AND Technology Research & University of Essex join forces to develop Self-powering, Battery-less IoT Device
23rd September - Purpose-led technology company, AND Technology Research, is today announcing a new partnership with computer scientists from the University of Essex to explore new ways of reducing the amount of power a device needs, while at the same time using energy harvesting techniques to produce truly self-powering devices.
Part-funded by Innovate UK, the combined project team will develop a completely self-powering, battery-less IoT device, that uses AI at its core. The algorithms will orchestrate the intelligent management of energy sources available, using multiple sources to harvest power.
Built on AND’s c2 IoT platform, and Renesas’ new SOTB technology, the device will overcome many of the technical challenges that have previously halted the wide-spread use of energy harvesting techniques, including lowering the in-rush current required, reducing charging times and increasing performance. By utilising multiple power source along with the AI algorithm, the device is set to make intelligent decisions on when to charge in different environments paving the way for many use cases, such as wearable devices, well-being tracking, smart cities, remote monitoring and more.
Commenting on the new project, CEO of ANDtr, Dr Nicola Thorn (above) said: “This project will open up a whole new world of possibilities of AI and energy harvesting. It brings together a myriad of innovations, to tackle one of the growing problems with our industry. Being able to collaborate with the fantastic team at the University of Essex is an excellent bonus; their knowledge and insight in this project will be invaluable.
“We believe self-powering, battery-less devices will be the next game-changing technology to be unlocked in the world of IoT, and we aim to position ourselves at the forefront of the market. Self-powering, battery-less systems have potential applications in any industry where continuous monitoring is required – from medical and agriculture to fleet management, but we are particularly interested in the potential health care benefits. Wearable devices which do not require charging will encourage individuals to monitor their own health and wellbeing, transforming Britain into a healthier ‘smart society’.
“For example, remote continuous monitoring of patients with chronic health conditions will reduce patient morbidity, enable patients to better understand their conditions and seek intervention at an appropriate point and reduce the need for face-to-face interactions with clinicians - thereby reducing resource implications for the NHS. Long term predictions foresee wearable technology to contribute to global cost savings in the order of $200 billion in the health care sector. But it doesn’t stop there, there are also many applications to improving sustainability.”
Using AI to boost sustainability in the IoT
With billions of IoT devices now in operation, the dependencies on batteries are growing. The latest battery technology has taken great leaps in the past five years. Battery life has improved significantly, and energy density has been boosted to new levels previously thought unreachable. But these advancements have come at a cost. These improvements were only possible thanks to an increasingly exotic list of new compounds; these compounds come from across the world and are considered dangerous to mine, and even more dangerous when out of the ground. Lithium, in particular, has incredibly explosive properties, and other key metals such as cobalt, cadmium and manganese are also hazardous when handled.
However, this is not the only problem. Battery life is still an issue (despite improvements), especially for those with high discharge rates. Non-rechargeable batteries, on average, can’t last longer than three years and rechargeable versions struggle to go beyond 10. Disposal of these batteries then becomes a serious difficulty and risk to the environment, especially if that process isn’t handled properly. Replacing these retired batteries then brings further costs and repeats the cycle of risk and waste, and in many cases danger for workers. Energy harvesting at the source of where we need power is one of the keys to remedying this problem and will play a crucial role in ensuring a viable and sustainable IoT industry.
The University of Essex team
Working closely with the AND Technology Research team will be Dr Anisi, head of the Internet of Everything laboratory at Essex. Dr Anisi is no stranger to working with businesses, as he is already involved in several KTP projects.
Commenting on the project, Dr Anisi said: “My main focus is on developing systems capable of reliable and seamless generation, transmission and processing of data.
“For us it is important to build systems which make a positive difference to people’s lives – helping them to do things more easily. Self-powering devices are the way forward, but although there has been some progress in making them a reality, we are not quite there yet. This partnership has potential to make a real difference to the way we all use the internet, sensors and electronic appliances, from wearable health monitors and smart buildings to intelligent trackers for perishable foods.”
