Atlas Copco Harnessing Connectivity for Industrial IoT

Having initially connected its industrial air compressors using 2G modules supplied by Sierra Wireless, Atlas Copco plans to start using Mobile IoT solutions from mid-2019. Its air compressors are equipped with Sierra Wireless’ FX30 programmable IoT gateway – a small, flexible and rugged programmable cellular gateway, which can be configured to support 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE-M and NB-IoT connectivity. About the size of a cigarette box, the gateway has both a serial port and an Ethernet port, as both interfaces are widely used in industrial machinery. It also has an IoT connector expansion slot, which can be used to integrate sensors and other hardware into the gateway.

“The FX30 IoT gateway has evolved from 2G to support 3G and 4G and now 4G Low Power Wide Area technologies,” says Nicolas Damour, Director of Technology Partnership Development at Sierra Wireless. “It supports both NBIoT and LTE-M but also 2G as a fall-back, which is very important, as it gives you versatility from the get-go. For a worldwide deployment, you are far better off with both LPWA technologies, as many operators are deploying one or the other. And have 2G as a fall-back.” The gateway is part of Sierra Wireless’ “device-to-cloud IoT solution”, which also comprises the Legato open source Linux platform integrated with Sierra’s own AirVantage IoT platform for connectivity and device management. “Our strategy is to do one simple product that can go everywhere,” adds Damien Hoyen of Atlas Copco. “As the gateway is part of Legato common platform, we don’t have to rewrite 6,000 lines of code to go from 3G to 4G.” Another key consideration for Atlas Copco is longevity. “We have an installed base of hundreds of thousands of machines,” notes Damien Hoyen. “Compressors can run for many years, so we need connectivity that is future-proof. Most of the compressors today are connected over 2G, but some operators will switch off their 2G networks in the next few years. 4G will be around for 20 years, which makes it future-proof.” Although they can run on 4G networks, both LTE-M and NB-IoT are already considered to be part of 5G networks and are set to be an integral part of mobile operators’ IoT portfolios for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, one of the advantages of using a cellular-based IoT platform is the certainty that mobile operators will continue to be in business in 10 or 20 years. By contrast, start-ups using wireless technologies in unlicensed spectrum have yet to prove their staying power.

“The FX30 gateway and its predecessors have been around for 15 years,” says Nicolas Damour of Sierra Wireless. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it is being used in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of machines, ranging from air compressors to coffee makers.” The gateway is also versatile in that it can be retrofitted to existing machines in the field, he adds.

At the same time, Mobile IoT networks can provide coverage in basements or rooms where there is a lot of metal, which can be difficult for conventional wireless networks to penetrate. “From what we have measured, we know the coverage is working a lot better,” adds Nicolas Damour. “With conventional 2G or 4G cellular, you would be able to cover about 70% of your fleet of industrial machines, whereas with low power wide area connectivity it is something like 96%. You still have the odd area where you have some issues.”

Another advantage of moving to Mobile IoT connectivity is the potential to use a single global SKU (stock keeping unit) product that can change its frequency to adapt to all cellular networks across the world. Atlas Copco anticipates being able to deploy the same connectivity module in all the markets where it operates as the chosen IoT gateway supports multiple frequency bands. “Being able to deploy a single product worldwide is important,” says Nicolas Damour. “A traditional 4G product is tailored for a particular region in terms of frequency bands, but low power wide area connectivity is much simpler. With a software-defined radio, you can support all the bands used worldwide in one product. LTE-M also supports roaming out of the box, which is a big plus.” Indeed, Damien Hoyen stresses that Atlas Copco’s rollout of the Mobile IoT-enabled air compressors will be governed in part by the availability of international roaming services. “It is very complex for us, as our machines are deployed in over 100 countries,” he explains. “We deploy our machines globally and we don’t want have to do different SKUs for different countries. We are working through a global agreement with a major Mobile Network Operator at the moment as our compressor business is global and will need to be deployed in all markets.”

In time, Atlas Copco is also considering employing eSIMs, which can be remotely configured to connect to different operators’ networks, removing the need to physically change the SIM card if a machine needs to switch networks. Sierra plans for future iterations of the gateway to support the GSMA eUICC specification for remote provisioning, allowing subscriptions to be remotely updated over-the-air. 

Cost is also a key consideration at the lower end of the market. Sierra Wireless is aiming to ensure the cost of a Mobile IoT module is comparable with that of a 2G module. “But I would argue the main driver of adoption would be a new cost model” in which the cost of connectivity is bundled in with the cost of the device in a single offering, explains Nicolas Damour. “Sierra Wireless already delivers such integrated Ready-to-Connect solutions to its customers, allowing them to focus on their core business with a hardware that comes together with an embedded SIM, pre-connected to the global mobile networks,” he says. This kind of commercial clarity and certainty is an important factor for industrial companies making long-term investments in equipment and plant. notes Damien Hoyen. “many of our machines go to semi-professional shops where the operating cost of a connectivity solution must meet the business case.” so the cost of connectivity is an important factor.