GE is going to build a 100G network as part of an industry test bed to support its industry Internet initiative that the company says will support Internet of Things (IoT) communications across connected control systems, large infrastructure products and manufacturing plants.
By building out a 100G network, GE will be able to support industry machine commands that could have data sets with 1,000 times a standard movie file size a consumer would download over their home broadband connection. These 100G-capable lines will allow industries to immediately connect and control machines located thousands of miles away.
GE is not going alone in building out the 100G network. Cisco, one of the Industrial Internet Consortium members, has contributed expertise to building this project, while Internet2 will provide network infrastructure to offer national network reach.
Colin Parris, VP of GE software research, said in a release that the 100G "lines enable accelerated data movement and an increase in data volumes within Industrial Internet products and services."
In particular, GE will use the 100G-capable lines to connect to its manufacturing plants and have full visibility and control of the operation in the plant. What's more, the 100G capability will be extended to the wireless edge, allowing GE to provide more data and analytical results to mobile users through advanced communication techniques.
The company's instinct to build 100G backbone to support Internet of Things is timely. According to a recent BI Intelligence report, IoT will be more than double the size of the smartphone, PC, tablet, connected car and the wearable market combined by the year 2019.
For more:
- see the release
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