Semtech LoRa® Wireless RF Technology Featured at First Global IoT Challenge

Finalists showcased solutions for home automation, monitoring bed bugs and tracking shipping pallets at event sponsored by the LoRa® Alliance

Semtech LoRa® Wireless RF Technology Featured at First Global IoT Challenge (Graphic: Business Wire)

CAMARILLO, Calif.--()--Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced that its LoRa® wireless RF technology was used by the three finalists of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Challenge to develop exciting new IoT applications, including a home automation system, a bed bug monitor and a pallet tracker. More than 200 companies from around the world participated in the challenge, and solutions were judged by Machina Research and the Board of Directors of the LoRa® Alliance on criteria such as degree of innovation, overall business potential and go-to-market approach.

The winning solution, Connected Home, was presented by Leroy Merlin, a home improvement and gardening retailer with more than 370 stores in twelve countries. Connected Home is a universal gateway with several protocols that will allow consumers to control a wide range of devices in their home using a single app that they can install on their phone or tablet. LoRa Technology is built into the gateway as a communication link that can deliver important alerts such as fire, gas, flooding, and CO2 messages. With the application, users will be able to control things like lights, heating and air conditioning, drapes, alarm systems, electronic components, appliances, garage doors and more. In addition, the app will allow users to scan groceries to keep an inventory of what they have at home; making it easy for them to know what items they need to buy.

Gupsy, one of the finalists that specializes in developing and deploying IoT platforms for industrial customers worldwide, created a LoRaWAN™-based bed bug monitor for motels and hotels. According to Gupsy, manually monitoring bed bugs costs hotel owners $20 to $25 per room weekly, and cleaning an infested room can cost upwards of $650. The system attracts and traps the bed bugs inside a monitor where a camera takes a picture of the bed bugs and sends the information to hotel owners or managers over a LoRaWAN network. The solution automates the current bed bug monitoring process, eliminates the cost of manually monitoring rooms, and improves the alert time to reduce the chances of a costly infestation.

PalleTech, another finalist that specializes in helping companies track their cargo, used LoRa-based sensors embedded into shipping pallets to create a solution that allows companies to better monitor their cargo shipments. PalleTech works directly with pallet providers to create smart, connected pallets, which companies can then use to ship their merchandise. The sensors embedded in the pallets allow companies to track their shipments as well as their condition since the sensors can also monitor for variables like heat which can potentially damage sensitive cargo. The information collected from the sensors is relayed wirelessly via LoRa-based gateways to a cloud-based system that operators can access remotely.

“With more than 200 entries representing categories such as healthcare, security, smart building, supply chain, smart city, and manufacturing, the Global IoT Challenge was a huge success,” said Jaap Groot, Vice President of System Business Development for Semtech’s Wireless, Sensing and Timing Product Group. “Judging from the breadth and creativity of the different solutions submitted, it is clear our LoRaWAN carrier grade standard is enabling a wide range of new business opportunities for large companies, startups and entrepreneurs. The solutions from our three finalists were great examples of this, and I would like to give them heartfelt congratulation for their outstanding efforts.”

All finalists won a trip to CES 2016 in Las Vegas where they received their awards and presented their solutions at the LoRa Alliance reception. The LoRa Alliance is a group of 200+ companies that are dedicated to standardizing the Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) being deployed around the world to enable IoT, M2M, smart city and industrial applications.

Key Features of LoRa RF Technology:

  • Long Range: A single LoRa base station enables deep penetration capability for dense urban environments and indoor coverage, while also providing the ability to connect to sensors more than 15-30 miles away in rural areas.
  • Low Cost: LoRa reduces both upfront infrastructure investments and operating costs, as well as end-node sensor costs.
  • Standardized: LoRaWAN ensures interoperability among applications, IoT solution providers and telecom operators to speed adoption and deployment.
  • Low Power: The LoRaWAN protocol was developed specifically for low power and enables unprecedented multi-year battery lifetime.
  • Secure: embedded end to end encryption of data ensuring optimal privacy and protection against unauthorized access.

Resources:

About LoRa® Alliance

The LoRa Alliance is an open, non-profit association of members who believe that the Internet of Things era is now! Our members are collaborating together and sharing experience to drive the success of the LoRa protocol, LoRaWAN, as the open global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWA connectivity. With a certification program to guarantee interoperability and the technical flexibility to address the multiple IoT applications be they static or mobile we believe that LoRaWAN can give all THINGS a global voice.

Having gained over 200 members since March 2015, it is becoming one of the largest and fastest growing alliances in the technology sector. Twelve companies, including major mobile network operators, have announced nationwide deployments set for their respective countries in 2016 and another 50 trials are under way for other nationwide deployments.

About Semtech

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for high-end consumer, enterprise computing, communications and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit www.semtech.com.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements that use the words "may," "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "estimates," "should," "will," "designed to," "projections," or "business outlook," or other similar words or expressions, that describe Semtech Corporation’s or its management’s future plans, objectives or goals are “forward-looking statements” and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of Semtech Corporation to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors are further addressed in Semtech Corporation’s annual and quarterly reports, and in other documents or reports, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) including, without limitation, information under the captions “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors”. Semtech Corporation assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Semtech, the Semtech logo, LoRa and LoRaWAN are registered trademarks or service marks, or trademarks or service marks, of Semtech Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks or service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Semtech Corporation
David Guerra, 805-480-2184
dguerra@semtech.com

Release Summary

Semtech LoRa® Wireless RF Technology Featured at First Global IoT Challenge

Contacts

Semtech Corporation
David Guerra, 805-480-2184
dguerra@semtech.com