Remote power monitoring
The Brief
A new power monitoring device required an upgrade to support both Cisco proprietary and industry-standard building services integration protocols. This involved developing a suitable PoE-powered hardware and embedded software solution to enable networking for this technology.
Additionally, the installation process was analogue in nature, hence a secure and user-friendly interface was required for setting up and configuring the device. This interface would be used for both on-site commissioning functions and interacting with various high-level building services management solutions.
As this device was intended to be a volume product, additional software functions needed to be included to support a streamlined manufacturing process.
The Solution
We collaborated with the client’s team to devise a suitable communication protocol and physical interface for the power monitoring unit. This enabled the unit to be connected to the building management system. considerable effort was made to select a low-cost processor and memory solution. The embedded software needed significant optimization to accommodate both the Fen proprietary code and the third-party stack on this limited platform.
To make integration into multiple environments easier, we decided to implement a secure embedded web server accessed through our defined REST API. We designed a PoE adapter unit that allows a maintenance engineer to power and install the unit locally using a laptop before connecting it to the network.
Comms and interface protocol knowledge were used to translate monitoring and control functions between the proprietary customer hardware and both a Cisco-specific solution and a generic SNMP interface.
With the addition of an embedded web server and REST API command set, and provision of production programming functions, our code optimisation skills were utilised to pack a lot of capability into a low-cost hardware platform.
Significant mechanical constraints required careful component choices and 3D multi-PCB modelling to allow the product to fit a confined space.
To minimise cabling and cost a USB-derived PoE scheme was implemented.
We worked with the client to define and implement a series of embedded functions and commands to optimise the manufacturing and test process.
Careful selection and positioning of components on the PCB ensured both DFM and significant space constraint requirements could be met.
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Fen Technology has been a valuable addition to the Xaar engineering team. They have allowed our engineers to remain focused on core developments and at the same time giving us the confidence that we can take on a greater developmental roadmap whilst retaining full intellectual ownership of all our product designs.
Fen was able to hit the ground running and, using their considerable skills and experience in Bluetooth product development, was able to quickly bring Securecom to a point where we were able to demonstrate a complete solution. As a result, we have asked Fen to continue to support Securecom towards Bluetooth Qualification and full production.
Fen has impressed us with how they have created a solution that has met both EMT’s needs of integration with our existing infrastructure and way of working, and provided a high quality feature enhancement to our product range.
Fen Technology’s skills and experience were a key factor in selecting them as a development partner. Fen’s ability to de-risk the design process was a significant benefit to us during the product development.
Fen Technology proved a worthy partner in supporting Nujira at a critical stage in the development of our leading-edge power amplification technology for the cellular infrastructure market. Fen’s experience and maturity of approach has given us the confidence to entrust them with a range of tasks that were integral to our early-stage development.
Fen’s engineers have done an excellent job in creating a sophisticated, flagship product that outperforms the competition with respect to price/performance ratio. The development methodology is mature and leads to qualitatively solid software, while Fen’s approach has been always persistent and professional.