“Extrovert” modem fills market demands

13th January 2017

Logic Supply

Enaie Azambuja

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Protection of customised industrial computers from temperature, moisture, dust, and vibration is the backbone of Logic Supply’s hardware offering. Now, customers can link the company's rugged embedded systems to the 4G LTE cellular network without the time and cost – several months and as much as $50,000 – associated with system certification. The company’s new Extrovert line of 4G SIM card-based modems are pre-certified to work on major carrier networks.

The solution is platform-agnostic and allows companies to connect Logic Supply hardware to the network, no matter their software, computer model, or configuration. “Our customers wanted 4G connectivity without the frustration, complexity, and cost of the certification process,” said Roland Groeneveld, CEO of Logic Supply.

“This product was driven by a challenge brought to our engineers by a customer who needed connectivity for embedded appliances distributed throughout North America. The Extrovert line resulted and we’re excited that this work will benefit all customers requiring just this kind of 4G connectivity.”

Application developers use the LTE network for primary connectivity in remote locations, and failover connectivity in areas accessible by WiFi or hardwired internet. Depending on the application, data flows bidirectionally: an industrial automation engineer can, for example, push updates to M2M devices while bypassing firewalls, while an operational professional can receive real-time machine updates to guide predictive maintenance decisions.

“Enabling 4G LTE connectivity is critical for several burgeoning Internet of Things applications but, in many cases, is not an existing competence within the broader embedded engineering community,” says Dan Mandell, Senior Analyst at VDC Research.

“The potential savings on time and development resources from leveraging the combination of pre-certified Extrovert modems and Logic Supply embedded systems cannot be overstated.”

In addition to the Extrovert line, Logic Supply will also offer customers the ability to preload SIMs from a range of carriers. Customers can then establish their accounts directly with the cellular service providers.

“While some customers have pre-existing carrier relationships, many are looking for a complete, out-of-the-box solution that includes wireless connectivity,” said Murat Erdogan, Senior Product Manager at Logic Supply. “For these customers, we’ve smoothed the way.”

Extrovert combines industry-leading modules from Sierra Wireless and u-blox with a SIM slot, integrating both into the Mini PCIe expansion card standard. The result is a module that fits inside the smallest of form factors, including Mini-ITX, NUC, and other Logic Supply compact embedded box PCs.

The Extrovert lineup includes two core modem models, the NWK100 and NWK200. The NWK100, based on the u-blox TOBY-L2, offers connectivity to the AT&T and T-Mobile networks and adds $191 to the price of compatible systems.

The in-development NWK200, powered by the Sierra AirPrime EM/MC module, enables connectivity to the AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon networks, as well as leading European carriers like Vodafone, Orange, and Telefonica. The modems will carry all the required certifications and tests including PTCRB, FCC/CE, and GCF registrations.

Logic Supply will also be demonstrating the Extrovert line at the upcoming RSA Conference in San Francisco, February 13-17. Visit them at booth #S2048.