Perhaps the most impressive thing about Fluidmesh Networks is that they set out more than a decade ago to solve one of the hardest problems – bringing seamless wireless connectivity to the most challenging sites and environments. We’re talking harsh and vast settings like high-speed trains, large-scale industrial sites, distributed infrastructures, and complex urban environments where metal is aplenty and interferes with signals. Places where connectivity and zero loss of data transfer at high speed is essential. Congrats to Fluidmesh for achieving that goal with great success. Today, we officially welcome you to Cisco and the IoT team!
It’s not how you’re connected – it’s just that you are
As the leader in the industrial wireless sector, our job at Cisco is to continually deliver innovative solutions for our customers to solve real-world problems with IoT. Now, with Fluidmesh, we can further extend our IoT solutions to on-the-move applications where reliable backhaul is mission critical. At the end of the day, your employees, consumers, citizens and travelers don’t care that it’s complicated to manage connectivity across environments and infrastructures. They just expect a seamless experience.
Take, for example, the challenges with autonomous and automated vehicle control in one of the most dangerous settings – excavating for unexploded ordnance. Here, our customer, Fort Wingate in New Mexico, has to do everything remotely. Imagine piloting a drone – but instead you are remotely operating heavy excavator equipment in a real potential minefield. Every decision those operators make is reliant on high resolution video that provides real-time situational awareness. Any signal degradation, even for a ½ second, typically will halt this tele-remote operation. That video feed is mission-critical, requiring a network that is always available with no latency.
Other organizations are solving connectivity issues that are at the heart of their business model like high-speed video and audio streaming on trains. Travelers expect a seamless experience, whether they are in underground tunnels or the remote countryside. Transportation providers need that same connectivity to deliver higher levels of security. Customers like Syndicat mixte des transport pour le Rhône et l’agglomération Lyonnaise (SYTRAL) in Lyon, France are adding real-time wireless video-surveillance systems to provide continuous video streams from trains. Their new surveillance system contains more than 1000 new cameras where security personnel can monitor any camera from the main control room in real-time, regardless of the speed or position of the train.
Both cases require the network infrastructure to solve for many layers of complexity. Now, combining Fluidmesh technology with our existing industrial wireless portfolio, Cisco delivers that seamless experience: handover at high speeds (300km/hr+), up to 700 Mbps throughput and a “lossless” technology that ensures that no data is dropped during the handover.
Bandwidth and power at the edge
Looking across industries, we are seeing the need for seamless connectivity increasing. The growth in 4K cameras isn’t limited to autonomous operations. It extends to monitoring cities and roadways for traffic where more and more bandwidth is needed at the edge. With the needs of flexible manufacturing plants, autonomous robots, automated hauling solutions and smart port operations, resilient wireless at higher speed is being demanded by infrastructure, now. I am excited that with Fluidmesh’s technology, Cisco can accelerate our customers’ businesses now without delay.
I know I’ve said it before, but the opportunity for IoT continues to amaze me. Together, we’re making the workplace safer, delivering higher quality experiences for organizations and connecting the world during challenging times. We look forward to working closely with our new Fluidmesh customers, as well as the more than 75,000 Cisco IoT customers, on this exciting journey.
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Fluidmesh acquisition will extend the reach of Cisco in IIoT and make Cisco undisputed leader!
Is the System NLOS ?
What is the power consumption ?
Is the Network self-healing ?
Can the system deliver symmetrical Speeds ?
Is the system carrier-grade
Is the firmware spectrum and vendor agnostic ?
What is the average cost of a unit ?
How does the system deal with Man in the Middle ?
How does the equipment perform in rural areas where there are lots of foliage ?
In a Wi-Fi access deployment, can I walk, run and ride or do I have to stay stationary
Is there a limitation to hand-offs ?
How high off the ground must the equipment be ?