While AND specialises in hardware and software development, it will draw upon the university’s expertise to help develop the self-powering systems. Contributing specifically in this area will Dr Morteza Varasteh and Dr Hossein Anisi, from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering at Essex. Both have extensive experience of tackling the dual challenge of developing low-power IoT devices and exploring alternative sources of energy from using the sun, vibrations within our own body or radio waves to provide power. They will supervise a full-time researcher, who will work on the project at the AND offices in Theydon Bois.
The combined AND Technology Research and University of Essex project is due to start in autumn 2021 and continue to 2023. Whilst, for now in its feasibility stage, this project is just the start of the new suite of energy harvesting devices; more will follow.
Source: AND Technology Research
The Right Deal at The Right Time – Part 2
Rise of the Enterprise Network Operator
IOT Insights Interview with Sam Colley, CEO, Pod Group
“We believe that going forward, a new type of operator is needed to enable enterprises to own and control their IoT networks so they can maximise the potential benefits of IoT. An Operator that is focused on delivering the infrastructure and tools enterprises need to deploy and scale IoT easily to extract maximum operational efficiency.”
Interview by Abraham Joseph, Editorial Director, IoT Insights
15 September 2021
Congratulations on your deal with G+D. How did the acquisition come about?
Over the last year and a half, we worked with a broker to explore growth opportunities. This led to discussions with G+D over an eight-month period and culminated in G+D acquiring Pod Group in July. For us, it was very important to find the right partner. G+D was well placed to help us accelerate our product ideas, and we were in a good position to help them accelerate some of their ambitions. So it was a very good fit.
In which specific areas does the deal enable you to grow?
It helps us accelerate our eSIM ambitions: the idea of a true global single offering for IoT. G+D is the market leader in eSIM and has a lot of pre-existing relationships with carriers, multinational enterprises and hardware manufacturers. This gives us a different starting position and more credibility to accelerate our Enterprise Network Operator (ENO) strategy. G+D brings best in class eSIM security and management, and Pod Group brings the cellular network elements and the platform to manage the overall solution at enterprise scale. There are considerable product synergies and this enables the combined group to accelerate deployment of ENO solutions which are designed to help enterprises own and control their IoT connectivity, for example, private networks, including those based on 5G.
What is an Enterprise Network Operator?
It is a relatively new concept, developed by Pod Group. It has been out in the ether for about a year and has received a good reception. People are familiar with the mobile network operator (MNO) and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) concepts. We believe that going forward, a new type of operator is needed to enable enterprises to own and control their IoT networks so they can maximise the potential benefits of IoT. An Operator that is focused on delivering the infrastructure and tools enterprises need to deploy and scale IoT easily to extract maximum operational efficiency. Your readers can learn more about the ENO concept at www.whatisaneno.com.
How do enterprises respond to the concept of the ENO?
What we are saying resonates with them. They agree with the need for the decentralisation of network ownership and the incorporation of private networks. Also, the idea of ultra-flexible networking infrastructure as a service, enabling them to adopt and scale IoT is very appealing.
How does the Pod Group/G+D offering help enterprises with their networking challenges?
At the moment, there is a lot of focus on building campus networks. However, we see the real value in the future as the hybrid model of campus to public to campus, so that you can track things all the way through supply chains. One of our USPs is that we can enable that seamless roaming from private networks to public networks, and then back into private networks again. Campus networks, including private 5G networks, are a big focus for us. Delivering out-of-the-box solutions for this market is one of our key objectives.
You mentioned security earlier. Given G+Ds security heritage, what security opportunities does this partnership open for you?
Security has always been a huge focus for us and this partnership helps us boost our capabilities in this area considerably. Prior to the acquisition, we were investigating creating higher levels of security from the SIM card itself, but in early discussions with G+D, it became clear that they were exploring similar concepts, with greater resources.
For private networking, a lot of the focus is on security and that's obviously a natural fit for G+D. The company already works with large enterprises to deliver services based on SIM cards, eSIMs and other platforms. These applications offer tremendous opportunities for the combined G+D-Pod Group offering.
