M2M : Machine 2 Machine

Looks like with this type of data coming out - the wireless carriers will start looking closely at offering M2M related products and services. Not only do they get higher revenues , but this could also result in longer term service contracts which is good for their bottom line.

Juniper Research Report -
With businesses waking up to the operational benefits and efficiency savings of real-time data monitoring, wireless telemetry or Automated Meter Reading (AMR) will lead the evolving growth in M2M markets over the coming three years and beyond, according to industry analysts Juniper Research. A Juniper study forecasts revenues rising from $11.6 billion in 2006 to $25.3 billion by 2009.

According to Juniper, the substantial rise in revenues — expected to quadruple by 2011 to $40.8bn — will contrast with limited growth in telematics from $6.4bn to $11bn in the same period, owing to current widespread usage in many commercial vehicles due to legislation. Other outlets, including security and surveillance, highway and public transport signs, and health care will show encouraging signs. The analysts predict revenues rising from a cumulative low of $2bn in 2006 to over $9bn by 2009.

Juniper’s Dr. Therese Cory, author of the study, believes the figures represent a great potential for real-time electronic data to transform enterprise performance and efficiency: “The utility industry is a prime example of how, by networking and remotely monitoring machines, data can be analysed and collective behaviour understood in new ways. For example a real-time unified view of how power is used will help safeguard this increasingly rare resource. And what can be measured can be controlled, and ultimately optimised.”

To date however, growth has been restrained. M2M projects are notoriously long-term investments taking years to initiate, due to large budgets, the length of the decision making process, and time needed to put together a custom solution from several supply chain players. Despite these hurdles, Dr. Cory insists the signs are positive: “Earlier in 2006 the Italian energy company Enel completed an installation of 30 million AMRs. The cumulative cost of this project up to 2005 was $4.48bn. In the same year, only 6 million meters were providing readings, increasing revenues by $1bn.”

Juniper expects similar cost and benefit patterns across the whole of the wireless AMR segment. the analysts note that making a business case will become easier, as more companies bite the bullet and provide success stories for others to learn from.

Autonet Mobile (www.autonetmobile.com), which bills itself as the first Internet service provider for cars, will debut its new service at ShowStoppers during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company also promises to announce an agreement with a world leading car rental company to offer a portable, wireless Internet service by the end of the first quarter of 2007.

It says the service will let passengers check email, surf the web, game or communicate via any WiFi-enabled device. According to Autonet Mobile “The service is optimised for the in-car experience, and is specifically designed to work on 95 percent of US roads, regardless of driving conditions or location.”

Installation is claimed to be plug and play by plugging the WiFi access point and router into the car’ cigarette lighter.

Autonet has given no details as to how the unit connects to the Internet except to say that its patent pending ‘TRU Technology’ (of which it gives no information) “enables seamless Internet connectivity so that passengers stay connected while driving…providing intelligent, dynamic automatic session management between high/low speed networks, producing a reliable user experience.”

The unit retails for $US399 with a monthly service charge of $US49.

According to Autonet Mobile CEO, Sterling Pratz, 40 percent of all SUVs and station wagons shipped in the US come equipped with media centres, supporting music and DVDs “yet, do not support today’s connected lifestyle of the Internet, e-mail and social media.”

M2M, Automation, Telemetry, Remote Monitoring, LBS

Remote activation of specific in-vehicle functions, such as turning on interior temperature-control and defrosting systems, shows a high likelihood of dramatically raising consumer interest in telematics services in future vehicles, according to a recent study conducted for ATX Group. ATX is the world’s second largest telematics provider to the automotive industry, serving both the North American and European markets.
Remote diagnostics of vehicle performance and automatic owner (parent) notification anytime the vehicle exceeded the owner’s pre-determined speed limit emerged as additional applications consumers preferred in a telematics service package.
Among the five telematics service package offerings included in the analysis (automatic crash notification, the remote access services, GPS location-based services, vehicle information, and satellite radio)*, vehicle owners in the U.S. were more likely to purchase a bundle of telematics services if it included the remote access capability.

M2M, Automation, Telemetry, Remote Monitoring, LBS

AN interesting article on efficiently processing large volumes of data. In a M2M scenarios the central systems get bombarded with gigabytes of raw data. Having a way to efficiently analyze this data - brings out teh true potential of a M2M system. More on the data processing article here >>>

Swarm Intelligence– Nature’s way . . .

By borrowing from nature, Xiaohui Cui of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is devising more efficient ways to analyze large amounts of publicly available data and perform other tasks to make information more accessible and useful.

While ants and birds don’t know anything about mathematical models, they represent the ideal when it comes to teamwork, colony organization and devising the best way to accomplish a task.

Using the same concepts that allow ants and birds to keep themselves in a colony and perform duties that are essential to their survival, Cui uses a technique called multiple species flock clustering, which sorts through news items on the Internet to extract useful information.

Cui also is developing a disposable sensor network based on the ant colony mathematical model, which enables large numbers of sensors to self-organize and collect and exchange information. This can be used, for example, by 1,000 or more battery-powered sensors deployed in strategic locations to monitor environmental activity or gather other information over a long period of time.

M2M, Automation, Telemetry, Remote Monitoring, LBS