LoRa Cloud™ services enhance Semtech’s LoRa® devices by simplifying secure device onboarding with the LoRaWAN® standard, modem management and power optimized geolocation. The Internet of Things (IoT) is about connecting devices to the internet and LoRa Cloud services makes that process much easier and more cost-effective.

When it comes to connecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices, there is no one-size-fits-all protocol to address all use cases. Each connectivity option has trade-offs between power consumption, bandwidth and range.

With the rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), the robot has been widely applied in numerous industries. It is not only common to see industrial robots used in industries such as electronics, automobile and chemical engineering, but also in more service roles used in families, hotels, restaurants, and other settings. Hence, great progress and development have been obtained in the global service robot technology in recent years, and a series of breakthrough applications have been achieved in family, education, public service, medical care, and other fields, laying a foundation for creating a better life and further improving production efficiency.

Semtech’s Tri-Edge™ GN2255 is the industry’s first analog IC solution enabling ultra-low latency, less than 1.5W module power, and performance for up to 10km reach for 50Gbps PAM4 SFP56 optical modules. Based on the proven Tri-Edge CDR platform qualified in data center applications, the new solution delivers the cost effectiveness, small footprint, low power, ultra-low latency, and performance demanded by 5G front haul applications. The new Tri-Edge GN2255 enables 50Gbps PAM4 links that will double the bandwidth of currently deployed 25Gbps NRZ front haul links. Semtech’s introduction of the Tri-Edge 5G wireless IC will help support new 5G applications, including edge computing, enhanced mobile broadband and device streaming, and fixed wireless access (i.e., home Internet). Learn more about the product announcement here.

Earlier this year, Evaluation Engineering (EE) spoke with Raza Khan, senior marketing manager in Semtech’s Signal Integrity Products Group to discuss industry trends and the new Tri-Edge 5G wireless product.

The market for smart home technology continues to grow at a rapid pace. Research from Statista shows that revenue in the European smart home market is projected to reach £18,504m in 2021, growing to £31,682m by 2025, by which time there will be over 97m smart home users.

Across the board, from home automation to smart kitchen appliances and voice assistant-enabled lighting, consumer electronics companies are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to connect everyday devices to the cloud, bringing new opportunities and control for consumers.

The global pandemic has added to this growing trend, causing people to spend more time at home and think afresh about how their home is used and controlled. An April 2021 report by International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that video entertainment, smart speakers and security and monitoring were the top categories in smart home technology in 2020 as householders sought to improve their homes.

As the technology and market has developed, users’ expectations have changed. At first, users were attracted to gimmicky applications but are now more concerned with real world uses that bring actual benefits to their lives. Moving forward, the smart home market will start to see more products that can have a significant impact on the consumer’s day to day life. This wide range of products includes technology and applications such as pet geofencing, which can set boundaries for a pet and warn the owner when it strays outside this area. Other examples could be connected pest traps, telling householders when the trap has been activated.

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.