Does the new partnership give rise to conflicts of interest in certain segments or with certain customer groups? If so, how do you plan to resolve these conflicts?
Potentially it could, however, the overriding objective for both G+D and Pod is to create long term partnerships. Therefore, one of our top priorities is ensuring that previous relationships are strengthened or remain unaffected. For example, G+D has many existing carrier relationships and part of Pod’s ENO strategy is to help carriers deal with the long tail of opportunities for eSIM and eSIM management. Pod Group already works with carriers that use its platform to provide value-added services for specific enterprise segments, and we anticipate that there will be many more opportunities to work with G+D’s carrier partners as we move forward. Our aim is to become a more integrated partner focused on delivering additional value to them, rather than a competitor.
What about the big guys like Amazon, Microsoft, etc? Where do you see them positioned vs G+D and large industrial players looking to build their own solutions?
To some extent, it is good that we have some level of standardisation in large, well-adopted environments. However, this can be bad if you are limited in what your application can do or the technologies and solutions you can adopt.
Given that both Amazon and Microsoft have very significant incubator programmes and partnership communities – usually a precursor to them figuring out what works and what doesn’t, I expect they’ll play an important role in the development of IoT. Nevertheless, we believe that the market needs choice and flexibility, otherwise, innovation will suffer.
Tell me about the team and the brand. Will the name Pod Group disappear?
In the short term, we will remain as Pod Group. G+D wants to hang on to the Pod team. We're small, nimble and flexible. Also, they like our culture. We plan to continue running the business as before, but additionally to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves through G+D. We have a major focus on product integration because that's where the most value can be derived in the short term. In the future, we plan to evolve as a joint proposition to our various markets.
What about changes to the overall mission of Pod Group?
The mission of becoming an Enterprise Network Operator has not changed. The vision of taking it from a concept that we’re starting to deliver today to delivering the full flexibility of network ownership remains exactly the same. Medium term, this extends in scope to encompass other G+D-led initiatives focused on positive real-world contributions, such as measuring and monitoring environmental impact throughout supply chains.
Both you and Carsten Ahrens (whom I interviewed in Part 1 of this series) mentioned that G+D liked the Pod culture, did you build this culture based on a specific philosophy or did it develop accidentally?
Pod was part of a cultural experiment by its founder Charles Tower-Clark, the philosophy promotes transparency, decentralisation of decision making, autonomy and creativity. We have learnt a lot along the way and I think we have found the right balance between very little structure and control to encourage initiative and creative ideas throughout the team, and just enough to ensure that we are all focused on delivering on the business objectives.
What role do you see IoT playing in sustainability or other ESG challenges around the world?
IoT helps us monitor and control our impact on the environment. It enables us to track things throughout their life cycles, extract useful data and assess impact, e.g., carbon footprint. We need to exploit IoT more aggressively to make better progress with ESG goals. Also, IoT must be made much more accessible. In addition to government and corporate initiatives, we need real-time tools such as apps on phones that show people exactly what each purchase or decision means for both them and the world.
Do you have an interest in Africa?
Our business development team is currently focused on connectivity in that market but we're seeing a lot of additional demand. Much of this demand is for traditional applications like asset tracking and vehicle tracking. Part of our ENO strategy is to enable MNOs and resellers with turnkey solutions. Today, many carriers in emerging markets are not set up to provide IoT services. We are developing solutions to help them sell IoT applications and connect IoT devices. From a sustainability perspective, there's a lot of interest coming from Africa. We see Africa as one of the larger markets for investment, beyond Latin America and Southeast Asia.
What would you like the world to know about your new vision and capabilities?
Simply this. If you've run into problems delivering connectivity or infrastructure for your IoT application, there is now an end-to-end solution from the very bottom of the connectivity stack to the very top as well as within the connectivity stack itself. Now, you have an array of new technologies and tools to solve problems easily and deliver solutions for what was previously a very challenging environment. For enterprises, our key message is enterprise-grade connectivity is here.
Should all enterprises beat a path to your door, or are you focused on specific segments?
