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u-blox has launched its first combined 3GPP-compliant terrestrial network (TN) and non-terrestrial network (NTN) IoT module, the SARA-S528NM10. This standards-based module is a game changer for the satellite IoT market as it supports global coverage with accurate, low-power and concurrent positioning – an essential attribute for use cases requiring continuous or cyclic asset tracking and monitoring. Other IoT use cases include aftermarket telematics, industrial monitoring and control, smart metering and utilities, and fleet management.

With cellular networks covering a mere ten percent of the globe, the demand for guaranteed global reach is escalating, particularly for IoT applications such as asset tracking in remote or maritime environments. Satellite IoT bridges this gap; adoption has been partially limited by the high cost of the satellite terminals, high power consumption and the high cost of satellite airtime.

Current satellite connectivity solutions require proprietary hardware and software, which lock the terminal to a specific satellite operator – the user would need to replace their satellite terminals to move to a different satellite operator. The u-blox solution, on the other hand, is based on global 3GPP standards, and can be certified as interoperable with multiple satellite providers supporting the standard, maximising customer choice.

“The new u-blox satellite IoT-NTN cellular module is designed to maintain connectivity in areas without cellular coverage,” explained Stephan Zizala, u-blox CEO. “The integrated u-blox GNSS solution consumes less than 15mW of power in continuous tracking mode and has high RF sensitivity that reduces the time required to establish a position fix. It provides concurrent location data without interrupting the cellular or satellite connection, which further helps to minimise power consumption due to the shortened active time of the device.”

Powered by the u-blox UBX-S52 cellular/satellite chipset and GNSS M10 platform, the module complies with the 3GPP Rel 17 NB-NTN specification. This standards-based approach guarantees extended connectivity via LTE-M and NB-IoT on terrestrial cellular networks and NB-IoT on geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite constellations compliant with 3GPP Rel 17, including readiness for low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The UBX-S52 cellular/satellite chipset is currently undergoing certification with Skylo, a global NTN service provider, for its satellite network. The certification enables seamless support for both cellular and Skylo satellite connectivity, creating an enhanced and reliable experience that efficiently utilises resources.

The SARA-S528NM10 module supports all three new NTN bands – n23 (United States), n255 (L-band global), and n256 (S-band Europe) – enhancing and future-proofing its technological credentials. It is pin-compatible with other u-blox cellular-only modules in the SARA form factor, enabling engineers to easily scale up their IoT products using legacy technology without costly redesigns.

https://www.u-blox.com

Advantech has announced the launch of the ICR-1600 series industrial 4G connectivity gateways. This new series is designed to meet the growing demand for reliable and cost-effective network connectivity in industrial environments. The ICR-1600 series offers robust performance, flexibility, and advanced features to support a wide range of industrial M2M and IoT applications, including environmental monitoring, vending machines, and surveillance. Featured models such as the ICR-1602, ICR-1642, and ICR-1645 enable seamless connectivity of Ethernet devices and serial buses to LTE cellular networks, addressing essential network connectivity needs.

The ICR-1600 series is equipped with LTE Cat4 cellular module and featured a system on module design, integrating ICR-OS directly onto the cellular module, resulting in a compact and cost-effective router without compromising performance. The series supports up to five Ethernet ports, optional serial interfaces (1 × RS232 + 1 × RS485), I/O interfaces (1 × DI, 1 × DO), and optional Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) capabilities, offering versatility and adaptability for various industrial environments. Designed to withstand extreme conditions, the ICR-1600 series operates within a temperature range of -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F) and features a robust IP30-rated metal chassis. Dual SIM slots provide backup connectivity to ensure continuous network availability, making these routers ideal for harsh environments where reliability is crucial. They support a power input range of 9 to 48 VDC, ensuring compatibility with different industrial power systems, and offer an optional DIN-rail mount for secure installation in control cabinets.

Additionally, the ICR-1600 series integrates seamlessly with WebAccess/DMP, an intelligent connectivity software platform designed for provisioning, monitoring, and managing Advantech’s routers and IoT gateways. This platform ensures secure zero-touch device enablement, simplifying pre-provisioning and configuration regardless of deployment size. With full multi-tenancy support, WebAccess/DMP allows for permissions-enabled power-user oversight, making it an ideal solution for diverse industrial applications. The platform also offers real-time, scalable device health monitoring and an extensible architecture built for seamless integration within existing services through a secure RESTful API.

ICR-OS is an operating system tailored for Advantech cellular routers, offering a user-friendly web GUI interface for easy configuration and display. The Linux-based operating system ensures robust cybersecurity and future-proof deployment options through re-development capabilities. The ICR-1600 series includes comprehensive software support, featuring advanced security measures such as HTTPS, SSH, VPN tunneling, and various authentication and encryption methods. It also offers extensive firmware management capabilities, including automatic over-the-air updates and diagnostic functionalities. These features ensure that the ICR-1600 series can meet the rigorous demands of industrial applications while maintaining high standards of security and performance.

