IoT technology has transformed traditional asset management, from predictive maintenance to factory automation, digitizing objects and providing real-time, actionable data and information on the status (monitoring) and location (tracking) of assets. For enterprises, asset management is very important to ensure the normal operation of enterprises, which can effectively reduce manpower and costs, reduce human errors, and improve management efficiency. The growing need to automate processes and reduce costs with the COVID-19 pandemic has also spawned new asset management applications such as people movement and monitoring of social distancing. ON Semiconductor regards asset management as one of the key vertical areas of the Internet of Things, providing leading technologies and solutions such as Bluetooth low energy, Wi-Fi, positioning, node-to-cloud, etc., and working with partners to build an ecosystem to help designers Accelerate time-to-market and deployment.
what is asset management
There are two types of asset management systems: asset monitoring and asset tracking.
In asset monitoring, assets are usually static or in an immutable location. Monitor the condition of an asset or the condition of the asset’s environment through sensors such as temperature, humidity, shock or vibration, such as predictive maintenance, monitoring the ambient temperature of perishable items, or the cold chain.
In asset tracking, assets are mobile and their precise location can be determined using location-based technology, which may be across countries, regions, cities, or indoors, such as within a manufacturing facility, to track pallets or tools in a manufacturing facility.
Asset management solution based on Bluetooth low energy
With its inherent energy efficiency and smartphone usability, Bluetooth low energy is ideal for short-range wireless transmissions that require long-term or continuous operation and is now a popular choice for asset management, offering a good balance of low power, Connect range, security and provide advanced features.
ON Semiconductor’s RSL10 radio supports advanced Bluetooth 5 capabilities while offering the industry’s lowest power consumption in deep sleep and active modes. Manufacturers needing a custom asset management solution can use ON Semiconductor’s RSL10 system-on-chip (SoC) or RSL10 system-in-package (RSL10 SIP) as the basis for their designs, or utilize one of the RSL10 sensor development kits to add environmental awareness capabilities.
RSL10 SIP contains a complete antenna solution, power management, clock crystal unit and other passive components in a tiny package, no need for additional RF design, plug and play, easy to design and import into any smart wireless interconnection application, and has passed the U.S. , Europe, Japan and other multi-national certification systems. The RSL10 Sensor Development Kit is based on the RSL10 SIP and combines multiple environmental sensors with a range of software resources for development, including an Eclipse-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) supporting Keil uVision® and IAR Embedded Work Bench®, including CMSIS-Packs and mobile apps (IoS®, Android) with ready-to-use sample code.
Flexible Asset Management Development Ecosystem Accelerates Time to Market and Deployment
ON Semiconductor is committed to working with technology partners to provide a flexible asset management development ecosystem. Based on the industry’s lowest power Bluetooth 5 radio series RSL10, it has developed a series of complete turnkey solutions, including a highly scalable RSL10 sensor development kit. Custom low-power beacons and tags. These solutions offer rich, innovative capabilities including a variety of environmental sensors, security enhancements and localization. These supporting functions can be implemented together in the hardware platform or separately. This flexible design ecosystem also includes advice and industrial gateway partners for system integration. ON Semiconductor’s expertise in low-power connectivity, combined with the partner’s asset management experience, dramatically accelerates time-to-market, ranging from weeks to months.
For example, ON Semiconductor has partnered with IoT solution company tatwah sa and leading network security provider WISeKey to provide ultra-low energy Bluetooth 5 beacons based on RSL10 radios, supporting iBeacon, Eddystone, AltBeacon, etc. Designed for industrial asset tracking and asset monitoring, this Bluetooth 5 beacon offers several innovative features including multi-sensor capabilities, security enhancements and Bluetooth connectivity to securely transmit asset information, helping manufacturers track their assets while giving them peace of mind , knowing that the information is safe and secure. The excellent power management of the RSL10 allows this Bluetooth 5 beacon to have a long battery life. WiSeKey’s tamper-resistant VaultTIC407 microcontroller enables the RSL10 to securely store and use digital certificates, providing mutual authentication and end-to-end security, a priority for many IoT manufacturers, especially in the industrial sector. The VaultTIC407 is used as the RSL10 toolbox to implement the required safety protocols. These protocols are back-end secured by WiSeKey’s Hardware Security Module (NetHSM), which is hosted on its secure Swiss cloud service.
This Bluetooth 5 beacon uses a unique key to protect the device from common types of cybersecurity threats, including device cloning and replay attacks. It also ensures that the transmitted data is uniquely signed and verified by the web domain authority. WISeKey provides all the necessary services to enable IoT devices to have a strong digital identity, which is recognized by a globally trusted root certification authority serving as a common “root of trust”. A further benefit of WISeKey technology is the combined use of personal and object identities, especially in use cases related to predictive maintenance. Every action (e.g. configuration/connection changes) of stakeholders interacting with the secure IoT ecosystem is digitally signed and stored on the blockchain. This provides a legally binding and immutable record.
Summarize
From predictive maintenance to factory automation, industrial IoT applications will benefit from asset monitoring and asset tracking, reducing enterprise investment in manpower and costs, reducing human errors, and improving management efficiency. Bluetooth low energy is one of the preferred technologies for asset management with its inherent energy efficiency and usability in smartphones. Manufacturers needing a custom asset management solution can use ON Semiconductor’s RSL10 series, the industry’s lowest power Bluetooth 5 radio, as a design basis. ON Semiconductor is also actively collaborating with technology partners such as WISeKey to build a flexible asset management development ecosystem and accelerate product launch and deployment. Partners such as ON Semiconductor and WISeKey have jointly developed Bluetooth 5 beacons, designed for tracking and monitoring industrial assets, offering a variety of innovative features including multi-sensor capabilities, security enhancements and Bluetooth connectivity to transmit asset information.