Although the ENO model appeals to enterprises of all sizes and across all sectors, the major benefits of IoT network ownership are likely to be of greatest interest to companies needing better control and security of their networks. For example, utilities, mining companies and oil and gas companies. Another important group is large organisations that are deploying applications that require a uniform approach across different territories. For them, the ENO model resolves many problems, including those previously associated with roaming.
Which of your hobbies have the least to do with technology?
Almost all of them have nothing to do with technology. With home-working, the lines between work time and non-work time are already very blurred. When I’m not working, I like to disconnect completely and enjoy hobbies that give me time to process what I’ve learnt. I love history. Also, I like to read. Currently, I’m reading Entangled Life, a book about how fungi have shaped and continues to shape our world. It is blowing my mind. The last book I finished was Breathe. It gave me a whole new perspective on how to breathe and how breath can be used to improve well-being and manage anxiety.
What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs?
I believe that an individual is only as strong as the team around them and so my advice is to always remember this and not be afraid of not being the smartest person in the room. You will do better if you surround yourself with smarter people than you. Teamwork really does make the dream work!
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Vodafone Introduces New Solution for Pet Owners as part of its Award-winning Curve Range
7 September 2021 – Vodafone is evolving its award-winning Curve range with the launch of its Pet tracker pack – comprising of Curve, the smart GPS tracker, new pet features in the Vodafone Smart App, and a Pet tracker clip. Owners can now securely attach the Curve tracker to their pet’s collar or harness and continue to track them in real-time from the Vodafone Smart App.
The Pet tracker pack is the latest extension of Curve, which has received five awards for innovation since its 2020 launch, including its most recent ‘Best Connected Consumer Device’ in the Annual Global Mobile Awards at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2021.
As part of the enhanced pet tracking solution, existing Curve users can enjoy the two new pet features – Pet Walks, which logs past walks and their distances, and Pet Profile, which stores important information such as breed and characteristics at no extra cost.
The specially designed Pet tracker clip includes different sized adaptors to ensure a comfortable, secure fit. Made for the most adventurous pets, the device is durable, compact and waterproof rated-IP67. The Curve tracker is connected to the Vodafone IoT network using the built-in Smart SIM and combines GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular technology, enabling pets to be tracked from a distance.
Curve tracker continues to allow users to set ‘Zones’ such as ‘Park’ or ‘Home’ through the Vodafone Smart App and receive a notification if their pet enters or leaves these for added reassurance. Using the Vodafone Smart App owners can also share access to their pets’ location with other family members and dog walkers.
Pets have become an even more central part of people’s lives with an estimated 88million European households now owning a pet[1]. In a recent survey 86.5% of owners stated that their pets provided emotional support during the pandemic[2]. Developed with this insight and feedback, Pet tracker pack signals Vodafone’s continued commitment to connecting people to what matters most in their lives.
Curve Pet tracker pack has been designed for pets by pet owners and built on Vodafone’s scalable IoT platform. With a single app and consistent design language across the Vodafone Smart Tech range, the global platform enables products, experiences, and services to be built once and deployed across markets and categories, enabling a seamless customer experience.
Lutfu Kitapci, Global Managing Director, Vodafone Smart Tech (above), says “With pet ownership growing and our customer insights showing that people want to stay connected to what matters most more than ever, Curve Pet tracker pack has been developed to give pet owners that all-important feeling of reassurance wherever they are. Intuitively designed, and connected through Vodafone’s global network, we’ve developed an enhanced experience based on our customer insight for one of the most popular ways to use Curve today – to keep track of our pets’ .
Source: Vodafone
[1] European households owning a pet 2010-2020, Statista 2021
[2] Source: Ratschen E, Shoesmith E, Shahab L, Silva K, Kale D, Toner P, et al. (2020) Human-animal relationships and interactions during the Covid-19 lockdown phase in the UK: Investigating links with mental health and loneliness. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0239397. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239397
The Right Deal at The Right Time – Part 1
Carsten Ahrens, CEO G+D Mobile Security
“The Pod Group acquisition enables G+D not only to provide the security, but also to take away the barriers to adoption of IoT. One of the things I am most excited about is the group’s Enterprise Network Operator (ENO) concept”.
