Rigado Vesta IoT Gateway Runs Linux and Zephyr OS, Supports Bluetooth 5, 802.15.4, WiFi, Ethernet and Cellular Connectivity

I’ve recently read several open source software news related to Rigado IoT gateway, starting with Canonical announcement last month, that the gateway would ship with Ubuntu Core starting in summer 2018, and a few days ago it popped up again during Linaro CEO keynote at Linaro Connect HK 2018, as one of the first commercial devices to run the Zephyr OS, specifically its fully open source Bluetooth stack on a Nordic nRF52 chip.

Rigado Vesta IoT gateway is not exactly new, as it was first announced in December 2016. The hardware relies on an NXP i.MX 6UL Cortex A7 processor, up to 256MB RAM, 4GB eMMC flash,  and includes built-in support for dual band WiFi, Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth 5/4.2, 802.15.4 (Thread), Fast Ethernet with PoE, as well as optional support for a cellular LTE Cat 1 modem.

Rigado gateway hardware specifications:

• Processor – NXP i.MX6 UltraLite (G3) Arm Cortex A7 processor @ 528MHz
• System Memory – 128MB or 256MB DDR3L SDRAM @ 400MHz
• Storage
  • 4GB eMMC flash or 8GB eMMC flash
  • Optional 16MB or 32MB QSPI NOR flash
• Connectivity
  • Dual band WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n with integrated antennas (Atheros QCA6234)
  • Ethernet – 10/100M Base-T RJ-45 connector with PoE Support
  • Low Power Module (one of the other)
    • BMD-300 Module – Bluetooth 4.2 LE handling up to 20 connection, up to 2MB data rate
    • R41Z Module
      • Bluetooth 4.2 LE handling up to 2 connections, up to 1MB data rate
      • 802.15.4 (Thread) support
    • BMD-340 module (new – Q1 2018)- Bluetooth 5 (BLE & Mesh) and Thread (IEEE 802.15.4)
    • Other BMD-3xx module based on Nordic Semi nRF52
  • Cellular option –  Verizon (Q1 2018) or Worldwide (Q2 2018) Cat 1 Cellular LTE
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 A-type host connector
• Power Supply
  • 4.5 to 5.5VDC (3A max for LTE, 2A otherwise)  via Barrel Jack (5.5mm x 2.1mm)
  • 36-57V (IEEE 802.3af) via Ethernet connector
• Dimensions – 127 x 127 x 30 mm
• Temperature Range – 0 to +60°C
• Certifications – FCC / IC / CE / BT

The gateway runs a Linux distribution based on Yocto Poky pre-loaded with Node-RED visual framework, and Node.js, Python, Java, or other compiled languages can be used to develop applications for the gateway. As we’ve discussed in the introduction, Vesta IoT gateway will soon run Ubuntu Core as well, and the Nordic modules leverage Zephyr’s open source Bluetooth (and soon Open Thread) stacks. The gateway supports Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and IBM Bluemix cloud services out of the box, as well as Wirepas, Alljoyn, and Iotivity  IoT frameworks.

The company also provides DeviceOps Release Management solution to help managing large fleets of devices, and keeping them securely up-to-date with the latest version of the firmware and/or applications. You’ll find documentation to program Rigado devices and manage them with DeviceOps program on the developer website.

Rigado VESTA-300B development kit – including the gateway and Thingy:52 Bluetooth 5 device –  can be purchased for $299.99 on sites like Digikey or Mouser. For the full details about the solution visit Rigado’s products page.

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