iWave’s “Telematics Gateway” runs Linux on an i.MX8 and offers 4x CAN ports with J1939 support plus LAN with PoE, serial, K-Line/LIN, 4G, WiFi/BT, GNSS, and UWB. iWave also announced 802.11ax support for all its i.MX8-based products.

iWave Systems has followed up on its i.MX ULL-based OBD II telematics computer with a larger, faster, and more feature rich Telematics Gateway built on NXP’s high-end i.MX8. Other similarly compact telematics computers that are not part of larger automotive fleet computers include AutoPi.io’s Raspberry Pi Zero W based, OBD-II ready AutoPi and Appareo’s Cortex-A9-based, CAN equipped Gateway 370, among others.

Telematics Gateway
(click image to enlarge)

The Telematics Gateway runs Linux 5.4.70 on what it calls the i.MX 8 DXL. It is unclear whether this is a specialized automotive version of the i.MX8 and whether it is based on the quad-core, Cortex-A53 Quad, the QuadPlus, which adds an -A72 core, or the QuadMax, which adds two.

iWave also announced that its i.MX8 Quad/QuadPlus/QuadMax products are now available with 802.1ax (Wi-Fi 6). This includes the Telematics Gateway, which offers 802.11ax as an option. Other listed products include the iW-Rainbow-G27S Pico-ITX SBC, the iW-RainboW-G27M SMARC module, and the recent Qseven SOM, which confusingly, is also known as the iW-RainboW-G27M.

iW-Rainbow-G27S

The 802.11ax spec is faster than 802.11ac and adds concurrency support for simultaneous WiFi connections to multiple devices. iWave is implementing Wi-Fi 6 via an optional u-blox JODY-W3 module, which also offers Bluetooth 5.1 LE.

iWave’s new Telematics Gateway lacks OBD-II support, but it is otherwise more advanced than its earlier OBD II device. In addition to the faster processor, there is more RAM, with 1GB to 2GB LPDDR4 and up to 8GB on request. There is also more flash, with 8GB to 64GB eMMC.

The device offers one more CAN port than the OBD II, with 4x overall. There is support for HS CAN, CAN FD, and LS CAN. CAN-based protocol support also includes ISO 15765-4 CAN, ISO 11898, CANopen, CiA 447, and J1939.

iWave’s OBD-II

SAE’s J1939, which is also supported on the OBD-II device, is designed for heavy-duty vehicles and commercial trucks. J1939 enables the Telematics Gateway to “retrieve diagnostics information and real-time data from the vehicle’s interconnected ECU system,” says iWave. The spec includes the digital annex (DA), “which defines thousands of signals that could be used on the CAN bus, a subset of which are for EV-specific signals (such as high voltage, battery state of charge, vehicle charging status, and more).”

The Telematics Gateway is further equipped with a 10/100 Ethernet port with Automotive Ethernet and PoE support to enable a 12-36V input from the vehicle. (The LAN port and most of the other ports on the gateway use specialized automotive connectors.)

For wireless connections the device provides an M.2 B-key slot for 4G LTE Cat 4 or LTE Cat M1/NB1, with an option to upgrade to 5G in the future. There is also an M.2 B-key slot for the 802.11ac/BT 5.0 LE or optional 802.11ax/BT 5.1 LE module. A GNSS receiver supports GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo, and you even get an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceiver. There are 3x antenna connectors overall.

The Telematics Gateway is further equipped with RS232/RS485 and K-Line/LIN interfaces plus 2x analog inputs and 4x GPIOs. Other features include an IMU with accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer, which are possibly what iWave means when it mentions “sensors that can enable applications such as E-Call, Driver behavior analysis, Idling time and other features.”

The IP65 protected device supports -20 to 70°C temperatures and offers IP65 and tamper protections. Mounting options include cable ties.

 
Further information

No pricing or availability information was provided for the Telematics Gateway. More information may be found in iWave Systems’ Telematics Gateway announcement and product page. More on iWave’s 802.11ax support for its i.MX8 products may be found in the Wi-Fi 6 announcement.