Interview by Abraham Joseph, Editorial Director, IoT Insights
3 September 2021
How did the deal come about?
We are always on the lookout for opportunities to develop our business. We see a massive market for IoT, for which we have several key ingredients. Combined with Pod Group, we see an opportunity to expand our scope and take away many of the barriers to wider IoT adoption that many perceive still exist.
For us it was a strategic move. Although the acquisition was relatively small, it is an important part of our future strategy.
How big was the deal? I didn't see any metrics related to it – apart from staff numbers.
We are not disclosing the financial details of the transaction. However, we are happy to talk about the team and the capabilities we are bringing on board.
The team consist of about 50 people, the majority of whom are located in Spain. They are on a great development trajectory and we saw a great opportunity to leverage this based on the reach that we have and the contributions we can make.
What does the deal enable you to do now that you weren't able to do before?
Let me take a moment to explain where we came from and the rationale for the acquisition. There are four core components in our portfolio. The traditional subscriber identification module (SIM) that we are familiar with, the embedded SIM (eSIM), the embedded OS (eOS) which we license as software to OEMs and the SIM/eSIM life cycle management solutions (OTA, SM-SR, SMDP+) including our Identity Service Platform for on-line generation of eSIM profiles (IDSP).
The pluggable SIM is still the majority of our business. However, over the last 10 years we were successful in expanding it into embedded devices primarily for the automotive sector, but also some consumer device manufacturers with software licensing business for our eOS.
We are very proud to have been one of the inventors of the eSIM, along with the carriers and manufacturers like Samsung and Apple. When we began licensing our embedded OS, many of our partners told us that in addition to this solution, it would be extremely useful if we could provide connectivity to the devices and entities – i.e., include operator SIM profiles. We worked with another company to address this requirement initially, but knew that having this capability in-house would enable us to address a broader range of features and security and hence add even greater value.
Our identity service platform (IDSP) is a major investment into our data generation capabilities. We need to do this because we are shipping hundreds of millions of SIMs every year that are today manufactured in batches. So data generation for the cards is also operated in batches. To unleash the full potential of eSIM and IoT, we need to do data generation on the fly, with partners sending us input data and G+D generating profiles and sending them back to devices in near real time.
Security is at the heart of everything G+D is doing. People work with us because they trust our technology. Like many other major IoT industry stakeholders, we believe the eSIM, and the integrated SIM (iSIM), will be important security anchors for IoT. This is why we are enhancing their features and capabilities to boost security and safety of IoT.
The Pod Group acquisition enables G+D not only to provide the security, but also to take away the barriers to adoption of IoT. Currently, a chipmaker, device maker or software developer trying to build a global solution faces major challenges. The same is true for enterprises that wish to deploy IoT solutions across national boundaries. G+D can contribute by helping to make IoT solutions safe, scalable and seamless to deploy. This is the compelling logic of the Pod Group acquisition.
Do you think concerns about IoT security are overblown?
No I don’t. The Internet of Things is the biggest machine that mankind has ever built and we need to make it safe. IoT devices are sending data across networks, and increasingly, these data sets are being received by algorithms rather than people and become training sequences for machine learning. In many emerging scenarios, if data is compromised, we might do the training badly and not find out until it is too late – until there is a catastrophic failure.
At what stage is the deal currently? Has everything been agreed?
The deal is closed and everything is agreed. We are actively working with Pod Group’s CEO, Sam Colley, and the great team he built on the post-merger integration process. Also, we have some technology integration processes to enable the new team to make full use of the wider G+D technology base to address new customers and markets.
We're very excited about the new team, their culture and spirit and are bringing the portfolios together to provide a unique offer to the market.
Has Sam got a new role?
Sam has the same responsibility as before. We like the way he’s set up the company and the way it operates. So the team will continue as before – led by Sam. Both old and new teams will continue to learn from each other and the new team will have more support to continue down the successful path they have had so far. They will have more tailwind, and the combined group will have a wider portfolio of offerings.
