IoT gateway is flexible for rapid field deployment

Customised system designs are also available upon request.

OEMs utilising the conga IoT gateway system benefit from a pre-configured, pre-certified IoT gateway that can easily connect a wide range of heterogeneous sensors and systems to cloud-based services. Target uses include Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications such as smart cities, smart agriculture, connected homes and vehicles, digital signage systems and other IoT applications.

Jason Carlson, CEO, congatec, explains its application-ready-system strategy for IoT gateways: "The large and fast growing IoT market is well served by congatec's traditional embedded computer boards and module products, but OEMs are increasingly demanding IoT gateways that are complete, application-ready systems. To meet this growing need, congatec has designed a highly flexible and configurable gateway system that can be optimised to meet a wide variety of specific application demands. Together with our embedded design and manufacturing services, we can now meet any specific IoT gateway requirement." As well as the engineering and production of optimised IoT solutions, congatec's embedded design and manufacturing service also includes certification services, an increasingly essential element of deploying wireless technologies and edge devices that connect to carrier grade infrastructures.

The wireless connectivity of the congatec IoT gateway system is extremely scalable: six internal USB ports and three miniPCIe slots are available and able to support LTE 3GPP modems, two WIFI, two LAN with PoE and PROFINET features, BLE and 6LoWPAN. Other low power wide area networks including LORA, 3GPP, LTE-MTC, Sigfox or UNB can be supported upon customer request. This allows for maximum flexibility in supporting all major IoT connectivity requirements. The housing is equipped to mount up to 8 antennas supporting multiple wireless standards in parallel, while enhancing signal quality by utilising antenna diversity. The small size (200x230x40mm³) metal housing is certified to IP53 protection class for outdoor applications.

In order to deliver optimal and rapid IoT gateway designs, congatec developed the system to support scalable computing performance utilising Qseven modules, which range from the NXP single-core i.MX6 processor up to a quad core Intel Pentium CPU. The gateway also supports the upcoming next generation of Intel Atom processors (Intel code name "Apollo Lake") for deployment in emerging IoT gateway and edge computing application scenarios, up to and including high availability fog computing systems.

The congatec embedded board support packages cover all major operating systems - including Windows 10 IoT - to enable easier software integration. The congatec IoT gateway system also supports all the features of congatec's embedded board controller, which are a must for reliable IoT applications. Amongst other functions, the congatec feature set enables secure boot, management of Multi-Master I²C Bus, Multi Stage Watchdog, non-volatile User Data Storage, Manufacturing and Board Information, Board Statistics, as well as Power Loss Control.