Lanner pre-certified modular LTE solutions help OEMs reduce certification costs

Quick Facts

Company

Lanner Electronics Inc.
www.lannerinc.com

Customer Profile

Lanner Electronics Inc. is a global leader in manufacturing and supplying advanced network appliances and rugged applied computing platforms. The company has over 900 employees worldwide at headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan and subsidiaries in the US, Canada, and China. For OEMs, Lanner offers end-to-end hardware manufacturing and lifecycle management, which includes manufacturing as well as branding and distribution services. End-to-end solutions include custom hardware design and engineering, prototyping, testing, certifications, mass manufacturing, branding, image loading, distribution, depot services and drop shipments, if required.

Objectives

Develop an external, dongle-based, plug-in LTE module in its own enclosure pre-certified with PTCRB and network operators to help OEMs get to market faster and at lower cost.

Results

The PGN300 and PGN600 enable OEMs to develop and evolve products quickly
Modular pre-certified solutions save OEMs the time and expense of certification
Lanner able to offer OEMs support for the latest networks including FirstNet™ and CBRS Private LTE

Sierra Wireless Products & Services

EM Series, EM7455, EM7511

Challenge

The IoT and edge computing are driving the need for 4G/LTE communications.

The IoT is enabling remote monitoring and management of devices in the field, but it requires reliable internet connectivity and connection failover support. 4G/LTE is a critical component of IoT, but in order to ensure that cellular IoT devices performing critical functions stay connected to the network, they must first be certified by the network operators. With the explosion of LTE devices, the need for pre-certified modular LTE solutions is increasing rapidly.

OEMs that want to build solutions with certified LTE connectivity must integrate an LTE module inside their devices and then get the final device certified by PTCRB and the network operators. If the customer offers a range of products, each one must be certified separately for LTE communications. And gaining PTCRB and network operator certifications are costly and time consuming.

Lanner recognized that if it could address these challenges by designing an external dongle-based, plug-in LTE module in its own enclosure which was already certified with the PTCRB and network operators, it would be able to help its customers get to market faster and at lower cost.

One of the key reasons we worked with Sierra Wireless for this product was the excellent support we get from the company and its distributor Premier Wireless Solutions.

Geoffrey Egger,
General Manager, LEI Technology, Canada

Solution

Lanner’s newly launched PGN-300 and PGN-600 are pre-certified, modular LTE modem cards that have their own enclosures, and once plugged into a device, they don’t require LTE re-certification for the final device.

External dongles are not the safest solution as they can be stolen or come loose, so Lanner has designed it’s PGN compatible systems to integrate the external dongle inside of the device. This ensures that end customers get certified LTE connectivity for their device without compromising security and reliability of the LTE communications.

Embedded in the PGN-300 is the Sierra Wireless EM Series (EM7455) module which provides support for global LTE networks. The PGN-600 includes the Sierra Wireless EM7511 module that offers support for Commercial LTE, CBRS Band 48 as well as FirstNet™ Band 14. Since these are considered end-devices, an OEM could significantly reduce their regional certification costs across multiple products.

Lanner’s PGN series modules are specifically designed for OEMs working in the public transportation, public safety, smart city, manufacturing and energy sectors who are looking to develop products with reliable LTE communication on commercial or dedicated bands. Both products have been certified by PTCRB and AT&T, with Verizon certification in progress. The PGN-600 is CBRS and FirstNet compliant with respective certifications in progress.

“One of the key reasons we worked with Sierra Wireless for this product was the excellent support we get from the company and its distributor – Premier Wireless Solutions”, said Geoffrey Egger, General Manager, LEI Technology Canada – a subsidiary of Lanner Inc. “PWS and Sierra Wireless support during the design and integration were invaluable and ensured we were able to get to market with a solution that is readily certified on networks around the world.”

Results

With the introduction of these new products, Lanner now has a pre-certified solution that solves some very big challenges for OEM customers.

By eliminating the need for certification, Lanner is helping OEMs get to market faster and evolve solutions without the need for costly and time-consuming certifications.

“Since these are considered end-devices, an OEM could significantly reduce their regional certification costs across multiple products. Depending on the number of carriers and geographies, the certifications cost savings could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars”, explained Daren Khatib, Director Sales at Lanner. “Our modular design provides the benefit of future proofing the base products (e.g. 5G add-in).”