IoT gateway and wireless sensor node series

An IoT gateway and a series of wireless sensor nodes have been announced by Portwell. The IoT gateway, XM-1, is said to be the first to feature international patents of highly composable structure.

Due to infrastructural challenges – such as transmission distance, geological obstacles, limitation of regulation and/or power consumption – a system integrator involved in a variety of IoT projects might need to deploy a gateway solution, designed with various communication interfaces to ensure that data can be collected effectively under the same IoT structure.

With the modularised design of XM-1, the same system integrator can select and insert the communication modules based on actual application needs and requirements instead of preparing several different hardware gateways.

For example, intelligent agriculture can use LoRa technology for collecting data, plus LTE high speed wireless communication to connect to the cloud.

When a communication or connectivity system encounters technical issues, or requires an upgrade, engineers no longer need to open the system/gateway chassis. With its hot-plugging capability, XM-1 is said to facilitate maintenance and upgrade.

Additional features of XM-1 :

  • Modularisation mechanism with patents
  • All the communication modules can be hot-plugged on-site without removing the system chassis
  • Supports four different communication technologies: ZigBee, LoRa, Wi-Fi, 2G/3G/LTE
  • Two board choices: ARM processor-based and X86 processor-based
  • Integration of conventional communications: RS232/422/485
  • 4-port Ethernet Switch
  • The company also announced a series of wireless sensor nodes, DS-1 and DS-1B, supporting Arduino Integrated Development Environment and a variety of options for sensors and wireless connectivity.

    The series integrates sensors with the electronic and mechanical characteristics, which is said to decrease circuit and mechanical complexity.

    System characteristics of DS-1/DS-1B:

    • Supports ZigBee, LoRa and Wi-Fi for connecting the IoT gateway
    • Supports sensors with different voltages at the same time
    • Transfers sensors data with digital, analogue, I²C and more
    • Integrates lithium battery and solar charging
    • Sleep mode and extreme power saving feature