Empowering IoT Solutions with Cisco's Next-Generation Industrial Gateway

Empowering IoT Solutions with Cisco's Next-Generation Industrial Gateway

Cisco has released a new range of IoT gateways for Internet of Things applications, as well as an addition to its Catalyst line of industrial edge routers for fixed and mobile asset connectivity. By pushing the power of the whole company network to the edge, the newest generation of Catalyst routers offers the enhanced scalability, security, and scalability needed for Internet of Things applications.

The portfolio includes enhanced modularity to help future-proof the network and enable the integration of new technologies, as well as 5G, 4G, private LTE, Wi-Fi 6, FirstNet (AT&T's first responder network), and Wi-Sun (the Wireless Smart Utility Network that is used for smart-grid device connections).

Fig 1.1- IOT Dashboard

A suite of IT and operations management solutions included with the Catalyst router lineup enables enterprises to conduct business at scale. The service can expedite the processes and lexicons used by operations and IT for more seamless deployments, quicker response times, and open stakeholder communication by giving a single set of tools with numerous applications.

The level of machine learning and artificial intelligence today has produced a plethora of data for algorithm training, with the most valuable data being located at the edge. The edge is the point of interaction between the tangible world and the semi-immaterial online environment. As such, it is a rich source of information that can be processed and applied to help individuals with the necessary skills gain new perspectives. 

Organizations will be able to enhance customer satisfaction, boost productivity, enable universal operational improvements, and develop new KPIs to monitor these advancements by leveraging data collected at the edge.

The edge provides a wealth of information, but obtaining it is expensive and difficult to do in a way that works for everyone due to the diversity of the data's sources. 75% of data will be collected in edge environments, which are commonplace, according to Gartner. 

There must be a connection between the data source and the remainder of the network architecture, whether it is in industrial applications like pipelines, sewer systems, manufacturing plants, or on more publicly facing edges like roads, public transportation, and retail contexts. For any of these applications to function and be connected, there are specific requirements that must be met.

The edge provides a wealth of information, but obtaining it is expensive and difficult to do in a way that works for everyone due to the diversity of the data's sources. 75% of data will be collected in edge environments, which are commonplace, according to Gartner. 

There must be a connection between the data source and the remainder of the network architecture, whether it is in industrial applications like pipelines, sewer systems, manufacturing plants, or on more publicly facing edges like roads, public transportation, and retail contexts. For any of these applications to function and be connected, there are specific requirements that must be met.

A unified network architecture will be necessary to address operations management and security throughout networks and connected devices as the world grows more digitally connected and interconnected, and as individual companies become more interconnected as well, Cisco promotes its newest 5G Catalyst Industrial Router portfolio as meeting these needs.

Three new Catalyst 5G Industrial Routers and the new Cisco Gateway series, which has Cisco's cloud-based IoT Operations Dashboard pre-packaged, make up the company's most recent release. With the help of Cisco's IOS XE, the new industrial routers will be able to expand the company network and offer SD-WAN to the periphery while connecting both stationary and mobile network assets.

Cisco's original Internetwork Operating System (IOS), which has served as the foundation for computer networks all across the world for decades, is the source of the IOS XE. An advancement in operating systems, the IOS XE offers a strong basis for contemporary programmable interfaces and data structures. Because of XE's flexible architecture, features like Border Gateway Protocol can operate as subsystems over shared infrastructure, kernels, and module drivers.

The combination of the new Catalyst routers, and the IoT Gateway series allows for unparalleled levels of future-proofing the technology for 5G and beyond, while allowing for network scaling. As the number of devices gathering data will increase, and new communication technologies come out, networks must be able to adapt to change without the need to rebuild services and operations from the ground up. 

The new offering from Cisco allows network scale, flexibility, and security while adjusting to use cases, and novel applications while incorporating 5G, 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6, FirstNet, Wi-Sun, and DSL connections with upgradeable storage. The routers are ruggedized to withstand various environmental conditions, and the portfolio features CPU and battery update capabilities in the field.

“Only Cisco offers a network from the enterprise to the industrial edge, with an architecture that provides visibility, automation, and security from campuses and branch offices to substations, remote operating locations, fleets, on-the-go connected assets, and beyond,” said VP/GM of Cisco IoT, Vikas Butaney. 

Cisco hopes that its unified network architecture, and the associated streamlined operations and IoT processes will attract more customers by lowering the barriers to entry for IoT and edge use cases. By bringing all network applications under a single portfolio managers will be able to gain new insights into network operations, while allowing for unprecedented data collection.

As industrial and enterprise networks continue to expand and converge with more assets being connected at the edge at a faster pace than ever, security risks increase, and the threat of exposure at the edge heightens. Cisco’s industrial router portfolio includes the company’s cyber security portfolio to help provide a full end-to-end service, while also addressing the risks associated with the ever expanding attack surfaces that comes as a result of an evermore connected world. 

The portfolio includes Cisco’s Cyber Vision to provide full network oversight. Cyber Vision is embedded within the industrial network and provides users with real-time monitoring, dynamic asset inventory, and comprehensive threat intelligence so that users can control risks, and enforce security policies beyond the industry standards that are already embedded into the networks OS.