FATRI's "Cloud World": Using Technology Services to Leverage the Trillion-Dollar IoT Market

Starting from sensor technology and entering the cloud service market from the bottom up is the path that FATRI United Measurement & Control (Quanzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "FATRI") takes to deeply explore the world of digital Internet of Things.

On September 23, FATRI launched the Zero-Risk Ecosystem Tas Cloud, a data-intensive application enabling platform that provides universal interfaces and universal docking capabilities for various industry applications. With the development trend of intelligent interconnection of all things, more and more innovative IoT application needs have been generated. To establish an integrated solution of end-edge-pipeline-cloud-use to empower all walks of life, the cloud platform is undoubtedly a crucial link.

“Technology as a Service”: Cloud Platform Accelerates Application Implementation

"When building end-to-end solutions, some companies are top-down, that is, they start from the cloud platform and then work with other partners to make general cloud modules and downstream smart hardware. FATRI takes data as the core and arranges from the bottom up, first with sensors and edge computing, and then with cloud and industry solutions." Guo Yingjun, solutions manager of FATRI, told Jiwei.com reporters.

FATRI is one of the few IDM chip manufacturers in China. When the company was founded in 2015, it was based on sensor technology and made every effort to develop advanced MEMS chips and sensor manufacturing capabilities, with comprehensive capabilities in chip and sensor material synthesis, design, manufacturing, packaging and testing. The MEMS high-end sensor and chip manufacturing base located in Quanzhou, Fujian, is equipped with an 8-inch MEMS smart sensor chip production line that is backward compatible with 6-inch and China's advanced MEMS device processing platform. It focuses on the research and development, manufacturing and testing of advanced materials, high-end MEMS, ASIC and microprocessor chips and sensors. The base covers an area of ​​70 acres and has a high-grade clean workshop of more than 6,000 square meters.

Sensor technology is the core underlying technology in the technology chain for the 5G and all-things intelligent interconnected era, and is the main entrance to the data collection layer. However, in order to make technology and applications more quickly land in vertical industries and solve customer pain points, cloud platforms are an important part of it.

Guo Yingjun pointed out that from the perspective of the entire IoT industry ecosystem, from the perception layer, network layer, application layer to mobile APP, each layer has its own industry structure and profit space. In view of the three different forms of the application layer, namely SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), WIRMATAS Cloud has entered the PaaS layer that provides basic middleware services.

"Every cloud service at every level could easily create a market worth hundreds of billions of yuan in the future," said Guo Yingjun. The name "Tas Cloud" also has another meaning, which is "TaaS" (similar to Tas, meaning Things as a service), which means "everything as a service."

Specifically, Tas Cloud has the general advantages of PaaS, including friendly development environment, multi-tenant design, elastic scalability, convenient operation and maintenance, simple cloud-to-cloud connection, and rich general services. In addition, Tas Cloud also has its own unique advantages, including relatively complete IoT, big data, and artificial intelligence capabilities; with 99.99% stability, Tas Cloud can handle an average of 2 billion requests per month and up to 20 million concurrent requests per second; in terms of security control, Tas Cloud can achieve one machine and one password, with data access control, data privacy control, and storage subsystem access security; at the same time, Tas Cloud provides mature SDK and rapid development guides, which can allow users to quickly get started and have a large know-how knowledge base, which is very user-friendly.

Guo Yingjun pointed out that the purpose of FATRI launching Tas Cloud at the current time point is to adapt to the development trend of the Internet of Things and create a universal business enabling platform that can enable the rapid development and implementation of vertical industry applications, assist ecological partners in opening up the industrial chain and completing intelligent upgrades.

What key capabilities are needed for the global “shift to the cloud” to tap into the Internet of Things market?

As a basic technology in the digital economy era, cloud computing has gradually become a competitive stronghold for major technology companies. The scale and future potential of the cloud service market can be imagined.

