Signalton:SigMote

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SigMote® DSP-CV-AI Edge-Computing Sensor/Actuator Platform

SigMote Board Image

SigMote Board

SigMote is a versatile edge-computing node/gateway for use in wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSAN). We developed SigMote specifically for the use cases that require real-time acquisition of high-bit-rate signals such as audio, vibration, image, and video; high-performance and on-premises (edge) computing; concurrent real-time execution of digital signal processing (DSP), computer vision (CV), and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms at the edge; low-latency actuation; and high-speed, multi-modal connectivity to a remote server/cloud for further network-wide data processing, data presentation, and user interaction.

The platform comprises a custom designed electronic circuit board, and embedded software that controls various functions of the board and the application software as well as executing in real time our optimized DSP, AI, and CV algorithms for advanced signal/image analysis. We have various intelligent end-to-end solutions utilizing SigMote together with SigCloud Data Platform, which were tested and deployed either in the lab or field at technology readiness level (TRL) ranging between 6 and 7.

Both the electronics and the embedded software were developed in-house, thus, any component of the hardware as well as the software can be modified in accordance with the requirements of a given use case, making the whole system an expandable/adaptable solution platform, rather than a fixed product.

The SigMote platform includes the following:

An ultra-low power Texas Instruments DSP with real time operating system (TI-RTOS) and pin compatible with TI's OMAP processors (ARM + DSP).
Wireless connectivity through various RF technologies: On-board Wi-Fi module, and expansion connectors for optional Mikrobus and XBee compatible RF modules for protocols such as GSM/3G/4G, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and LoraWan.
Wired connectivity through ethernet and USB ports.
On-board sensors: analog (2x) and digital (2x) MEMS microphones, and a 3-axis MEMS accelerometer (vibration).
On-board audio codec for on-board and external array of analog/digital microphones.
On-board video decoder for composite and component analog video input.
Various sensor interfaces to facilitate integration of almost any type of external sensors such as GNSS, IMU, and electrochemical sensors.
Software drivers for all peripherals, on-board sensors and modules, and certain external sensors.
Embedded software with integrated algorithms library for faster application development.

SigMote has about 40 times more computing capability compared to a usual ARM-based IoT device. That makes SigMote an effective node for edge-computing networks as well as a highly capable gateway of an IoT subnetwork. Either as a node in an edge-computing network, or as a gateway in an IoT/edge heterogeneous network, SigMote provides the following advantages over an exclusively cloud-computing IoT network:

Intelligence and actuation right at the sensor site.
Low latency due to the data being processed on-premises as it is collected.
Privacy and security, as the entire data is not transmitted outside the premises. That is important in the case of high bit rate signals such as audio and video, which may carry sensitive personal data. Instead, only the information extracted from the data, which does not violate privacy, is transmitted through a secure encrypted cellular/wireless communication channel.
Low connectivity bandwidth requirements because much less data is transmitted outside the premises.