But it’s this last part that is often overlooked in terms of IoT management. Naturally, IoT solutions simply do not work if devices aren’t connected back to the application. However many IoT solutions, including their digital twins, focus on devices and applications and assume that connectivity is operating perfectly at all times. Not only is this bad for the management and hygiene of any IoT solution (especially mission-critical applications) but connectivity data also holds opportunities for better decision-making and new use cases.

From an IoT management perspective, enterprises often have disparate elements/platforms managing different elements and producing different data. For example, they might have a device management platform and a separate SIM/connectivity management solution, both hosted on the cloud.

The BICS connectivity twin, delivered alongside IoT specialist Avnet, brings these two together. Essentially bringing connectivity management inside the device management platform, it offers enterprises a single point of truth for their IoT applications. It combines a device twin with a connectivity twin to deliver the first true digital twin for IoT applications.

The Connectivity Twin brings a near real-time view of each device's connectivity state. It bridges device & connectivity twins on AWS and Azure IoT Suite to form a 360° digital twin of the device and features smart connectivity dashboards with actionable items for quick decisions.

While effective IoT solutions (and therefore their application data) are highly specific to each individual use case, the connectivity side is far more universal. Applications will have specific connectivity requirements, whereas the connectivity knowledge and applications that BICS brings are horizontal and can be applied to any business vertical. This means businesses can focus on their solution specifics, while BICS makes sure the connectivity side of IoT is easier and more accessible than ever before.

Benefits

• 360° device management view
• Faster troubleshooting
• End-to-end security view
• Customized business and operational reporting
• Build new industry-specific use-cases
• End-to-end device management view

Use case examples

• Predict battery life for LPWAN devices
• Identify device firmware upgrade failure
• Block connectivity in case of suspected fraud
• Automatically select the network with better coverage

Historically, Private Networks have only required connectivity on-site. This is due in part to security requirements and also coupled with the difficulty in achieving seamless coverage when moving between private and public mobile networks. However, there are more and more cases where this type of connectivity is needed:

– Products manufactured in one site, but operating in another, may well require connectivity both at the point of manufacture as well as at the point of operation.
– Assets and devices operating in logistics and transportation hubs, may need to access sensitive, private network-restricted applications, while maintaining connectivity as they leave the site and travel to delivery points away from the private network site.

Typically, enterprises and IT integrators lack the right Telco experience to build service continuity outside a private network. Without this functionality in place, many IoT applications will remain boxed-in, unable to live up to their potential. However, setting up seamless global connectivity adds untold complexity including:

– Connecting IoT devices to a network
– Managing and setting up device eSIMs
– Enabling devices to connect to different MPNs
– Enabling devices to securely roam across international borders
– Enabling devices to seamlessly switch between networks in transit without loss of connectivity

BICS’ private network solution brings together several platforms and services in a one-stop shop for enterprises looking to unleash IoT on a global scale. Because of its deep roots in the telecoms industry, BICS possesses a worldwide backbone infrastructure that carries around half the world’s international roaming traffic. BICS leverages this extensive telecom network and its unmatched international connectivity expertise to support enterprises with connecting their devices on a global scale.

BICS delivers:

– Seamless Global connectivity inside and outside the network, provided by a single SIM
– Global coverage for all technologies: 2G/3G/4G/LTE-M/NB-IoT/5G with regional break-out options for the lowest latency
– Secure and reliable connectivity for mission-critical applications
– One single SIM inside the private network and outside with global connectivity
– Secure and private end-to-end connectivity, even when using public networks
– High quality of connectivity and low latency everywhere, with regional infrastructure in different geographies: America, Asia, Europe

BICS provides seamless global connectivity for users and devices of private networks. It enables smooth transitions between private networks and access to public mobile operator networks while ensuring service harmonization across various MPNs.

1. Cost, time, and scale
Deploying separate Private APNs for each customer has proven costly and time-consuming with the manual setup of the Enterprise VPNs. As a result, this option has been limited to be an exclusive service for larger customers. Another disadvantage of using specific APNs for customers is that they become costly to maintain for the mobile operator and are inflexible for the IoT customer. Suppose the customer wants a range of devices to go through another Enterprise VPN; then a new APN needs to be defined, and each device, sometimes thousands of devices, must be updated with this new APN.

All this means operators can only offer a very basic level of IoT connectivity to most business customers. If more flexibility, security, or customization is needed, the only next step is a bespoke solution using manual configurations. Typically, this becomes costly and time-consuming for comparatively little gain. The IoT business will simply not scale.

2. Lack of global IoT services
A truly global IoT service will require localization of eSIMs in countries where permanent roaming is unavailable due to commercial or legal reasons. In this scenario, the method of using the traditional APN on the home mobile core will not work, and the control is lost to the local operator. The devices cannot keep things such as IP addresses and security policies, and delivering a unified global connectivity service becomes mission impossible.

The Enea IoT CCS solves both these problems by adding a smart and secure layer in the signaling and traffic plane over the mobile core. IoT CCS is offered as a service from the public cloud globally. It allows CSPs to go beyond traditional IoT connectivity services and provide a secure, flexible, programmable, and scalable solution. Because IoT CCS handles the IP allocation for IoT devices, it can flexibly route the traffic to any number of Enterprise VPNs that the IoT CSP’s customer might have. Selected or all traffic can also be routed directly to the internet, protected by Fortinet’s next-generation firewall (FortiGate is included in IoT CCS) with IoT customer-specific settings.

As two interesting and relevant customer reference examples, a European tier 1 MNO and Swisscom specifically address two different business needs of their IoT connectivity service using the power of IoT CSS.

In the case of Swisscom, the main objective is to make it affordable for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with smaller numbers of devices to connect through a reliable Enterprise VPN connection. Most IoT customers start small, so this is crucial to capture future potential early on.

Philipp Rimli, Product Manager at Swisscom:

“Delivering a private APN with an enterprise VPN is normally a tedious process for both the service provider and their enterprise customers, which can take weeks to complete. With Enea IoT CCS, we can automate the delivery of VPNs for private APNs through a customer self-service portal.”

With IoT CCS, the IoT CSP can ensure that the process of setting up an Enterprise VPN connection is a matter of seconds instead of weeks.

Learn more about how Swisscom is chasing the long tail of IoT customers with IoT CCS:

Swisscom Chasing Long Tail of IoT Customers with Enea Aptilo IoT CCS

For the European tier 1 MNO, global IoT connectivity is the key objective. IoT CCS is one of the important components of their IoT connectivity offering, enabling their Enterprise customers to control their global virtual IoT network flexibly.

The head of architecture:

“The Enea IoT CCS solution provides a federated data network capability across our ecosystem of operators, making it easier for our customers to control policies while adding an extra layer of security.”

In summary, IoT CCS uniquely allows IoT CSPs to create a unified global and fully automated IoT connectivity service. It enables their IoT customers to define any number of Enterprise VPNs and even invite subcontractors and partners into this network. With IoT CCS, IoT CSPs can deliver a secure SD-WAN rather than a private APN to their customers.

Learn more about the global IoT Connectivity IoT CCS enables in this article:

IoT Without Risk of Roaming Restrictions – Have Your Cake and Eat It

To understand more about Enea IoT CCS, please visit our solution page:

The video we have provided covers one of the most central functions of IoT CCS, the automation of Enterprise VPN setups. We call this function Multitenancy Private APN: Use one APN to serve all IoT customers with a private connection (Enterprise VPN).

In 2023, iBASIS successfully facilitated the collaboration between chip maker, eSIM OS vendor, LTE-M/NB IoT module maker, and enterprise IoT solution providers to power a new production ecosystem and deliver validated use cases to guide the industry.

The impact of connecting iSIM is considerable. iSIM influences device design for space optimization and energy and power consumption reduction. It simplifies the production, deployment, and repurposing of IoT devices, driving materials reduction and lower costs for manufacturers.

After a cycle of extensive research, investment, development, and testing with ecosystem partners, iBASIS’s eSIM to iSIM Initiative has propelled iSIM from concept to real-world implementation through successful proofs of concepts, making it the most impactful and innovative use case of an IoT solution across 2023.

THE  SIM TO iSIM EVOLUTION

Propelling the production of iSIM from concept to reality, iBASIS initiated and orchestrated the successful collaboration between chip makers, eSIM OS vendors, LTE-M/NB IoT module makers, and enterprise IoT solution providers for a novel production ecosystem for iSIM.

With workflow being one of the biggest barriers to iSIM adoption, iBASIS brought together Murata Manufacturing, one of the world's largest manufacturers of sensors and communication modules; Kigen, a SoftBank Vision Fund company, the leading semiconductor and software design company; and Sequans, a leading provider of single-mode 4G and 5G LTE semiconductor solutions for IoT.

The initial testing phase focused on confirming connectivity on the new iSIM-integrated solution, the second on enabling end-to-end ordering logistics from customer to production. After extensive testing, iBASIS was selected for iSIM deployment by Actility, a major IoT player focused on LoRaWAN technology.

WHY ACTILITY CHOSE iBASIS

– In partnership with Sequans, our ability to support complex integration and focus on quality-based proactive testing
– Roaming between private unlicensed networks powered by ThingPark EPC Connector, a framework for converged voice and data on a 4G LTE network and public networks
– iBASIS’s support for reliable LTE-M connections with Power Saving Mode (PSM) and Extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX) options in permanent roaming
– Abeeway, an Actility subsidiary specializing in geolocation IoT solutions, selected the integrated iSIM and connectivity profile provided by iBASIS on the Sequans Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT platform to connect its devices to cellular networks worldwide

iBASIS is completing the first iSIM implementation to achieve common criteria for EAL5+ certification. By innovating on its existing eSIM infrastructure and global footprint accessing 2/3/4/5G networks, iBASIS is paving the way for the future of wholesale IoT to reach new frontiers with large-scale iSIM deployment.

INVESTING IN SUCCESS

In 2023, nearly 60% of the iBASIS capital budget was dedicated to innovation investments and over 20% of the iBASIS IoT business unit talent pool was dedicated to the research and development of the iSIM evolution initiative with global, inter-departmental cooperation across product, engineering, and signaling teams and top-tier resources.
In the past 12 months, in addition to the “iSIM Evolution” initiative, innovation projects have also included:

– Launching new eSIM/iSIM profiles
– Expanding features on the Simfony Connectivity Management Platform (CMP)
– Accelerating the development of the iBASIS 5G IoT roadmap and 5G Sandbox
– Developing a state-of-the-art multi-operator bootstrap profile supporting private/public network offerings
– Onboarding the new 3GPP SGP32 specification on converged M2M/Consumer Remote SIM Provisioning system (RSP)
– Strengthening the industry’s first alternate USA Tier 1 Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) plan on a single eSIM with multi-operator backup

MILESTONES
Key milestones reached in terms of customer growth, revenue growth, deployments, and speed to market include:

– The extensive testing and deployment developments for iSIM has iBASIS on track to reach an industry first for production of iSIM-capable devices enabling a market poised to scale to 7 billion units by 2030. A milestone that supersedes establishing industry standards for the integrated iSIM solution, iBASIS also established relationships with industry leaders Sequans, Kigen, Murata, and Sony Semiconductor.

– Contributing to market-leading solutions in the embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC)-enabled device space, iBASIS drove new customer acquisitions and device certifications, increasing revenue for Tier 1 Operators in the USA. iBASIS was the first to have devices certified with a downloadable Verizon profile on a non-Verizon eSIM.

– First to be approved for use of a Verizon local profile via dynamic download, iBASIS applied its eSIM technology and extensive IP exchange (IPX)-based global, private, and secure connectivity to open doors for international customers to connect securely on Verizon's massive IoT network, allowing adherence to network regulations all with a single eSIM.

– In 2022, iBASIS also established eUICC APIs as the first to dynamically download fixed wireless access (FWA) high data plans (20GB to 300GB and 5G unlimited) to Verizon eUICC-certified broadband devices using the iBASIS eSIM, allowing multiple connectivity options on a single eSIM and reducing the number of physical SIMs by at least 50%.

– Coverage supporting both Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) cases and High Data use cases for IoT devices, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of IoT customers.

– Secured the industry’s first production customer for iSIM (Actility).

Even if cattle survive the disease, significant long-term productivity losses will be felt. Calves have been shown to produce less milk and gain less weight too, resulting in lower meat quality. However, it’s a disease that can be effectively treated if caught early enough. Solving this problem would have a monumental impact as there are over a billion cattle in the world at risk, and would improve food quality by removing harmful microbials from the food chain.

PAS’s innovative wireless REDI (Remote Early Disease Identification) solution automates BRD discovery for cattle producers, enhancing animal welfare and minimising losses. Eseye provided vital device design expertise and reliable cellular connectivity to bring REDI to life.
When cows are ill, their behaviour changes drastically: they’re less social, and don’t eat/drink as frequently. Monitoring behaviour in real-time, REDI uses sensors attached to the cows to track their location and actions. When abnormal behaviour is detected, a sensor light identifies the cow for quick quarantine, treatment, and rescue.

In 2021, PAS partnered with Eseye to develop a proof-of-concept for an IoT hardware solution for REDI, scalable for commercial use. Eseye’s unique blend of hardware expertise and resilient IoT connectivity made them the ideal choice.

Eseye designed a proof-of-concept with a custom bovine tracker and REDI gateway. The miniaturised tracker, weighing under 30g, attaches easily to each cow, reducing waste. This involved developing a bespoke circuit board. The trackers create a sensor network connecting to a gateway in the containment pen. Data on behaviour is collected, stored, and uploaded to the gateway via Bluetooth when a cow is nearby.

The REDI gateway sends data to AWS cloud, where PAS uses proprietary algorithms to analyse herd health and identify behaviour anomalies indicative of BRD. To meet the client’s goals for sustainability and ease of installation, the gateway is powered by a solar panel with a long-life, easily replaceable battery.

If a cow becomes unwell with BRD, it needs to be removed from the herd quickly to allow fast treatment with antimicrobials to halt the progression of the disease. Early, accurate diagnosis coupled with appropriate therapy leads to improved treatment response rates and increase animal welfare. There is simply no room for connectivity failures.

Eseye used its hardware and design expertise to create a custom solution to connect the trackers, and enable reliable communication with the REDI gateway. The platform was specially customised to support Bluetooth technology as well as cellular functions. Encased in rugged aluminium, it also supports the need for the gateway to withstand the elements in an outdoor environment.

The custom hardware solution works hand in hand with Eseye’s managed connectivity service to ensure high device uptime. Underpinned by the Infinity IoT Connectivity Management Platform, this service enables resilient global connectivity for the REDI system, ensuring devices remain connected to the best possible cellular network at any time. Eseye also assisted with securing the necessary FCC, Bluetooth and cellular certification for the REDI system.

Offering a clear return on investment (minimizing the largest cause of calf deaths) , REDI becomes an easily deployable preventative solution for farmers. The non-intrusive tag, worn for months without intervention, continuously monitors cattle behaviour, transforming raw data into a comprehensive animal wellness classification.

REDI transforms raw behavioural information into a classification animal wellness status.

Health care managers receive the information in an easy to understand format with:
– A live map showing where animals are within the pen.
– A treatment list based on REDI BRD calls.
– Visualisation tools that compare the sick animal's behaviour to the rest of the herd.

Success for Precision Animal Solutions is getting correct and meaningful data put through REDI algorithms so they can complete detailed analysis of the cattle’s health. The end goal is to successfully reduce infection and mass herd outbreaks by identifying cattle with potential illnesses early and performing therapeutic intervention.

Early intervention results
– With REDI, BRD can be correctly identified in 81% of cases, a 27% improvement over visual observation by humans.
– Early therapeutic intervention promotes improved case outcomes.
– Reduction in loss of cattle and unnecessary deaths.
– Reduces microbials in the food chain, improving human health

Accurate
– REDI has greater ability to identify sick animals (sensitivity)
– When REDI calls a calf sick it is likely they are truly ill (specificity).

Consistent
– REDI monitors continuously, so sick calves cannot hide from the system.
– This 24/7 monitoring leads to consistent disease classifications.
– Hardware works straight out-of-the-box and is able to connect via Eseye’s cellular IoT connectivity anywhere in the world with near 100% uptime.

Lower costs
– Due to less use of anti-microbial pharmaceuticals and consequently less detergents in the food chain.
– Automated monitoring reduces the less effective and labour-intensive manual monitoring of cattle herd by farmers.

The Precision Animal Solutions connected health and wellbeing solution for cattle represents an important advancement for bovine health and could be beneficial to both dairy and beef systems by decreasing long-term productivity losses associated with BRD. REDI identifies sick calves more accurately and up to a week earlier than human observers which is revolutionising how this prevalent disease is identified and treated.

No other cellular track and trace solution like this exists in this market for cattle which allows continuous healthcare monitoring, remote diagnosis and prevents the spread of chronic BRD disease. Precision Animal Solutions are true pioneers for their entrepreneurial work and research into preventing BRD. The disease causes an estimated $800 million to $900 million annually in economic losses from death, reduced feed efficiency, and treatment costs (Chirase and Greene, 2001).

Looking to the future, the potential is well beyond just looking at respiratory disease. The REDI solution augments how farmers and cattle producers do their job – in fact the system works within existing farming processes rather than turning them upside down. It offers environmental benefits too, by reducing the need for high churning herds which results in less methane and Co2 being released into the atmosphere.

IoT in the agriculture market size was valued at USD 12.32 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 26.93 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.29% from 2020 to 2027. Digitally tracking live-stock allows farmers an in-detail and live view of their animals’ health.
Precision Animal Solutions have completed a successful proof of concept and field trial on a cattle farm in Missouri in 2022. The next phase of the project will be to work with Eseye to develop a commercialised product and deploy in North America across a large number of connected cattle.

Although, this solution is currently used for cattle only, the technology could be modified for other livestock use. The process would remain the same, the product just needs to be tweaked to suit other animals and tracking requirements.

This breakneck adoption and exponential scale are indicative of only the types of technologies that disrupt industries and change the world ” and no market is better suited to capitalize on this than mobile and telecommunications.

As a member of 3GPP and participant in 5G and 6G working groups, Wiliot has leveraged its unique experience pioneering the technology to contribute alongside the giants of the industry to define the requirements of ambient IoT in emerging applications.

The Wiliot Ambient IoT Visibility Platform utilizes Wiliot IoT Pixels to communicate via standard Bluetooth wireless devices, and new versions will work over forthcoming IEEE 802.11 and 3GPP 5G and 6G wireless networks as those standards begin to include ambient IoT in their specifications. The 802.11 standard body has started drafting ambient IoT sections ” and 3GPP voted to include ambient IoT in Release 19 in December 2023 ” marking the Wiliot Ambient IoT Visibility Platform as a crucial industry role model ” by self-powering via the radio waves that already exist in the world around us, the technology represents a breakthrough in mobile computing.

We believe that this will create huge value for every participant in the telecommunications ecosystem, be they a carrier, infrastructure or handset provider, consultant, or the enterprise and individual users of this technology, helping to address the need for breakthrough efficiency improvements to fight climate change as well as unlocking business value.