I designed my first product using the Serial Digital Interface (SDI) back in 1996, and little did I know that this fledgling coax-based video interface standard would dominate my career for the next 20+ years. Back then, SDI was limited to carrying Standard Definition (SD) digital video at 270 Megabits per second (Mbps), but would evolve to higher and higher data rates to carry High Definition 720p, 1080i and 1080p, and most recently 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) video, at cable lengths that were not thought possible. The convenience of a low cost single conductor coaxial copper cable, capable of carrying 4K video up to 100m has meant that SDI has become the de facto AV connectivity of choice in markets such as broadcast, Pro AV, medical and surveillance.

With governments increasingly recognizing the need to control energy consumption and reduce waste, the requirement to make utilities smart is not only desirable, but also the law in many countries. Although the needs of electricity, gas and water utilities are different and highly specific, each utility type requires similar foundational technologies in terms of smart devices, connectivity and data processing.

There are plenty of reasons to deploy an Internet of Things (IoT) network in a rural area. But connecting dozens or hundreds of sensors to a network can also be a nightmare. Wind turbines or oil wells benefit from sensors measuring their respective environments and performance, but their operators should count themselves lucky if such energy harvesting facilities happen to be in range of robust cellular networks so they can stay connected to the Internet. The same is true of cargo containers crossing an ocean on a ship; they could be easily tracked with individual identifying devices, but at sea, they need satellites to transmit and receive signals at all.

Bouygues Construction Matériel, a subsidiary of one of the biggest global construction groups, Bouygues Construction, is implementing an innovative asset tracking solution for smart construction. The solution, offered by Omniscient, is connecting 20,000 pieces of equipment for remote real-time management and optimization, using a LoRaWAN® network from Bouygues Telecom, the expertise of Objenious and intelligent sensors from Abeeway, a subsidiary of Actility, a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity.

With the move to a more distributed workforce as well as an increasing number of staff permanently working from home, businesses are opting for smaller huddle rooms for ad hoc meetings and remote collaboration. Also taking advantage of the power of today’s personal computing technology, businesses large and small are relying less and less on dedicated, permanently installed video conferencing systems. These days, it is quite commonplace for users to drive the meeting and room technology using their own devices, and collaborate using the latest video conferencing software tools. This is often referred to as a “Bring Your Own Device” meeting, or simply BYOD. However, since the entire meeting experience relies totally on the user’s device and meeting software, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, this application is more often termed BYOM for “Bring Your Own Meeting,” with users simply benefiting from the available audio and video peripherals of the meeting space they are in.

When it comes to AV signal switching and extension over standard copper category cabling, Semtech offers two high performance platforms: AVX chipsets for point-to-point AV extension applications, and the BlueRiver® AVP series of devices for AV-over-IP and Software Defined Video Over Ethernet (SDVoE™) network-based applications. Both solutions take advantage of standard Ethernet technologies, typically operating at 10Gbps, to support transmission of high bandwidth 4K60 video with uncompressed image quality. However, when video bandwidth does not require the full 10Gbps, both AVX and AVP can operate at the 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps Ethernet rates. The benefits at operating at these lower data rates includes significantly longer cable reach over high performance category cable, or reuse of existing network cable infrastructure designed to carry lower data rate Ethernet.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is embraced across industry verticals with a growing number of connected devices, the connectivity technology landscape remains complex and fragmented. There is no single IoT network that has ubiquitous coverage and is capable of addressing all vertical IoT use cases.

This is the fourth blog in an ongoing series about the LoRaWAN^® protocol, and its capabilities to transform next-generation networking applications built on 5G. This blog series follows Semtech’s “5G Fact vs. Fiction, and How LoRaWAN Plays a Role” webinar, featuring Charter Communications, MultiTech and Orange, and moderated by Beecham Research. It will address some of the pressing topics offered by the audience during the webinar’s Q&A. Read the introduction to the new series in part one, explore large scale LoRaWAN networks in part two – featuring MultiTech, and insights from Orange in part three. 

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Semtech’s LoRa® devices have emerged as the building blocks enabling safe and secure workplace solutions – allowing companies to adopt and maintain practical facility re-entry systems.

In just six years, Semtech’s LoRa Core™ portfolio has driven global economic and environmental change. This innovative technology has facilitated new opportunities for innovation – enabling businesses and citizens to make the world a better place.