Many of our customers and partners ask why Connectivity is listed as the starting point of our CIEIO architecture.
Connectivity -> Ingestion -> Enrichment -> Insights -> Outcome
Connectivity is the first step of the physical to digital juxtaposition that drives every successful technology and business outcome.
The Base Element:
Connectivity is a base element and functional requirement for any AI+IOT project. Whether the connectivity is Multi-Carrier Cellular, Enterprise/Private LoRaWAN, Private LTE/5G, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), SatCom (Starlink or Private), Terragraph (60Ghz), 802.11, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Serial (RS-232, RS-485), or proprietary, it still has to be deployed, managed, monitored, secured and reliable.
Our Universal IOT Gateway (UIG) is designed to support any one (or more simultaneously) of these types of communications and can operate ultra-rugged. Integrated into the UIG is vast capability to connect, ingest, enrich, and then transport enriched telemetry. There is also a feature-rich mechanism for the raw data to be securely, remotely accessed if required - such as federated video or data repository.
Industry 4.0 – Critical Communication
Operational Technology (OT) Networks can be a rich source of information and that data is required for any Industry 4.0 Outcome. This type of connectivity requires advanced networking and security knowledge and, in may cases, specific type of communication components or protocols (Example ModBus, ModBus TCP, or custom ethernet driver/transcoder).
Most AI+IOT Projects fail due to some hop in the communications failing or being regularly unreliable.
In the case of Edge AI Inference and Life Safety IOT requirements, having unreliable communication, low bandwidth, high latency, retransmits, is simply untenable.
Smart and Safe requires Connectivity:
For our Smart and Safe Intersections, providing multi-medium connectivity ensures that the inferenced data (telemetry) is routed to the Cloud layer for Advanced multi-intersection correlation as well as visualization.
Customer required integrations also require advanced integrations with systems that, at the base level, requires connectivity and secure communication. This is not something that can be taken for granted that "another group" will handle this function.
Connectivity ensures that the edge sensors are connected, transmitting reliable and unaltered data, and that the edge processing can consume the information (ingest) and then enrich the data at the most appropriate location.
BioSecurity: Real Life Safety Communication
The aforementioned point is highlighted most clearly in our Biosecurity Solutions. As many of our sensors are LoRaWAN, BLE and Wireless, the connectivity elements that ensure that the actual data is transmitted for validation ensures that the exact amount of O3 is delivered, the O3 is removed post cleaning via external exhaust fans, O3 sensors validate all O3 is removed, and emergency shutoff happens by both switch triggers (sensor) and motion detection sensors (LoRaWAN and Optical AI). Connectivity delivers the enriched telemetry to the local dashboards and the Cloud Federated Visualization (multiple sites, nodes, etc.) This Connectivity is truly Life Safety Critical.
This is one of the reasons that EPIC iO has created an integrated LoRaWAN Application Server that can run at any Edge or Cloud. Some LoRaWAN Nodes, example Gateways, have integrated SIM's or other types of connectivity that has to be deployed and managed.
Policy and Security in Connectivity:
Connectivity also has an enhanced security and policy element that is critical for proper data routing, SD-WAN.
EPIC iO has created an ultra-reliable and secure SD-WAN architecture that allows every authorized and necessary component to connect to the fabric and exchange information. This is irrespective of Processor Type or Operating System. We have also extended it to support devices that only support VPN type of functionality (IPSec, LT2P, 3rd Party SD-WAN, etc.)
For EPIC iO, this is also how we transmit data securely and efficiently to our Private Cloud for not only enhanced AI processing but also API Interchange and the Cloud-level Integrations and Interchanges.
Routing unaltered data from edge, to MEC or Core, and Cloud, with immutability, is a primary motive for why focusing on the Connectivity is so important.
Creating Success:
A successful Outcome is where we all want our journey to end. But that journey starts with your first step, Connectivity.
