Mobile and Connected Device Strategies

The Internet of Things (IOT), the term used to describe a multitude of connected devices, recently got a boost from the Cambridge, England-based Neul, as the company has developed and launched the first white space transceiver chip.

The IDG News Service reports that Neul’s chip is the first that will operate over white space spectrum, which was recently freed up with the transition from analog to digital television. Neul’s chip—known as Iceni—will tap into these unused and underused frequencies for wireless communication. Iceni operates on frequencies from 470 MHz to 790 MHz, which encompasses all of the television spectrum, as well as supports both the 6 MHz and 8MHz bandwidth channels. “When we looked at existing solutions and compared them to the promise of white space, we uncovered an opportunity to help build smart infrastructure and applications at huge cost savings, without sacrificing bandwidth or reliability,” James Collier, founder and CEO of Neul, said, according to the news provider.

Yankee Group VP of Research Brian Partridge comments

“Neul’s ground-breaking transceiver that communicates over white space frequencies has significant potential for M2M applications in the long run—in particular for those that require significant bandwidth—but faces significant hurdles along the way. The obvious selling point for this alternative is the potential cost saving advantage of using free spectrum as opposed to tapping the fixed network or licensed spectrum alternatives. At this stage, this is a development to keep on the radar but one very much in its infancy in terms of practical relevance.

Beyond the purely technical challenges of things such as managing interference through cognitive radio techniques and back-end database dips we know it takes an entire eco-system to support and build M2M applications that work. In the case of white space, meaningful adoption will require significant industry participation including new types of connectivity brokers who specialize in white space networking dynamics and significant participation from device manufactures to drive economic scale. For lower bandwidth applications such as meter reading, 2G module pricing and airtime charges have come down significantly enough in recent years, which reduces the attractiveness of white space as a viable alternative. Fast forward five years when 2G networks begin their sunset period and the economics of white space could become far more compelling assuming the industry works together to overcome the technical challenges.”