Arm released a “Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0” platform for mobile network operators with a new automation engine to scale IoT with real-time triggers and eSIM provisioning.

When Arm announced its Pelion IoT Platform last August as a SaaS IoT device management service built around Arm Mbed Cloud, one of the major components was a “connectivity management” wireless gateway stack based on technology it acquired when buying out Stream Technologies. Since then, the stack emerged as a service called Pelion Connectivity Management aimed at mobile network operators (MNOs) that offer managed gateway services for wireless technologies such as cellular, LoRa, NB-IoT, and satellite. Today, Arm announced version 2.0, adding a new automation engine for greater scalability.

Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 screenshot
(click image to enlarge)

In its announcement, Arm made no mention of the other Pelion IoT Platform components, including device management and data management services. This would suggest that Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 does not require buy-in to the full Pelion product line. Although Pelion IoT Platform is intended primarily to manage and control Cortex-M based IoT node devices, Linux devices are also supported as long as they run Arm’s Yocto-infused Mbed Linux OS.

The Pelion platform helps diversify Arm’s business as a protection against growing competition from RISC-V chipmakers. Alibaba just announced the world’s most powerful RISC-V chip with its 16-core, 2.5GHz XuanTie 910 .

The enhancements added to Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 were driven by feedback from MNOs that have been trialing the v1.0 technology over the last year. Arm announced that one of them — Portugal’s NOS — has signed on for the 2.0 package and will “migrate and manage their entire global IoT subscriber base” to Pelion Connectivity Management. The MNO will use the technology to expand their service to customers outside of Portugal, says Arm.

Conceptual diagram for Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0’s real-time data triggers
(click image to enlarge)

Verson 2.0’s advanced automation engine “enables organizations to automatically manage millions of devices across multiple countries and different networks,” says Arm. The new version can also “drive additional revenue opportunities by enabling their enterprise clients with capabilities for automatically configuring their IoT devices,” says the chip designer.

The automation capabilities “significantly improve the IoT services, speed and reliability of connectivity that MNOs deliver to their enterprise customers — whether it’s the provisioning of new devices or ensuring monthly bills never go over a set threshold.”

Automation capabilities introduced in Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 include:

• Real-time data triggers — Rules creation triggered by “what’s happening in the physical world”
• Remote Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) — “Seamless” eSIM provisioning management for ensuring the correct service and commercial configuration depending on a device’s location
• Automating business processes — Automated business process for reducing operational costs in IoT deployments and improving profit margins for MNOS IoT services

Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 will enable NOS to run analytics on network performance and device provisioning. The software can also help automate processes and settings “based on a certain amount of data usage or specific timeframe,” says Arm.

“With our enterprise customers increasingly expanding internationally, as well as the rise of new technologies such as NB-IoT and eSIM, we wanted an IoT connectivity management service that can provide a single pane of glass regardless of underlying technology, MNO or geography,” stated Carlos Lourenço, Director Corporate IoT Business Unit, NOS. “Arm Pelion Connectivity Management’s pre-integrated global MNO partners, seamless integration with our existing network and systems, and new automation engine play an essential role in allowing us to scale our IoT connectivity service for our customers.”

 
Further information

Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0 is now available globally for MNOs. In addition, select enterprise customers will have access to a beta version. More information may be found in Arm’s announcement and https://www.arm.com/products/iot/pelion-iot-platform/connectivity-management/automation.