eSIM

Deploying cellular connected devices around the world can be complex particularly with large scale projects that need to connect in different countries. eSIM can help. eSIM or eUICC refers to the over the air re-programmability of IoT SIMs enabling them to connect wherever they are in the world. It brings significant commercial and technical advantages for large scale deployments and applications that need a future proof connectivity solution. eSIM provides an insurance policy. It avoids single vendor lock-in, counteracts permanent roaming restrictions and allows for profile switching for commercial, technical or locational reasons. Without the need to physically swap out SIMs which can be an expensive process. eSIM can simplify the whole supply chain for IoT applications. Beginning with manufacturing, using a single SIM component for all devices and the option to embed the SIM or chip into the device on the production line and provision it later.

Low Power Wide Area Network

As the title implies, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies use very low power to provide long-range cellular connectivity. LPWAN technologies use a small portion of the mature and reliable LTE bandwidth to provide connectivity that’s ideally suited to devices that rely on battery technology to function.

Historically, a significant limitation for cellular adoption has been power consumption and battery life (or lack of!). LPWAN  protocols like LTE-M and NB-IoT make it possible for cellular IoT modules to not only save power when not in use, but to also transmit relatively small amounts of data with minimal power usage.

Both LTE-M and NB-IoT are designed to offer years of operation from a battery-driven power source. Since data throughput is limited (but often more than enough for relaying sensor data), simpler signal modulation schemes and less complex radio modems are needed, leading to diminished power requirements. Advances in wake/sleep modes on modern hardware only contribute to these benefits.

Security

Cyber security risks are a reality. It is essential to keep the gateway secure and create private connections to the Cloud. On-SIM technology and mobile core network services, resolves IoT device identity issues, enables dynamic scalability and provides defence against spoofing of IoT devices, ransomware events and unauthorised device access to network and Cloud services.

Since cellular networks use SIM cards for authentication, it’s exceedingly difficult to spoof the identity of a device. SIMs can be pre-provisioned to securely communicate with Cloud Services. Compare this to Wi-Fi: When connected to a public Wi-Fi network, devices are sharing the connection with all other devices on the network. If any individual device has a security concern, all devices are at-risk. Cellular keeps every device separate from every other device, ensuring the security of the data being transmitted.