A new firmware release is now available for cnReach. This release introduces two key new features.
Roaming (900 MHz ISM Only)
The roaming feature enables two new applications:
- Roaming allows an end-point radio to move from one AP to another switching its association to maintain the best possible link. Roaming allows applications such as slow-moving vehicles like autonomous vehicles in mining, agriculture and petrochemical industries to maintain connectivity for reporting instrumentation data and vehicle status as they move about within a large geographic area. Roaming supports mobility speeds up to 30 miles per hour.
- The roaming feature can also provide high availability and resiliency for fixed point to multipoint networks. By deploying redundant Access Points, each End Point has multiple AP’s to select from and in case of an AP going out of service, the EP will automatically switch over to the surviving AP.
Wire Replacement
There are many industrial applications where an analog or digital signal needs to be delivered over a long distance. An example might be a water-tank level with an analog signal turning on an alarm in a remote location. Oftentimes this is done via wires running through the ground in conduit or by using a centralized SCADA master to read/poll RTU’s and write to other RTU’s. The new wire-replacement feature enables the operator to “send” inputs from one cnReach radio directly to the output of another cnReach radio without the need for wires, RTUs or centralized SCADA masters. One input can be passed to multiple cnReach outputs and the feature works with both analog and digital signals.
In addition, there are a number of performance and usability enhancements along with many defect corrections.
The software along with release notes and updated user guide are on the support site at:
https://support.cambiumnetworks.com/files/n500/
I would love to hear your ideas or application for these new features. Let us know how it's working for you.
Thanks, Bruce