Aeris extends CDMA services, eyeing Wi-Fi, WiMAX
A network operator is expanding its offerings to become a nationwide supplier of cellular services for telematics and machine-to-machine communications.
Aeris, in San Jose, Calif., recently unveiled a new Short Message Service (SMS) designed for very low latency and high reliability, and an on-demand voice service, both optimized for such industrial-style applications as tank monitoring, utility grid management or security sensors. These combine with a conventional SMS text-messaging service and the company’s MicroBurst service for event reporting and wireless remote control.
All the services are managed via AerFrame, a network management and provisioning software system introduced about 12 months ago.
Billing itself as the first “specialized mobile network operator,” Aeris owns no cell towers or spectrum. Instead it owns and runs two high-end switching centers that connect directly to the Signaling System 7 (SS7) switches at the core of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular networks from 30 North American carriers. Roaming agreements aren’t needed, says Robert Schoenfield, senior vice president of marketing and business development.
An Aeris “subscriber” is any device — such as an oil-tank sensor or a motion detector — with an embedded cellular radio, which then is provisioned automatically and remotely with an Aeris phone number, from a block of 110 million numbers. When the device places a call to report a change or other data, the call is handed off over the SS7 network from the carriers to an Aeris switching center. The center then takes over the care and servicing of the client and the movement of data to enterprise applications or databases.
Aeris has about 1.2 million such devices on the network, about half of which are used in residential and manufacturing security applications, according to Schoenfield. The devices can make use of IP sessions over 1XRTT, Evolution Data Optimized, General Packet Radio Service and Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution networks.
Wireless sensor networks coupled with wireless WAN connectivity for monitoring enterprise assets is seen as a major growth market for vendors. Qualcomm in November acquired nPhase, a company with products that monitor dispersed enterprise computing and network assets.
SMSDirect is the new messaging service, which shows what this architecture can do, Schoenfield says. “We can deliver SMS messages in 6 seconds or less every time, throughout North America,” he says. That kind of performance, predictability and reliability is critical in machine-to-machine applications, which require near-real-time performance. In contrast, Schoenfield says, standard SMS messages may take seconds, minutes or even hours to reach their destinations.
What’s more, the customization tools that are part of the AerFrame software let customers build a range of flexibility into Aeris communications. If data or an alert sent to a truck is held up, should it, for example, still be delivered after 30 minutes or should it be cancelled if not delivered in 2 minutes? Customers can adjust these and other variables to tune Aeris to their specific business needs.
The new Voice OnDemand service uses patent-pending technology to create a CDMA, in-band voice and data circuit without the need for human dialing, creating a voice connection automatically in emergency situations or in response to specific events. Auto makers could install cellular radios in their cars, Schoenfield says, that would use SMSDirect to do an initial real-time data feed from a car crash to a third-party call center, with information on the crash and the owner. Then Voice OnDemand would set up a voice link quickly between a call center representative and the owner-driver. If the initial data feed shows the owner is a Spanish speaker, Aeris’ interface to the call center database ensures the call will be routed to a Spanish-speaking representative.
The automotive application illustrates how AerFrame, combined with the growing portfolio of Aeris services, could open up much larger markets for Aeris beyond the traditional industrial uses of cellular data, says Tole Hart, research director for mobile devices and consumer services at the Gartner research firm. He expects industrial uses to continue to grow steadily based on ROI calculations by business customers.
“[But] the explosive growth in this market can come from the business-to-consumer interface, with customers via [Aeris] modules in automobiles or in consumer electronic devices,” says Hart. “That is where the flexibility in using different wireless capabilities in voice, SMS and data can really boost the value of this service.”
AerFrame services are offered initially via a variety of cellular nets, but Schoenfield says the technology in the future will run over Wi-Fi and WiMAX nets as well.
Aeris customers pay an access fee per device, typically $1.50 to $2 per device, per month, and then pay a charge for traffic: per SMS or MicroBurst message, per megabyte of data, per minute for voice. Aeris doesn’t disclose those fees publicly.
SMSDirect and Voice OnDemand are available.
