Software and Tools
GlobeNewswire | October 20, 2023
Swift Navigation, a market leader in precise positioning technology for automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile applications, today announced the launch of the Swift Partner Program. By bringing together an ecosystem of industry-leading companies across the technology stack – mobile network operators (MNOs), chipset and module manufacturers, system integrators, and application platform providers – Swift is doubling down on its mission to build a safer and more efficient future by changing the way we understand and navigate every centimeter of our planet.
Centimeter accurate, failsafe, and cost-effective precise positioning technologies are key to unlocking megatrends: vehicle autonomy, industrial automation, and the next generation location-based mobile applications, such as navigation, worker safety, and augmented reality, among others. But integrating precise location can add complexity and costs to an already challenging product design cycle, contributing to delayed product launches, cost overruns, and suboptimal consumer experiences.
With the launch of its Partner Program, Swift is dramatically simplifying the process to enable precise location and deliver exceptional user experiences in any geography, at any scale, with unit economics that work.
Swift is on a mission to democratize precise positioning technology to accelerate the deployment of location-based products that improve safety and efficiency for business and consumers, said Holger Ippach, Executive Vice President of Product at Swift Navigation. Swift’s technology already underpins some of the most complex deployments in the world, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with the best companies in our industry to unlock the next wave of innovation.
Swift’s cloud-modeled Skylark™ Precise Positioning Service delivers uniform, centimeter accurate positioning through carrier-grade networks deployed and operated in partnership with MNOs around the world. This enables Swift’s customers to seamlessly deploy products across multiple geographies and ensures failsafe, end-to-end system reliability backed by commercial-grade SLAs, a rarity in the industry.
Commenting on the partnership with Swift Navigation, Andreas Reich, Chief Product & Innovation Officer Deutsche Telekom’s IoT division, said: “Through our long-term partnership with Swift, we expanded Skylark’s coverage across Europe and continue to help our customers deliver new cutting-edge IoT products and solutions enabled by precise location. In a recent cross-border drive test across Europe, we showcased Skylark’s failsafe performance by tracking a vehicle every centimeter of the way from Hanover to Barcelona — over rugged mountains, through tunnels, and across urban canyons.”
Swift’s hardware agnostic precise positioning service is differentiated in a market historically dominated by vertically integrated solutions that lock customers into one vendor for both the GNSS receiver and corrections service. By allowing customers to select components that have been rigorously tested for their use case, Swift simplifies the product design cycle, maximizes the customer’s purchasing power, reduces the risk of downstream field support issues, and minimizes any effort required to incorporate precise location into existing solutions.
Finally, by partnering with system integrators and industry-specific application providers, Swift is accelerating adoption of its precise positioning technology across industries. Today, Swift’s more than 7,000 customers – including more than 20 automotive OEMs and suppliers, multiple market-leading handset manufacturers, logistics companies, industrial equipment manufacturers, and more – are collectively deploying more than 5 million vehicles and devices enabled by Swift’s technology.
Chipset manufacturer STMicroelectronics, module maker Septentrio, system integrator Taoglas, and GIS platform provider ITS Geo Solutions, are among other partners participating in Swift’s Partner Program.
Commenting on their respective partnerships with Swift:
Luca Celant, ADAS and Infotainment Division General Manager, STMicroelectronics, said: “STMicroelectronics is delighted to have partnered with Swift Navigation. We have worked closely together on several successful projects, delivering the powerful combination of Swift’s reliable centimeter accurate positioning service enabled by ST’s market-leading Teseo GNSS receivers, IMUs, and processors. We share Swift’s commitment to an open ecosystem, which offers our customers the utmost flexibility in designing their solutions.”
Jan Van Hees, Business Development Director, Septentrio, added: “Septentrio is thrilled to be part of Swift’s partner program. We have collaborated closely with Swift to enable mosaic and AsterRx receivers to deliver Skylark’s uniform centimeter accuracy and fast convergence as part of Septentrio’s Agnostic Corrections Partner Program. This partnership has provided our customers with a great option offering the consistent performance needed to deliver reliable products with exceptional consumer experiences.”
Dermot O'Shea, CEO and Co-Founder, Taoglas, added: “Swift’s partner program allows us to integrate precise positioning into our ever-growing variety of out-of-the-box solutions. By joining forces, we are reducing the cost and effort required to perform module-level validation, integration and engineering development.”
Erik Schütz, Managing Director, ITS Geo Solutions, added: “Our collaboration with Swift enabled us to enhance our flagship solution, GeoAce, with ultra-precise GNSS corrections. Thanks to Swift’s open ecosystem, we were able to quickly source hardware that was already pre-integrated with Skylark and rapidly launch the new offering to our customers without a hitch.”
About Swift Navigation
Swift Navigation is changing the way we understand and navigate the planet. Swift’s precise positioning solutions enable centimeter-level mapping, tracking, and navigation to unlock vehicle autonomy, industrial automation, and digital innovation across industries globally. Some of the largest companies in the world are leveraging Swift’s technology to enable safer driving, deliver autonomous vehicles and equipment, optimize logistics, and unleash next-generation mobile applications for navigation, worker safety, and augmented reality, among others. Learn more about how Swift is building a safer and more connected future at www.swiftnav.com
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Enterprise Iot
MarketScreener | October 18, 2023
Nokia, together with BT Group and MediaTek today announced that they have successfully completed trials of 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) technology with RedCap devices.
