Consumers often take for granted the constant connectivity 4G LTE provides as they travel to remote locations. Social media outages, lack of instant video updates or no e-mail access are afterthoughts. If any of these ever happened, life as we know it would be over!
The end of life may be a slight exaggeration, but our ubiquitous access to Internet connectivity illustrates how integrated into daily lives it has become.
Industrial Wireless Connectivity
The industrial market has taken notice of this. Engineers are thinking about how to apply IoT connectivity to applications they work in for their industrial customers. “Wouldn’t it be great to have instant access to that sensor on the far side of the factory?” This is driving the Industrial IoT (IIoT) today.
Industrial wireless connectivity has traditionally been based on short-range wireless protocols for point-to-point applications. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have become more popular in recent years. As the large mobile providers grow their 4G LTE networks, finding more customers becomes paramount. Industrial wireless connectivity via 4G LTE provides a new customer pool to wade into.
Other applications using 4G LTE for IIoT connectivity include mobile sensing (emergency vehicles, company fleet, officer tracking, etc.) and remote sensing (weather stations, smart agriculture, smart cities, etc.).
Regardless of the application, industrial OEMs often lack the expertise and resources to master the intricacies of IoT connectivity. They need a hardware platform that easily integrates into their hardware architecture. They also need a solution for storing, managing and visualizing all of the new data their constant connectivity provides.
A New Tool for the IIoT
In response to these trends, Avnet has released the AT&T Cellular IoT Starter Kit. This is an out-of-the-box solution giving OEMs a quick path from prototype to production for their IIoT connection needs. The kit comes with the following:
- NXP K64F Freedom Board
- Avnet M14A2A Cellular Shield
- AT&T IoT SIM Starter Pack
- Two Pulse LTE Stealth Blade Antennas
- Two micro-USB Cables
- 5V AC/DC USB Power Supply
- Quick Start Card
- Downloadable Tutorials and Documentation
Avnet’s AT&T Cellular IoT Starter Kit includes various interconnect solution from Samtec such as SMA series, SSQ series and SSW series. Samtec’s broad portfolio of interconnect solutions are ideally suited for linking multiple PCB boards and RF signals commonplace in IIoT hardware. Our Samtec Interconnect Solutions for Wireless Applications provides a brief overview of our capabilities.
For more information on the Avnet’s AT&T Cellular IoT Starter Kit, please see the following links:
