M2M : Machine 2 Machine

KORE Telematics, the world’s largest digital wireless services provider specializing in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, today announced that Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. has selected the KORE network to power its full suite of vehicle and asset tracking solutions. In teaming with KORE, Rocky Mountain Tracking enhances its customers’ service options by providing the cost-effective, flexible wireless network connectivity capabilities required to meet their personal and business tracking application needs.

KORE provides Rocky Mountain Tracking with the industry’s most reliable, flexible and cost-effective wireless connectivity for applications that impact businesses on the bottom line and the top line. Vehicle tracking applications from Rocky Mountain Tracking enable customers to reduce fuel savings, more efficiently route vehicles, assist in emergency situations or breakdowns and enhance theft prevention, among other capabilities.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT - message board) today announced that it has begun a proof of concept trial for the X24, an innovative machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless module featuring mobile WiMAX connectivity (802.16e). The X24 module is designed with advanced automotive telemetry needs in mind, enabling in-car, low-cost broadband connectivity over a WiMAX network. The X24 is based on Motorola’s WTM1000 WiMAX chipset. The X24 will be on display at WiMAX World 2008, booth 601, and will be part of a live demo using real WiMAX infrastructure.

The X24 is developed with high-speed data capabilities combined with mobility allowing broadband connectivity to automobiles. Motorola’s WTM1000 chipset is a dual-band (2.5 GHz / 3.5 GHz) full WiMAX Wave 2 compliant solution targeted for mobile wireless broadband applications, allowing connectivity to the majority of WiMAX networks. Together with the WTM1000, the X24 counteracts interference by using MIMO A/B and other advanced features of the WTM1000 to increase throughput and coverage. The X24 incorporates full quality of service (QoS) capabilities in order to meet automotive real time applications demand.

This is a significant milestone in Motorola’s continued commitment to delivering end-to-end WiMAX solutions. The WTM1000 solution plays a large role in developing the WiMAX device ecosystem to embed WiMAX into a variety of applications.

A SEcurity Chip which in the surface is similar to the Connect One Chip for M2M Security applications…

Renesas Technology Corp. has launched AE470G, a secure MCU for M2M (Machine-to-Machine) wireless communication applications, which is built around the high-performance AE-4 CPU core and integrates 144kB of high-performance electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) with a guaranteed operating temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.

Suitable for use in a wide range of machines requiring M2M wireless communication capabilities, the device comes in an eight-pin ultra-thin small-outline non-lead (USON) surface mount package measuring 5×6x0.65mm thick.

Tracking a vehicle as it crosses a national border or a container as its unloaded in a foreign port may seem like an easy task, but such international visibility is harder to maintain than one might think.

Machine-to-machine (or M2M) communications is dependent upon the cellular network to relay information back to the customer, and the morass of international roaming has presented huge barriers for multinational enterprises and regional M2M operators, said Alex Brisbourne, president and chief operating officer of Kore Telematics, a U.S. M2M service provider. “The industry is faced with the fact that a particular application is limited to a single country,” Brisbourne said.

John Moore, sales and marketing director at Alpha Micro, said the new distributor agreement covers embedded and 3G M2M modules from Sierra Wireless.

“At the moment, our main areas are GSM or 2G and GPRS or 2.5G, so this allows us to move higher data speeds into different markets,” he said.

Moore said digital signage holds big potential for M2M communications. Users could update billboards and similar remotely over the air, for instance.

The faster speed of 3G modules means that communications happens faster and video can be supported as well. And as it is an emerging technology, few competitors exist in the UK currently, Moore said.

“Service providers have paid a lot of money for 3G plans and it is in their interest to get more people on to that network,” he said.

As 3G pricing comes down over the next two or three years, more uptake will be seen. Alpha Micro is getting in early with a view to gradual sales growth as 3G adoption increases, Moore said.