Introduction
Recently, Minew’s partner Wiliot announced an exciting collaboration with Royal Mail, where the company has equipped 850,000 wheeled containers with small, sticker-like “IoT Pixels.” These innovative digital tags provide real-time data on container location, temperature, and humidity throughout the shipment, helping Royal Mail streamline operations and drive its digital transformation. Minew supports this initiative by providing the bridge for Wiliot’s IoT Pixels, ensuring the tags are powered, and their data is processed and transmitted efficiently. Let’s explore this game-changing leap into digital innovation!
Minew Bridges for Wiliot Pixel
Wiliot IoT Pixels are tiny, battery-free devices that look like stickers. They can be attached to objects to monitor and transmit location, temperature, and humidity data. These pixels enable real-time, item-level data essential for digital product passports and IoT inventory management, allowing for traceability and transparency throughout a product’s lifecycle.
Wiliot Pixels are similar to Bluetooth asset tags commonly used in smart warehousing or asset management. While most BLE asset tags are designed to be affordable, they do not include environmental monitoring capabilities. However, this isn’t always a top priority in many applications.
Due to their compact design—about the size of a postage stamp—Wiliot Pixels don’t have an built-in battery, making them easy to be embed into various devices while minimizing maintenance. But where does the energy for Wiliot Pixel come from? Minew bridges provide the necessary power.
Minew bridges receive data packets from Wiliot Pixels, filter and process the data to enhance its accuracy and reliability, and reduce the load on central servers. The bridges then rebroadcast the filtered data to gateways, extending the communication range of Wiliot Pixels. This eliminates the need for dense gateway deployments, significantly reducing associated costs.
Bluetooth® Asset Tags vs. RFID Tags
Wiliot’s IoT Pixels are more advanced BLE asset-tracking tags. Beyond the real-time location of items or containers, they monitor the temperature and humidity changes of their surroundings. BLE asset tags have wide applications in today’s logistics and warehousing to help operators find items and assets efficiently. On the other hand, RFID tags are also widely used in logistics applications for locating and identification purposes in finding and identifying parcels and assets. What are the differences between these two technologies/tags then?
RFID
A typical RFID system includes the following components: RFID tags, RFID readers, and a back-end database or software management system. RFID tags come in two varieties: active and passive. Active RFID tags feature a battery, whereas passive RFID tags operate without one, relying instead on radio waves from an RFID reader for activation. Whenever a radio frequency signal is emitted by the reader, the passive RFID tag within its range sends its respective unique identification information by broadcasting. The reader can then identify the presence and location of the tagged items. Passive RFID tags normally have a signal range of several meters. RFID technology is effective in cases when items need to be identified in bulk, especially in large-scale inventory management of warehouse stock.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
BLE works much like classic Bluetooth but with much lower power use. Devices that support BLE can broadcast data and communicate with each other within a certain range, typically up to about 100 meters. BLE-enabled devices often include real-time location capabilities. For example, BLE beacons can push notifications or promotional messages to nearby Bluetooth-enabled smartphones or provide indoor navigation routes for users. Similarly, like the Wiliot IoT Pixels, BLE asset tracking tags offer visibility into the location of attached items.
BLE’s signal range is longer than that of passive RFID tags, and it doesn’t require readers. It also provides real-time location tracking. While passive RFID tags are ideal for bulk processing scenarios and have a lower deployment cost than BLE technology, BLE offers greater flexibility and functionality for real-time tracking.
Why Need Minew Bridges
A typical IoT project deployment includes the following components: IoT node devices (such as sensors, beacons, tags, etc.) that collect and transmit data; gateways that receive the collected data and upload it to the cloud server; and a cloud platform where data can be viewed, analyzed, and used to monitor and configure both the gateway and IoT node devices. When the communication range of IoT node devices is limited, gateways may need to be deployed densely and at a high cost to ensure they can receive data from all devices. Minew’s bridge, a robust repeater, addresses the challenge of limited communication range for node devices.
Minew bridge scan and collect signals from nodes like BLE beacons, amplify the data to sufficient strength and then rebroadcast the data to the gateway. This allows the bridges to extend their reach to more distant devices. In addition to extending the signal coverage of IoT nodes, Minew bridges filter the data, ensuring that the data transmitted to the cloud server is more reliable. This also reduces the computational and processing load on the cloud server.
More Than A Network Bridge
As a leader in IoT technology and innovation, Minew is committed to connecting every object to the internet. Beyond bridges, Minew offers a diverse range of cutting-edge IoT devices that make connectivity effortless. Below are some of the most excellent products from Minew.
MWC03 Bluetooth® LTE Location Badge
Seamlessly combining Bluetooth and GNSS positioning, the MWC03 smart badge provides precise location tracking both indoors and outdoors. It is ideal for applications such as attendance tracking, visitor management, and mobile worker safety.
MTB02 Paper-battery Asset Tag
With its ultra-thin design, the MTB02 asset tag delivers accurate location insights for parcels and goods in warehouses, logistics, and retail environments.
G1 IoT Bluetooth® Gateway
The G1 gateway supports a maximum data transmission range of up to 300 meters, offering a high data rate of 300 Mbps. It enables high-speed data transfer over wide areas, ensuring seamless communication for large datasets.
MST01 Industrial Temp and Humidity Sensor
The MST01 is an industrial Bluetooth® temperature and humidity sensor for a wide range of industrial environments in manufacturing, healthcare, and warehousing. The MST01 features 4 optional probes for flexible monitoring. Additionally, the MST01 LoRaWAN Temperature & Humidity Sensor and MST01 Pt100 Temperature Sensor further expand the application possibilities within the MST01 series.
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