relaying information about the location of vehicles of interest back to the police.

With that in mind, while the use of fixed line network infrastructure in ANPR’s connectivity can be useful for police forces, many are now turning to cellular networks for further flexibility and cost efficiency while remaining secure. For example, the UK’s second largest police force, West Midlands Police, recently approached Wireless Logic to deliver a comprehensive ANPR platform, built on cellular connectivity that is fit-for-purpose and highly scalable, and is seeing great success through a highly cost effective system.

Police forces are increasingly turning to cellular connectivity either to replace a fixed line network connectivity or as back-up. There are three key reasons behind the move: cost, network flexibility and security, all three of which can come together to create a more suitable solution for tracking vehicles. Keeping Costs and Disruption Down Total cost of ownership should be a key consideration when it comes to choosing between fixed line and cellular connectivity. Usage can be cheaper with fixed lines, but maintenance and infrastructure costs tend to be significantly more expensive and over a long period of time, the total cost of ownership becomes higher.

Logistically, fixed lines can also be difficult to deliver. Because of the locations of some ANPR cameras, fixed line network connectivity is not always easily available, and many forces operate deployable ANPR for short term periods – deployed quickly and removed a short while later. A fixed line simply wouldn’t make sense in that instance.

Contrastingly, cellular connectivity can be deployed in days at a fraction of the cost and offers police forces the ability to use mobile ANPR – in-vehicle. Cellular connectivity provides much more flexibility, which is more suited to deploying devices for short term periods, such as events. Flexibility for Efficiency Access to fast and reliable data transfer on a rapid deployment basis is paramount for police forces, who need to be operating at maximum operational efficiency wherever possible.

ANPR cameras are a hugely important piece of equipment in the pursuit of criminals. Registration numbers are read and cross-checked against database records instantly, and it allows police officers to track crimes, playing a significant role in helping to speed up investigations. With that in mind, the speed of data transmission needs to be immediate and reliable at all times.

As such, the networks on which they operate need to offer that speed and reliability.

Through cellular connectivity, that platform is in place. Cameras can be set up with primary and backup networks to fill in any gaps in signal strength or coverage, all of which can be managed through a single platform. Where fixed lines present a single point of failure, a cellular connection can allow devices access to multiple networks in different locations. Typically, these cameras use 4G networks due to bandwidth requirements of the application. However, despite the use of different networks and varying bandwidth needs, everything can be managed simply, without complications, through Wireless Logic’s SIMPro platform – which manages all networks through a single interface, keeping things simple at all times.

SIMPro came in highly useful for West Midlands Police from a control perspective. Wireless Logic’s SIM provisioning and control platform was integrated into the overall solution so that West Midlands Police can now individually monitor and control data usage in real-time, setting up alerts and instructions when thresholds across multiple networks are reached.

Staying Secure

Any IoT application needs security measures in place to protect against unauthorised access. Each ANPR camera records and transmits data about every vehicle that passes it. This, along with the high level of responsibility that police forces have when it comes to handling public data, means that the secure transmission of data is a top priority for ANPR. Cellular IoT devices are able to leverage private network technology, such as certified VPNs and direct physical interconnects in data centres, to help layer security for devices, networks and all data encompassed within.

With security being of absolute importance, finding the right partners and solutions is critical. Wireless Logic holds an ISO27001 certification, and closely follows best practice guidance offered by the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), demonstrating our commitment to information security excellence and continuous improvement.

West Midlands Police’s previous ANPR setup used individual VPN tunnels to each device that required complex management to achieve links in, as well as the termination of data directly to its internal network. From a data security perspective, this was unsatisfactory. The force was essentially using an adapted mobile solution with high latency levels. To combat this complex management (and the costs that came with it), Wireless Logic employed a single VPN terminating at a secure endpoint outside of the corporate network. This was achieved through NetPro – a single encrypted and highly resilient platform with dual-failover, sitting across all of the major MNOs within the UK.

The Future of ANPR

We’ve started to see more police forces transition towards cellular connectivity in order to lower costs, improve connectivity and keep data secure. Within public sector agendas, security, cost management and resilience are all top priorities. Through cellular connectivity, authorities can easily implement fit-for-purpose camera connectivity solutions, all deployed across a single, safe, cost-effective platform; it should certainly be a consideration for police forces looking to improve their ANPR systems.

Cloud-Star technology work closely with Wireless Logic. To find out more about how we can help you deploy ANPR systems through cellular connectivity, click here.

Source: Justin Godfrey-Cass, Wireless Logic