One of the things I am most excited about is the group’s Enterprise Network Operator (ENO) concept. When you speak to Sam, he will explain this in detail. For now, I’ll just summarise and say that it delivers comprehensive new capabilities for enterprises to deploy and manage IoT networks easily across campuses as well as across national boundaries.
In the context of campus networks, 5G will not be an evolution like 4G was. It has the potential to be a revolution. I think the amount of traffic that 5G networks will absorb from other connectivity technology such as LoRA Wan, Sigfox or WLAN is probably much bigger than we anticipate today. In Germany, for example, 140 campus network licences have been awarded. In a recent call with NTT DoCoMo, they confirmed that 40 such licenses have been issued in Japan. Similar campus network initiatives are under way in many other countries. Most of these networks will need eSIMs. This is why I think the combination of the two portfolios will be very attractive.
How does the acquisition alter G+D’s market position?
We are the leading player, with more than 230 operators connected to our eSIM platforms. We have shipped hundreds of millions of embedded operating system licenses for eSIMs. This move we are making will remove many of the roadblocks we discussed. So at the end of the day, it will be good for G+D and for the entire industry as well .
Does the deal create any conflict of interest, for example, with your carrier customers?
We don’t believe that our carrier customers will see the acquisition as competitive although Pod Group has its own core network. Rather, as demonstrated by the types of solutions Pod Group has been offering, the acquisition enables us to bring traffic to our carrier partners and that’s the way they also see it.
One of the challenges in addressing the massive IoT opportunity we talked about earlier is the huge variety of devices and applications on the market. Many carriers have challenges serving this long tail of applications. Many also have difficulties with the very low average revenue per user/connection, associated with many IoT applications. So rather than being competitive, we see the acquisition as supportive – helping our partners unleash opportunities in the long tail.
What are the major priorities for you right now?
One key issue that is top of mind at present is the chip shortage. It is a major crisis for many in the ecosystem. So far, we have been successful in managing the situation and meeting demand for shipments. This is a great accomplishment. We are putting a great deal of effort into qualifying new vendors to continue to be able to support the demand of our customers.
My second major focus area – which I am very excited about – is carriers’ interest in using eSIM as the primary activation mechanism for phones. We are getting geared up to support this at scale. We are running data centres that offer this as a managed service with 99.99% availability and carriers are approaching us with requests for significant capacity increases – in some cases double or triple their existing capacity.
And finally, but not least, as we discussed in the beginning, leveraging the Pod Group acquisition to go after new opportunities together with an expanded team and portfolio.
How do you prioritise the expanded range of opportunities you see in addition to the acquisition?
We have a strong business in automotive and we plan to continue to develop this. For us it's very important to continue to innovate in that segment. An example of our recent innovation is the concept of dual-SIM dual-active. It is now gaining traction with automakers. It enables the consumer or another party to bring a separate data plan into the vehicle for entertainment and other uses. This combination of a car-centric eSIM and a consumer-centric eSIM is very interesting for many players because it provides greater flexibility to present a variety of propositions to vehicle manufacturers, owners and users. Additionally, we are developing a range of vertical solutions – not necessarily targeted at specific vertical industries. The first is track and trace. This IoT application is not new, but enhanced with the security we can provide, it becomes very attractive to many new stakeholders.
What role do you see IoT playing in helping with sustainability and the other ESG challenges we see around the world?
This is a topic that keeps me very engaged. I'm absolutely convinced that if we get it right, IoT can be a massive contributor to sustainability. It presents us with powerful new tools to sense, monitor, analyse and control the world around us as well as our interactions with (and impact on) it.
Independent of its role in IoT, the eSIM will be a major contributor to sustainability. Building phones and other devices with eSIMs instead of traditional SIM slots will result in tremendous savings in material, time and cost (and in turn the adverse sustainability impacts) associated with the production, logistics, packaging and distribution of traditional SIMs. Billions of SIMs are manufactured and distributed each year. With eSIM all this can be done in a fully digital format. Hence I say, the eSIM is the most sustainable SIM.
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