The trial, which took place at BT Group's Adastral Park site, utilized Nokia's AirScale RAN portfolio, EE's 5G Standalone (SA) network, and MediaTek's RedCap testing platform. RedCap is a technology introduced in 3GPP Release 17 that brings 5G to devices that do not require its full capabilities. It has the potential to expand the IoT ecosystem and accelerate its deployment within the industry. BT Group is evaluating RedCap to support new 5G use cases which could benefit both EE's business and consumer customer bases.
5G devices such as smartphones often have complex hardware and power-hungry features which leads to higher cost, size, and power consumption. RedCap technology focuses on simplifying 5G devices, particularly small IoT devices such as wearables or health trackers for consumers as well as ruggedized routers, and environmental or other condition-based monitoring sensors. These devices have less demand for battery life and lower bandwidth requirements. RedCap ensures they maintain performance and optimizes their power efficiency. Nokia has played a pivotal role in advancing RedCap IoT functionality together with the telecommunications industry.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at BT Group said: 'This trial with Nokia demonstrates the potential of RedCap technology in unlocking a new wave of innovation within the 5G services ecosystem. This is especially the case as we move towards the arrival of 5G SA, bringing with it enhanced reliability, responsiveness, security, and speed which - through 5G RedCap - promises to benefit a host of new IoT devices and use cases.'
Robert Moffat, Deputy Director Europe Mobile Business Development at MediaTek, said: 'Our collaboration with Nokia and BT Group for this trial of 5G RedCap technology aligns with MediaTek's commitment to driving innovation and expanding the potential of 5G SA to include a wider ecosystem of devices and use cases.'
Phil Siveter, CEO, UK and Ireland at Nokia, commented: 'The introduction of RedCap will unlock new 5G opportunities for many industries, with potentially billions of new devices connected with 5G. Our field tests with BT Group show that Nokia 5G Standalone networks are ready to support RedCap devices.'
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Enterprise Iot
Microchip Technology Inc. | October 09, 2023
Microchip Technology introduced nine new FPGA and SoC solution stacks designed for vertical markets.
These solution stacks enable rapid deployment of intelligent edge solutions without requiring specialized expertise.
Customers have praised PolarFire FPGAs for their small footprint, energy efficiency, and high performance.
Microchip Technology has introduced nine new FPGA and SoC solution stacks, each tailored to meet specific requirements in vertical markets such as industrial edge, smart embedded vision, and edge communications.
Microchip aims to simplify the creation of industrial and communications designs by offering solution stacks that leverage the power efficiency, security, and reliability of PolarFire FPGAs. Companies like Xenics and KAYA Instruments have cited benefits such as small form factor, power efficiency, and energy efficiency in utilizing Microchip's FPGA solution stacks for their products.
In addition to the launch of its industrial edge stack and related tools earlier this year for Open Platform Communications/Unified Architecture (OPC/UA)-based IIoT applications, this increases the total number of PolarFire and SoC solution stacks to ten.
For Smart Embedded Vision:
H.264 compression
CoaXpress among others
For Industrial Edge:
OPC/UA
Motor control
For Edge Communications:
Small Form-factor pluggable optical module
Software-defined radios and others
Customers mentioned several factors for choosing Microchip's FPGA solution stacks. Federic Aubrun, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Xenics, a developer of infrared imaging sensors with products for short-, mid-, and long-wave IR imagers, cores, and cameras, emphasized the significance of size, weight, and power considerations in thermal imaging system design. He stated that Microchip's SmartFusion and PolarFire FPGAs offered the optimal combination of a compact form factor, power efficiency, and processing capabilities while operating within a highly efficient power budget in their current and future product lines.
These solution stacks provide detailed IP, reference designs, development kits, application notes, and demo guides, enabling the deployment of intelligent edge solutions. It stacks cater to the growing demand for quick deployment of intelligent edge solutions without the need for specialized technology knowledge. The solution stacks cover various areas, including H.264 compression, HDMI, serial digital interface, CoaXpress, motor control, OPC/UA, software-defined radios, USXGMII, SFP+ optical modules, and 5G ORAN, providing versatile options for different vertical markets.
Another company, KAYA Instruments, designs industrial-grade imaging equipment, such as small-form-factor, low-power cameras and frame grabbers that deliver high-quality video under ordinary to extreme ambient light conditions.
Michael Yampolsky, Founder and CEO at KAYA, stated,
We use PolarFire FPGAs due to their compact footprint and energy efficiency. Utilizing the most up-to-date CMOS sensor technology, they enable cameras to fit in tight spaces while maintaining high quality, low noise, exceptional dynamic range, and a large feature set. FPGAs on our platform enables us to rapidly bring the most advanced vision technology to market to meet the needs of our customers.
[Source: embedded]
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