3 Ways Cisco is Enhancing the Industrial IoT

As the Internet of Things (IoT) gains widespread adoption, we now have the opportunity to accelerate business outcomes. Whether a business needs to create agile supply chains, automate manufacturing processes, or reduced operating costs, Cisco Industrial IoT solutions and products make it easier to innovate, boost productivity and derive value from IoT data.

The new IoT products and solutions deliver business impact as part of the digital transformation process taking shape across organizations. As a massive source of raw data, IoT offers a major opportunity for organizations to enable digital transformation.

The IoT initiatives that fuel digital transformation within our customers are centered on specific business outcomes. With such an orientation we have introduced new IoT products and solutions to support evolutionary adoption of IoT tied to business results and supported with architectures and Cisco validated designs to accelerate time to value.

The new offerings are framed across three solutions outlined below:

Connected Factory solution enhancements

The Cisco Connected Factory solution provides a blueprint for customers to increase availability, further mitigate security risk and speed manufacturing cycle time.

Customers using The Connected Factory solution can transition from issues commonly experienced:

Siloed connectivity from vendor-specific initiatives that limit effectiveness

Security programs which often lack integration with the enterprise as a whole

Lack of visibility that impairs the business decision making

We have introduced new IoT products to the Cisco Connected Factory solution to effectively scale and proven at creating business outcomes.

First we have added integrated IO/OT security within the manufacturing zone:

MACSec IEEE 802.1AE for data in transit protection

TrustSEC for centralized, policy-based access control enforcement

Identity Services Engine (ISE) for integrated IT/OT security policy management

And with the stackable Cisco IE5000 we’ve further increased resiliency options. This offers:

Ruggedized, high-density, multi-10GE aggregation switching

Resilient Ethernet Protocol Support (REP)

Second we have extended the impact of IoT to the extended enterprise. For example, the factory floor may easily gain wireless connectivity. Physical security protects in the form of connected IP cameras, access control and acoustic sensors.

The ruggedized IE4010 with up to 24 GE PoE/PoE+ ports, multi-speed ports to power devices in the industrial applications throughout the industrial areas allowing to easily install and move these devices as needed without an overhaul of the electrical layout

Third, we have enhanced the industrial application capability of the ISA 3000 to deliver industrial threat protection and simplified compliance.

Industrial Threat Protection

ISA 3000 application support for Common Industrial Protocol (CIP/EIP)

Joint development with Rockwell Automation

Configurable FirePower rule enforcement

Simplified Compliance

ISA 3000 zone segmentation

Centralized logging

Finally, we have introduced the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 1000 Series Switches which opens up new opportunities for manufacturers and many other industries to cost-effectively connect devices that have not been connected or used to be connected with unmanaged switches lacking the required performance and not offering visibility and control. The IE1000 increases visibility and security with a simple user experience and interface well-suited to technicians and operators with a high price vs. performance.

Different models are available with a modularity from 5 to 10 Ethernet ports and with options supporting GE fiber interfaces as well up to 8 PoE/PoE+ enabled ports.

The net result of these new capabilities translates into better business outcomes for our customers. Specifically:

Reduced down-time through visibility of the complete networking infrastructure from the extreme edge to the core

Lower capital costs through a high price-performance ratio combined with essential management, traffic prioritization and control features

Improved security with integration of security capabilities within the switch

2) Cisco Connected Machines solution enhancements

The Cisco Connected Machines solution offers a new business opportunity for machine makers through secure connectivity, immediate transformation of raw data into actionable information, and delivers insight through real-time analytics.

With the updated, now available with Cisco IOx , companies are able to take hold of this opportunity, with the ability to access data in real-time using Cisco IOx and Fog Applications.

Here is how Cisco Connected Machines delivers business value from IoT data:

Secure Connectivity: Cisco industrialized routers and switches provide secure connectivity

Immediate transformation of data into action: This network infrastructure runs Cisco IOx which combines IoT application execution within the fog, secure connectivity with Cisco IOS, and powerful services for rapid integration with IoT sensors and the cloud

Analytics run algorithms on streaming data in real-time to deliver insight relevant to improving machine utilization with predictive maintenance

This approach applies to machines in any industry – elevators, crane, and jet engines all have the potential to deliver similar results.

The solution is delivering business impact for customers today.  Manufacturers working with the machine tool provider Mazak have increased manufacturing line availability and improved machine utilization.

Mazak worked with Cisco to helped increase efficiency by gathering intelligence from the applications running on the network infrastructure. Data is processed locally allowing Mazak to provide their manufacturing customers with secure, real-time processing.  Using analytics like adaptive learning of expected thresholds, the combined fog application and real-time analytics monitor sensor data for any aberration or deviation from expected norms.  Mazak’s customers can now prevent downtime, and improve maintenance cycles and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Cisco solution for LoRaWAN

As cities and countries become digital, billions of sensors placed in everyday objects and assets require cost effective connectivity that is affordable at scale. Use cases such as air pollution monitoring, water quality control, downtown noise detection, city waste management, and more, require low-cost sensors that are massively scattered in geography. Not only distance needs to be considered, they are also sensitive to power consumption (powered by battery over years), require long-range connectivity and have low data-rate applications for short infrequent communication.

Unprecedented business opportunities are arising from the ongoing miniaturization of sensors and their cost-effective operation. The battery technology has improved vastly where it can now be the size of a Skittle and can last up to 10 years in sensors. Helping us connect everything from cows on a farm, to trash cans provided by waste management companies.

Cisco announced an Low-Power-Wide-Area (LPWA) LoRaWAN solution  designed for cost-effectively connecting billions of such battery powered, low-data rate and long distance IoT sensors. The solution includes the Cisco interface module for LoRaWAN allowing for an IoT Gateway, which extends existing industry-leading Cisco Industrial Routers 809 and 829 with a ruggedized LoRaWAN interface, Cisco IoT Field Network Director, and partner’s back-end LoRA® Network Services.

Approximately 45% of the projected 50 billion IoT devices are constrained by battery power and require long range for IoT connectivity. Connectivity is not affordable at scale and requires cost effective solutions. LPWA is a disruptive technology and an emerging wireless IoT infrastructure that is designed for cost-effectively connecting billions of such battery powered; low data-rate and long-distance IoT sensors. As per Machina Research, LPWA will exceed cellular M2M by 2021, reaching 3.3B by 2023.

Many public and private IoT infrastructure projects and pilots (SP, Smart Cities, Utilities and other verticals) across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia are adding LoRaWAN validation to their schedule.  Cisco solution for LoRaWAN enables new IoT services in industrial applications and smart cities for both Enterprises and Service Providers and is a game-changer for the industrial IoT. For an example, see its use case with the Hamburg Port Authority’s Kattwyk Bridge. See the diagram above to see how the LoRaWAN solution would be implemented in a Smart Parking example.

The LoRa® name and associated logo are trademarks of Semtech Corporation or its subsidiaries. Semtech, the Semtech logo and LoRa® are registered trademarks of Semtech Corporation. LoRaWAN is a trademark of Semtech Corporation.