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Hire TalentAs requested by our previous post discussion participants in LinkedIn, we’re continuing our coverage of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the gateway devices that facilitate access to it. In that first post we explored some popular IoT gateway platforms and in this post, we will discover three more of the players attempting to exploit and expand on the new architecture.
The IoT attempts to include all instrumented devices within the protocols of the Internet and to make them talk to each other and fit into an organized framework of data. The IoT shows the potential to leverage all of the computational power in a network, whether it is at the edges or deep within the system.
IoT gateway devices are as diverse as the situations in which they serve. Manufacturers draw on their experiences, customer bases and the emerging capabilities of software and hardware to find niches within the new field. Connectivity, analytics, and security are the most important features in the IoT; these companies are making the most of their abilities to deliver on the promises of the new technology.
Cisco
Cisco is taking the aggressive and forward-thinking stance of positioning the company’s offerings regarding what it calls the Internet of Everything (IoE). After all, they argue, that is where the growing connectivity of the IoT is taking us. Cisco introduces the concept of fog computing. This novel approach describes how the IoT and cloud computing bring connected devices into distributed computing, right at the source.
As you might imagine, Cisco has a diverse range of IoT compatible routing and connectivity devices that use many different wired and wireless connecting technologies to integrate disparate devices into coherent networks. The fog computing approach works with IOx, which is Cisco’s API for IoT. The company shares IOx with many branded partners such as General Electric and SAP.
Cisco’s range of equipment provides gateway access, aligned with the company philosophy, and which include industrial switching, routing, and wireless equipment, supported by embedded and field networks while ensuring physical and cyber security throughout the network. Cisco provides Industrial Ethernet 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 gateways for wired access, as well as the IW 3700 and Aironet 1500 series of wireless gateways.
Dell
The IoT systems from Dell emphasize the balance between hardware, software, and platform to create a secure and transparent IoT experience. Dell has a philosophy, similar to that of Cisco, referring to an IoT ecosystem that enables analytics at the edge, as well as in data centers and the cloud; this pushes computation out to the connected devices that are doing the work and collecting the data. Dell offers the Edge Gateway 5000 and 5100, designed to operate high-bandwidth, secure, and cost-effective IoT networks.
Faltcom
Fältcom is a Swedish company that is taking the lead in connecting machines to machines, across a broad range of industries. CIO Review named the company as one of its top 20 M2M Solution Providers for 2015. The company provides connectivity for transportation systems, vehicles, buildings and other custom IoT solutions. The core of the company’s IoT offering builds into one hardware platform, the MIIPS Unit.
The MIIPS is a Linux-based device that uses software and connectivity to create thousands of network options to customize the platform for your use-case. The MIIPS has ports for Ethernet, serial, USB, as well as analog inputs that give it full backward compatibility. The antennae include GSM, CDMA, GPS, and LTE. There is a range of apps for the platform created by Fältcom, customers, and by third-party developers. Because the platform is open, it has tremendous potential for further support from third-party apps and for those that users develop for previously unexpected use-cases.
to be continued...