https://www.advantech.com

Supermicro, is previewing new, completely re-designed X14 server platforms which will leverage next-generation technologies to maximise performance for compute-intensive workloads and applications. Building on the success of Supermicro’s efficiency-optimised X14 servers that launched in June 2024, the new systems feature significant upgrades across the board, supporting a never-before-seen 256 performance cores (P-cores) in a single node, memory support up for MRDIMMs at 8800MT/s, and compatibility with next-generation SXM, OAM, and PCIe GPUs. This combination can drastically accelerate AI and compute as well as significantly reduce the time and cost of large-scale AI training, high-performance computing, and complex data analytics tasks. Approved customers can secure early access to complete, full-production systems via Supermicro’s Early Ship Program or for remote testing with Supermicro JumpStart.
These new X14 systems feature completely re-designed architectures including new 10U and multi-node form factors to enable support for next-generation GPUs and higher CPU densities, updated memory slot configurations with 12 memory channels per CPU and new MRDIMMs which provide up to 37% better memory performance compared to DDR5-6400 DIMMS. In addition, upgraded storage interfaces will support higher drive densities, and more systems with liquid cooling integrated directly into the server architecture.
The new additions to the Supermicro X14 family comprise more than ten new systems, several of which are completely new architectures in three distinct, workload-specific categories:
• GPU-optimised platforms designed for pure performance and enhanced thermal capacity to support the highest-wattage GPUs. System architectures have been built from the ground up for large-scale AI training, LLMs, generative AI, 3D media, and virtualisation applications.
• High compute-density multi-nodes including SuperBlade and the all-new FlexTwin, which leverage direct-to-chip liquid cooling to significantly increase the number of performance cores in a standard rack compared to previous generations of systems.
• Market-proven Hyper rackmounts combine single or dual socket architectures with flexible I/O and storage configurations in traditional form factors to help enterprises and data centres scale up and out as their workloads evolve.

Supermicro X14 performance-optimised systems will support the soon-to-be-released Intel Xeon 6900 series processors with P-cores and will also offer socket compatibility to support Intel Xeon 6900 series processors with E-cores in Q1’25. This designed-in feature allows workload-optimised systems for either performance-per-core or performance-per-watt.
When configured with Intel Xeon 6900 series processors with P-cores, Supermicro systems support new FP16 instructions on the built-in Intel AMX accelerator to further enhance AI workload performance. These systems include 12 memory channels per CPU with support for both DDR5-6400 and MRDIMMs up to 8800MT/s, CXL 2.0, and feature more extensive support for high-density, industry-standard EDSFF E1.S and E3.S NVMe drives.
Supermicro Liquid Cooling Solutions
Complementing this expanded X14 product portfolio are Supermicro’s rack-scale integration and liquid cooling capabilities. With an industry-leading global manufacturing capacity, extensive rack-scale integration and testing facilities, and a comprehensive suite of management software solutions, Supermicro designs, builds, tests, validates, and delivers complete solutions at any scale in a matter of weeks.
In addition, Supermicro offers a complete in-house developed liquid cooling solution including cold plates for CPUs, GPUs and memory, Cooling Distribution Units, Cooling Distribution Manifolds, hoses, connectors, and cooling towers. Liquid cooling can be easily included in rack-level integrations to further increase system efficiency, reduce instances of thermal throttling, and lower both the TCO and Total Cost to Environment (TCE) of data centre deployments.
Upcoming Supermicro X14 performance-optimised systems include:
GPU-optimised – The highest performance Supermicro X14 systems designed for large-scale AI training, large language models (LLMs), generative AI and HPC, and supporting eight of the latest-generation SXM5 and SXM6 GPUs. These systems are available in air-cooled or liquid-cooled configurations.
PCIe GPU – Designed for maximum GPU flexibility, supporting up to 10 double-width PCIe 5.0 accelerator cards in a thermally-optimised 5U chassis. These servers are ideal for media, collaborative design, simulation, cloud gaming, and virtualisation workloads.
Intel Gaudi 3 AI Accelerators – Supermicro also plans to deliver the industry’s first AI server based on the Intel Gaudi 3 accelerator hosted by Intel Xeon 6 processors. The system is expected to increase efficiency and lower the cost of large-scale AI model training and AI inferencing. The system features eight Intel Gaudi 3 accelerators on an OAM universal baseboard, six integrated OSFP ports for cost-effective scale-out networking, and an open platform designed to use a community-based, open-source software stack, requiring no software licensing costs.
SuperBlade – Supermicro’s X14 6U high-performance, density-optimised, and energy-efficient SuperBlade maximises rack density, with up to 100 servers and 200 GPUs per rack. Optimised for AI, HPC, and other compute-intensive workloads, each node features air cooling or direct-to-chip liquid cooling to maximise efficiency and achieve the lowest PUE with the best TCO, as well as connectivity up to four integrated Ethernet switches with 100G uplinks and front I/O supporting a range of flexible networking options up to 400G InfiniBand or 400G Ethernet per node.
FlexTwin – The new Supermicro X14 FlexTwin architecture is designed to provide maximum compute power and density in a multi-node configuration with up to 24,576 performance cores in a 48U rack. Optimised for HPC and other compute-intensive workloads, each node features direct-to-chip liquid cooling only to maximise efficiency and reduce instances of CPU thermal throttling, as well as HPC Low Latency front and rear I/O supporting a range of flexible networking options up to 400G per node.
Hyper – X14 Hyper is Supermicro’s flagship rackmount platform designed to deliver the highest performance for demanding AI, HPC, and enterprise applications, with single or dual socket configurations supporting double-width PCIe GPUs for maximum workload acceleration. Both air cooling and direct-to-chip liquid cooling models are available to facilitate the support of top-bin CPUs without thermal limitations and reduce data centre cooling costs while also increasing efficiency.

https://learn-more.supermicro.com/x14-6900-jumpstart