Commercializing advanced technologies is a rising tide that lifts all boats, as any given tech is only as good as the ability to apply it to a purpose. Every advanced tech, from the laser to DSPs, started out as stand-alone products before convergence brought them into more advanced integrated systems. Only by having high levels of integration can an advanced solution, for any application, offer the performance and functionality now expected in the marketplace.

Asset tracking is one of the most widely deployed Internet of Things (IoT) applications. According to Juniper Research, there will be a 27% increase in asset tracking usage over the next five years, growing from 90 million in 2020 to 114 million by 2025. With this increase, IoT solutions need to enable the efficient and reliable monitoring of assets as they move through the production cycle, and often throughout large warehouses and campuses. Having access to reliable location data is increasingly valuable to production managers, reducing the potential for assets to be misplaced or lost entirely during their journey.

Many industries are investing in smart technologies to replace legacy systems with automated asset management solutions. Legacy asset management systems are often power hungry and require multiple devices, software and services from numerous vendors, resulting in increased complexity and cost.

At the same time, IoT solutions can be expensive or impractical to implement because of the vast area the asset needs to travel. The main difficulty is linking remote sensors wirelessly to the internet across a variety of sites, both indoors and outdoors – even across different countries – in a seamless manner. The ideal wireless solution should be cost efficient, low power and secure, with the ability to work over long distances. By coupling those features with a low cost and lightweight solution with a standardized infrastructure, the result is a reliable tracking solution that allows logistics operators to reduce downtime during transportation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, there was a general feeling that it would all be over in six months. Few expected the global shutdown of live events and professional sports. Concert tours were postponed and sports arenas stood empty as the effects of the pandemic rolled on into the year. I had bought tickets to see the My Chemical Romance reunion tour in September 2020, for my son Max’s 18^th birthday. But of course, it’s been postponed (twice) and it looks like I’ll be taking him for his 20^th birthday instead! Pro sports are starting to open up in many countries, and people like me are itching to go to concerts to see our favorite bands, comedians and theater productions, and be immersed in the collective cheers and applause of the audience again. In the immortal words of the late, great Freddie Mercury, “the show must go on!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have geolocation as a native service on any type of connected device? Wouldn’t it be even better if there were a solution with up to 10 times the extended battery life of existing Cellular solutions? How about allowing customers to pay for their geolocation services only when needed? The future of geolocation has arrived.

Since starting out my career working at Dolby Laboratories in the early to mid-90s, I’ve often been referred to as “the audio guy.” However, I’ve actually spent the majority of my career working with video technologies, initially with the Serial Digital Interface (SDI), and more recently, with Software Defined Video over Ethernet (SDVoE™) which is powered by Semtech’s award-winning BlueRiver® technology for Pro AV. Still, I have a soft spot for all things audio and make a point of highlighting the audio features of my product lines, as some of these often get overlooked.

Over the past nine years since I have been with Semtech, Transmission Line Pulse (TLP) basics have always been one of the most important training topics for our new hires and customers. We have received many questions on why we emphasize and extensively rely on TLP analysis to provide the best solution to our customers. TLP testing doesn’t deliver the exact same waveforms as specified by industry standards like IEC 61000-4-2 or ESDA/JEDEC JS-001. It doesn’t guarantee that the IC or the system will pass testing for immunity to required electrostatic discharge (ESD) test levels. It is always recommended to verify all the results with the ESD generator after the TLP test is completed. So, why don’t we just simply test everything with our ESD generator, which is more familiar to most engineers and universally accepted? To answer that, I think it’s important to understand that TLP is not a replacement or an upgrade to the IEC tests, but it is complimentary to the ESD gun tests as an analysis tool. ESD gun test tells us YES or NO, but TLP can help us to understand WHY and HOW.

The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed across the globe is expected to triple over the next decade. As a result of this growth, there’s a need for more low power connectivity to process the small amounts of data these devices produce quickly and securely. Moreover, with 2G and 3G networks sunsetting, enterprises are in need of a low power wide area (LPWA) network that is cost-effective and reliable in order to provide the connectivity needed to power IoT applications across a variety of industries.

Traditional utility operations are labor intensive and utilize subjective measurement by field personnel. Meters are often located in dense urban environments, indoors or even underground, and can be challenging—if not impossible—to reach by wireless technologies. By implementing a smart utilities infrastructure comprised of sensors and gateways utilizing the LoRaWAN® standard including streaming analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), utility and metering companies can collect real-time data , analyze it and act on insights from data no matter where it’s generated – enabling more efficient use of resources and personnel for streamlined operations. 

As one of the oldest industries, agriculture has existed for thousands of years in China. It is the foundation of the national economy and the most fundamental for China to achieve sustainable development. However, with the transformation of our economic structure in recent years, the agriculture industry is facing tough challenges posed by factors such as the increasing shortage of agricultural labor force (farmers increasingly turning to migrant workers), the improper use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the shortage of water resources. How to achieve refined, green and sustainable development of agriculture is the key problem to be addressed in China and even across the world.

As the hype around 5G technology continues to grow, the possibility of faster, more streamlined connectivity is driving conversations globally. But while 5G adoption has started, it continues to roll out slowly. To date, some have experienced the benefits 5G technology can bring, but most are patiently awaiting its arrival – and that’s assuming the technology fits the needs of their use case. 5G technology shows a breadth of new possibilities, however since it’s not a one size fits all technology, connectivity solutions from a variety of sources are still necessary.