A staple of industrial technology and business news has incorporated partnerships. Sometimes an acquisition is simply out of the question, but each company needs something from the other. The trouble with partnerships rests in assuring that each side benefits. When one partner feels like managing the relationship is more work than the benefit gained, then things go south. Likewise, when the partnership is consummated at a high level and the executives don’t get along like they thought they would.
However, the potential drawbacks fail to impede companies from trying.
This story is the tale of two partnerships involving two other megatrends of industrial technology—wireless and cloud.
Telit and Sequans
Telit announced the availability of two new modules designed and built to support CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) networks in the USA. The modules are based on Sequans’ Cassiopeia LTE Cat 4/6 chipset technology and are optimized for the design of devices for private LTE IoT and broadband applications. The collaboration will benefit both companies by leveraging Telit’s strong position as a module supplier and Sequans’ expertise in 5G/4G cellular connectivity.
The Telit LTE Cat 4 LE915A4-P CBRS module, based on the Sequans Cassiopeia SQN3220SC chipset, is pin-to-pin compatible with the Sequans CB410L module, and the Telit LTE Cat 6 LE915A6-P, based on the Sequans Cassiopeia SQN3220 chipset, is compatible with the Sequans CB610L module. Both are the industry’s first cost-effective LCC (leadless chip carrier) modules designed from the ground up to enable easy and massive deployment of IoT devices on private LTE CBRS networks. The modules can support a wide range of applications — including industrial IoT and M2M devices, gateways, and broadband consumer devices — and the very small form factor LCC package enables easy mounting into small and thin devices or mini-PCI or M.2 NGFF carriers.
CBRS Module Features
- Available in two versions:
- LTE Cat 6
- LTE Cat 4
- All-in-one standalone module solutions
- 3GPP Release 10
- Small LCC (leadless chip carrier) package, 32 x 29 mm
- Supports CBRS networks in USA on LTE band 48, and MNO networks worldwide on LTE bands 42/43
- Includes drivers for all major host operating systems
- Includes comprehensive set of interfaces
Microsoft and Rockwell
Rockwell Automation and Microsoft today announced a five-year partnership expansion to develop integrated, market-ready solutions that help industrial customers improve digital agility through cloud technology. By combining each company’s expertise in the industrial and IT markets, respectively, teams can work together.
The goal is to deliver edge-to-cloud-based solutions that connect information between development, operations and maintenance teams through a singular, trusted data environment. This will allow development teams to digitally prototype, configure and collaborate without investing in costly physical equipment. This unified data environment also enables IT and OT teams to not only securely access and share data models across the organization, but with their ecosystem of partners as well.
To date, the companies have co-developed over 20 use cases across Food & Beverage, Household and Personal Care and Life Sciences industries. The solutions developed from this partnership will augment and enhance their current offerings.
