By Andrew Berg
AT&T, Ericsson and chipset company Altair are collaborating on a more power-efficient Internet of Things (IoT).
The companies announced yesterday demonstration of an LTE Power Saving Mode on commercial LTE Internet of Things (IoT) chipset platform at the GSMA Mobile 360 event in Atlanta, Georgia.
AT&T is running the demonstration, which runs on Ericsson networks and Altair’s FourGee-1160 Cat 1 chipset featuring ultra-low power consumption.
The focus for the solution is on eliminating the need for field technicians having to go out and replace batteries in IoT modules, which can be expensive and time consuming.
Cameron Coursey, vice president of Product Development in AT&T’s IoT Organization, said in a statement that IoT connectivity has become an essential part of doing business in today’s world.
“Businesses can save money and become more efficient with battery replacements every few years rather than very few months,” Coursey said. “We are excited to explore these enhanced LTE MTC technologies and push for alternative chipsets that can increase the lifespan of connected devices.”
The companies content that long-term battery life has become a prerequisite for a vast number of IoT applications, as many solutions are not located near a power source and depend on battery power for long-duration operation.
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Power Saving Mode is an Ericsson Evolved Packet Core feature based on 3GPP (Release 12) for both GSM and LTE networks. Ericsson contends the feature is able to dramatically extend IoT device battery life up to ten years or more for common use cases and traffic profiles. The capability is defined for both LTE and GSM technologies and lets devices enter a new deep sleep mode – for hours or even days at a time – and only wake up when needed.
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