Industrial ESP32-based devices utilizing NarrowBand-IoT wireless technology

The NB-IoT is becoming a standard in wireless communication of IoT devices, for standalone solutions and complex installations with thousands of units, coordinated with gateways. Will NarrowBand-IoT replace other wireless technologies in industrial automation?

What exactly is NarrowBand?

NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT) is a radio technology in the field of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) dedicated for IoT devices, operating on the licensed frequency band used by telecommunications operators.

The biggest advantages of NB-IoT include:

  • long battery life (up to 10 years),
  • efficiency in the amount of data transferred,
  • intra-building penetration,
  • the ability to connect even tens of thousands of devices in one system,
  • a global standard,
  • a high level of security and low cost

You can build mass solutions and those that until now were considered unprofitable. NB-IoT technology works in the licensed band, so there is no risk of interference and blocking communication by competing networks.

The service life of devices powered by two AA batteries is up to 10 years. However, the devices themselves are constructed in such a way that they can work for many years without the need for technical supervision and recharging the battery.

NB-IoT used in industrial solutions

One of many uses of NarrowBand-IoT wireless modems can be communication of edge devices, dedicated to data management, process control (e.g. with MQTT protocol) and monitoring. Latest ESP32-based eModGATE controller from TECHBASE company is a series utilizing MicroPython environment to provide data management solutions for end-points applications. The eModGATE has built-in Wi-Fi/BT modem and can be equipped with additional NarrowBand-IoT modems

eModGATE with ESP32

eModGATE eqipped with wireless NB-IoT modem are perfect for industrial automation solutions, e.g. data logging, metering, telemetrics, remote monitoring, security and data management through all Industrial IoT applications.

Supported bandwidths:

  • Global-Band LTE CAT-M1:  B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B39;
  • Global-Band LTE CAT NB-IoT1:  B1/B2/B3/B5/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28;
  • GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900Mhz Control Via AT Commands

Supported data transfer:

  • LTE CAT-M1(eMTC) – Uplink up to 375kbps, Downlink up to 300kbps
  • NB-IoT – Uplink up to 66kbps, Downlink up to 34kbps
  • EDGE Class – Uplink up to 236.8Kbps, Downlink up to 236.8Kbps
  • GPRS – Uplink up to 85.6Kbps, Downlink up to 85.6Kbps

Updated M500 Industrial IoT device with latest Raspberry Pi 4

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

The newest addition to TECHBASE’s Industrial IoT Ecosystem is an updated ModBerry M500 with latest Raspberry Pi 4 development board, equipped with a 1.5GHz quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A72 processor (approximately 3 times better performance than previous Cortex-A53 powering Raspberry Pi 3+ Model B and Compute Module 3 and 3+). ModBerry M500 can be configured from 1GB / 2GB / 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM options.

Raspberry Pi 4 Industrial IoT ModBerry M500

Gigabit Ethernet & USB 3.0 on-board

Another new and appreciated feature is an upgrade to full-throughput Gigabit Ethernet for fast network connection and 2x USB 3.0 / 2x USB 2.0 for additional I/O, data storage extension and fast wireless modem support. ModBerry M500 with Rasbperry Pi 4 has dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 on-board. For additional wireless networks expansions, you can choose from variety of Industrial IoT modems from TECHBASE offer, incl. 3G/LTE, NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT), Wireless M-Bus, ZigBee, LoRa, Sigfox, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and many more.

Enhanced Video support for RPi4

The full HDMI port has been replaced with two microHDMI ports with dual monitor support, at resolutions up to 4K, VideoCore VI graphics, supporting OpenGL ES 3.x and 4Kp60 hardware decode of HEVC video. The device is fully compatible with previous versions of Raspberry Pi based Industrial IoT devices and accessories from TECHBASE.

Raspberry Pi 4 based ModBerry M500 availability

New ModBerry M500 with three variants of Raspberry Pi 4 based devices is available for pre-orders via https://iiot-shop.com/product/modberry-m-series/ For specific delivery time please contact us via e-mail or Live Chat, directly at Industrial IoT Shop.

eSIM support for Rasperry Pi based ModBerry industrial device

eSIM support for Rasperry Pi based ModBerry industrial device

The embedded SIM card (eSIM) is a form of programmable SIM card that is directly built in the device. eSIM is a global GSMA specification that enables remote SIM delivery to any supported device, and GSMA defines eSIM as the SIM card for the next generation of connected consumer / professional devices and network solution with the use of eSIM technology.

Easy SIM operator swap

In Industrial IoT applications in which there is no need to change the SIM card, the need of using a connector is avoided, which increases reliability and data security. eSIM can be remotely configured – users can add or change operators without having to physically swap the SIM card from the device. It is often a crucial requirement for the installations where factors such as temperature, water and shock resistance, as well as lack of access forces user to choose remote solutions.

eSIM Raspberry Pi Connvectivity

Raspberry Pi & ESP32-based devices

TECHBASE company is now developing eSIM support for Raspberry Pi and ESP32 industrial devices, such as ModBerry and Moduino X to improve the handling of wireless modem connectivity. To receive an offer for ModBerry/Moduino device with eSIM-based modem, contact our Sales Department via e-mail or Live Chat.



What’s new in TECHBASE?

 

Whats new in TECHBASE

techbase

The last couple of weeks have been hard work for us at Techbase. As such, it seems only proper to present some of our work to the outside world. One of the new developments is a firmware update for NPE X1000, which will be avaliable to the public from the 15th of November,  this update will include the added option for enabling/disabling autostart for GPRS connections on X1000 units.

Let us also give you a sneak peak into what will be released at the beginning of December:

  • Support for Wi-Fi communication on X1000
  • Signaling of X1000 work status via LED’s
  • Fixing hotplug for ethernet#2 on X1000

Conducting a firmware update is very straightforward on our devices and whole process is reduced just to one, simple command:

softmgr -b x1000beta update firmware

Since last week, unisms software packages have been made available to our users. It allows the sending of SMS messages with special symbols that are specific for certain languages such as Polish “ą”

Furthermore, we are working on the support of a new 3G modem on the X1000, libnpe to include a watchdog application, which will allow the device to automatically restart if it hangs/freezes and improved drivers for RS-485 on X1000 to increase speed of that interface.

If you do not know NPE X1000 and its capabilities, the time has come! Click here.

Or alternatively you are welcome to contact one of our sales consultants today for advise on which system will be ideal for your needs.

Group Entry in the iMod Platform

 

Group Entry in the iMod Platform

iMod

All you need to do is set an initial entry and register values. The iMod platform provides you with a faster data recording performance and reduces transmission load – it’s simple 🙂

Get familiar with iMod 3G/GPS.

One of the key features of the iMod platform are stability and security.

All iMod tasks are queued. Even if there is a power cut, the queued tasks are stored and executed.

Read more about the capabilities of iMod

The iMod platform offers a solution which simplifies sharing historical data via Modbus protocol. You just need to define the ARCHIVIST channel, set its size and register values. Every time you can find any historical value, referring to selected parameters.

With iMod sharing historical data via Modbus protocol is simple.

Get familiar with iMod product card

The iMod platform can register data on the device and external database servers at the same time. It allows for:

  • increased security (several storage spaces)
  • unlimited storage space (you can scale storage to your needs)
  • faster database information retrieval
  • easier data integration with websites (presentation of current and historical data).

Read more about the capabilities of iMod

Soon the iMod platform will support international characters. Our Clients will receive short messages with operation parameters of an installation in any language, e.g. Chinese or Persian – with iMod you can customize installation management wherever you are.