Coronis, GT&T Join Forces To Develop New Wireless Tracking/Tracing Technologies

Singapore and Montpellier, France -- GT&T Engineering (Singapore Technology Group) and Coronis Systems announced an MoU agreement for developing a new generation of tracking and tracing applications using ultra low-power embedded wireless technologies. The collaboration will leverage GT&T's expertise in vertical applications for tracking goods and cargo during storage and transit, and Coronis Systems optimized solutions for ad-hoc and fixed wireless networking in devices with extremely low power resources. Target applications will include container tracking and asset management, particularly in shipping environments, but can be expected to evolve into other areas. The new solutions will be co-developed and sold both under the GT&T and Coronis Systems brand names.

According to the terms of the agreement, Coronis will focus primarily on supplying low-level wireless components and software that GT&T can integrate into its applications and services. The joint effort comes in response to a growing need for companies to be able to use wireless connections for monitoring storage and movement of cargo and smaller goods during transit. Challenges in this area have been related to the inherent difficulties in finding a technology that allows systems to automatically track objects in constantly changing networks, without having to build cumbersome and expensive on-site infrastructure. Other real-world problems include high levels of ambient electronic noise, physical obstacles, and variable distance between tracked objects and the monitoring system's receiver units. Tracking and tracing applications for cargo, products, and other assets all require low-cost embedded wireless technology that is able to provide long-range connections while surmounting these challenges at a very low-per unit cost.

With their complementary offers, both GT&T and Coronis Systems companies have come to realize the potential for providing unprecedented solutions that are both technically viable and costeffective for tracking high volumes of goods in a variety of often-harsh, outdoor environments. In particular, Wavenis embedded wireless technology from Coronis offers connections for distances significantly farther than other available technologies with much lower power consumption and higher resistance to interference. Wavenis solutions offer battery life up to 15 years in reliable embedded devices with regular, low-volume data traffic. Some of the industry's largest shipping companies, including MTL containers in Hong Kong, and Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) in Singapore, have already confirmed their interest in the GT&T / Coronis Systems solutions.

The forthcoming co-design effort will result in smart tracking devices and long-range UHF RFID (radio frequency identification) solutions combined with full remote administration and a 2-way remote monitoring system. New products from both GT&T and Coronis Systems will offer customers significant cost-savings and new value-added services.

Coronis president Olivier Guilbaud explains, "This is the first time that a wireless remote, longrange UHF RFID solution can be implemented so easily and effectively. Customers simply have to place the Wavenis-powered transceiver on the goods to be tracked, and an ad-hoc network creates and maintains itself dynamically and automatically. Goods in transit can store information as well, such as temperature readings, and even send alerts automatically in case of problems, thus paving the way for increasingly sought-after traceability applications."

GT&T CEO Cheng Gan adds, "Our customers have been asking for this kind of solution for a long time, but until now there was no reasonable way to solve the problem. For the first time we will be able to combine our experience in high-volume shipping and tracking with a network technology that has proven itself in the field. Our future products will not only improve efficiency for tracking goods and assets, but they will come at a cost that makes large-scale implementation realistic."

SOURCE: Coronis Systems