Data released by market research firm Synergy Research shows that the world shifted to the cloud in the first half of 2020, with revenue increasing by 20% over last year. In the four key cloud service and infrastructure market segments, operators and suppliers generated revenues of $187 billion in the first half of 2020, and annual spending on cloud services is likely to double by 2024. The Asia-Pacific region has become the world's second largest cloud service market, accounting for 30%, with the Chinese market occupying an important position. According to Synergy Research, the Asia-Pacific cloud market reached $9 billion (about 61.4 billion yuan) in the second quarter of 2020, and is growing at a rate of 40% per year.

Despite the huge market potential, how can we find our own foothold in the fragmented world of IoT and the current cloud service market where many large companies are present? Guo Yingjun believes that for small and medium-sized manufacturers, finding the right niche and going deep into the industry to create real value for customers and solve pain points or itches is the key to sustainable leadership in future competition.

It is reported that before the official release of Tas Cloud, in the past year or so, Tas Cloud has completed the construction of basic capabilities such as platform construction, componentization, north-south interfaces, and deployment. It has also completed the docking and optimization of industry solutions and the development of corresponding functions. It is now in the stage of deepening the capabilities of the data middle platform and AI middle platform. In the future, it will also use massive business data and operation data to integrate chips and mobile phones to form an ecosystem.

Guo Yingjun pointed out that in this process, the capabilities of the data center and AI center are key. The data center includes data collection, unified processing of data formats, data analysis, and data application matching scenarios; the AI ​​center needs to develop basic algorithms, such as face recognition, to facilitate secondary development by customers and continuously ensure the advancement and adaptability of the AI ​​operator library.

"For example, algorithms based on face recognition can be further refined and extended to face tracking, expression recognition, or video-based face recognition analysis." Guo Yingjun said that the improvement of AI capabilities is more about the horizontal expansion and vertical optimization of the AI ​​operator library, and the accuracy of operation in various complex environments is guaranteed through multi-dimensional and multi-modal analysis and decision-making. "Take the application of smart cities as an example, algorithms for automatic recognition of chasing, fighting, falling, and stalking can be implemented according to the needs of the scene."

5G will give rise to more innovative applications and gradually realize smart cities based on sensor technology

Based on high-end intelligent sensing technology and supplemented by the cloud platform, FATRI's "end-edge-pipe-cloud-use" product ecosystem is becoming more and more complete. TasCloud undertakes vertical applications in the north and adapts to smart devices and edge computing in the south, building an overall solution that has been widely used in multiple vertical fields, such as elevator networking, bridge monitoring, and mechanical fault diagnosis.

Guo Yingjun said that with the advancement of 5G commercialization in the future, more intelligent and innovative technologies will break through the constraints of network bandwidth, latency, jitter, etc. and become killer applications in the market, and will be implemented in various segmented scenarios to solve industry pain points, improve industry itch points, and complete digital and intelligent empowerment.

"With the commercial use of 5G, many previously restricted infrastructures will no longer be restrictions, and the demand for various IoT application scenarios will also increase day by day." Guo Yingjun said that this makes it possible to realize the ideal smart city, and 5G is the foundation for the revolutionary development of the IoT industry.

Regarding the fields that FATRI is optimistic about and plans to deepen its presence in, Guo Yingjun said that they have already started to dig deep into the field of security monitoring, starting with security cameras and planning corresponding products and solutions. FATRI's camera solution will be different from the large and comprehensive solutions of large manufacturers. Instead, it will be based on FATRI's self-operated products. The algorithm emphasizes sensor coordination, chip-level integration, and AI algorithms built into the camera. Guo Yingjun revealed that FATRI will not rule out the possibility of exporting AI algorithms in the future.

In addition, Guo Yingjun believes that AR/VR-related applications will really explode with the commercialization of 5G. In Guo Yingjun's view, there are many scenarios where AR/VR will be very useful. For example, in campus scenarios, fire and earthquake drills that need to be conducted regularly may not require field drills at all, but "put the content in the cloud" and use AR/VR equipment to assist in completion; a large amount of on-site training, equipment inspections, remote expert assistance, and specific scene inspections in industrial scenarios can all be accurately and efficiently enabled through a pair of AR glasses. "Of course, for all these intelligent realizations, the sensors responsible for generating data, especially the materials and chips used by the sensors, are the most basic capabilities and the core competitiveness of Xirenma." Guo Yingjun said.