Smart Campus

The future of education is digital. Schools and universities are embracing digital trends allowing today’s students to benefit from all the possibilities IoT has to offer.

Cassia Networks’ long-range Bluetooth IoT solutions provide smart schools and IoT education system integrators with low-cost, flexible and seamless IoT connectivity.

Gone are the days of a traditional high-cost, high-battery usage connectivity model – Wi-Fi to pads and computers. Innovative smart campus’ are accelerating their use of connected devices connected via long-range Bluetooth low energy, including phones, drones, robots, sensors, pads, and augmented reality tools. Moreover, the education experience is changing from information consumption to a student-centered, adaptive learning model designed to enhance student “agency” enabled by technology (Bjerede, 2017).

The outdated “virtual highway” is only one of many routes for students. Cassia Networks has assembled a Bluetooth IoT gateway at the center of the smart school experience, dramatically lowering costs, and providing bi-directional Bluetooth connectivity. The digital generation is coming of age in a hybrid of physical-virtual interactions where Bluetooth low energy connected devices fly, submerge, drive, and soon will be embedded into, ingested by, and bore into smart “things.”

To learn more about recent and upcoming Bluetooth smart school innovations Connect with Cassia

The opportunities for smart school solutions providers are enormous. The smart school market place is expected to grow dramatically, from $193 billion annually in 2016, to $584 billion by 2021, according to the Markets and Markets research firm.

Smart school solution providers are currently leveraging Cassia’s Bluetooth IoT solution for its worldwide standardization, ultra-low energy profile, and low-cost to capture near-term opportunities. Then, using the bi-directional, long-range Bluetooth IoT data capabilities, smart schools use cloud application capabilities to improve student outcomes.

Smart school solution providers are using long-range Bluetooth low energy IoT solutions to challenge the high cost and complexity of traditional school technology models, including:

• Poor user experience: Long-range Bluetooth gateways “disintermediate” the use of costly pads and computers used Internet gateways. Teachers prefer the “always on” experience of long-range Bluetooth gateways over troubleshooting computers used as “gateways.”
• Costly: Smart schools use low-cost, low-power Bluetooth devices to backhaul data using an organization’s existing infrastructure.
• Scalability: The ongoing, high power demands and costs of pads and computers inhibit the scalability of Wi-fi smart school systems. Also, lacking a worldwide standard, options like, cellular LPWAN, LTE, 5G, add significant device complexity and costs.
• Standardization: Bluetooth low energy’s worldwide standardization and massive installed base and eco-system, reduces costs at every stage of development and deployment. By contrast, proprietary technologies, like LoRA, SigFox, cellular LPWAN, etc…increase near term costs significantly and risk future costs.
• System disruption: Long-range Bluetooth gateways are always “on” and connected. The operating systems of pads and phones “automatically” update, disrupting data flows.
• Range: Unlike other low energy sensor options (including Bluetooth) Cassia’s patented long-range Bluetooth (1,000 feet) enables bi-directional pairing to wearables in large campus and field environments.
• Power challenges and demands: Bluteooth Low Energy is a well-known for low-power batteries lasting years. The energy needs of a Wi-Fi based system mean constant charging, oversized batteries, and bulky devices.
• Unidirectional data limitations: Cassia Networks has created a one-to-many long-range Bluetooth connectivity – up to 40 devices in bi-directional mode and several hundred in broadcast mode. By contrast, unidirectional data flows for RFID or LoRA, limit the future value of data and use cases.

Core to the connectivity challenges in smart Education IoT are scalability, power, range, cost,

Cassia works closely with smart schools and IoT Education equipment manufacturers and solution providers to provide integrated Smart Education solutions for students, teachers, and administrators.

By eliminating the range and scalability limitations of Bluetooth low energy, the Cassia’s long-range Bluetooth Gateways and IoT access controller (AC) platform is delivering the low-cost, reliable, and scalable IoT connectivity needed by smart school solutions providers and IoT Education equipment manufacturers.

• A Cassia long-range Bluetooth router connects to multiple Bluteooth Low Energy devices providing connectivity to smart school devices used by students in a specific campus environment. Current long-range Bluetooth IoT smart school use cases include: wearables, security sensors and locks, room and hallway beacons, speaker systems, parking lot management, and wearables for physical education and field activities.
• Long-range Bluetooth IoT used to track educational assets like chairs, desks, etc…, for resource management, real-time locationing, and loss prevention.
• Bluetooth IoT helps teach math and engineering, and inspires creativity in 21^st century areas like robotics and data science. Moreover, the popular cognitive training headband Muse® used in many smart schools uses Bluetooth low energy connectivity.
• The long-range Bluetooth router collects data from the Bluteooth Low Energy devices, or tracked assets, and sends the data to an Internet-based application.
• Using the application, Educational personnel remotely monitor student device data in real-time without requiring any action by the student, or locate Educational assets for resource management.

• Easy-to-Use – students do not need to use a tablet or iPad to capture data.
• Mobility – Students can freely move throughout a smart school or campus environment. Cassia long-range Bluetooth increases the range of connectivity to monitoring devices up to 1000+ feet open space or three-wall penetration. Note: no changes are required in transmission power, or to the Bluetooth monitoring devices.
• Multiple Device Support – bi-directional connect and control for up to 40 Bluteooth Low Energy devices simultaneously, or listen to hundreds of devices in Broadcast mode.
• Data Collection – Collect data from student devices, and relieve teachers from pencil-to-paper tracking of check boxes. Teachers focus less on standardized “administrative tasks,  and more on one-to-one teacher-student interactions.
• Low Cost – Bluetooth enabled IoT solutions are low-cost; automated data collection  reduces  administrative tasks, as well as asset management and loss.
• Stable Environment – Bluetooth IoT devices stay connected to Cassia’s Bluetooth gateway at a distance
• Quality Education – Improves an education professional’s ability to focus on student outcomes, diagnose issues, and address student goals avoiding remedial measures and resulting in higher student satisfaction.

• Cassia’s long-range Bluetooth gateways connects and controls multiple Smart school and IoT Education devices
• The long-range Bluetooth gateway collects data from the Bluetooth monitoring devices and sends data to the internet or local server
• Educational personnel monitor multiple devices’ data in real-time from multiple users simultaneously

• Constant Monitoring – Monitor multiple students at the same time and provide doctors and teachers easy access to data in real-time
• Seamless Coverage – Cassia’s long-range Bluetooth gateways completely cover a School campus or clinic environment; allowing students to move freely throughout the School and remain connected to monitoring solutions
• Easy Deployment / Management – use centralized Cassia IoT access controller (AC) software platform to setup and manage hundreds of long Bluetooth gateways and thousands of Bluetooth monitoring devices for seamless coverage.
• Easy-to-Use – Simplifies student and Educational personnel data collection. Replaces costly tablets and iPads used as gateways, resulting in improved compliance and quality of data
• Higher Performance – range of smart Education monitoring devices is increased up to 1000+ feet open space or three walls of penetration.
• Multiple Device Monitoring – bi-directional, connection and control of up to 40-Bluteooth Low Energy devices per long range Bluetooth gateway simultaneously, or listen to hundreds of devices in Broadcast mode
• Low Cost – minimal, one-time cost of hardware and low monthly software fee for IoT access controller (AC) for device management, reduces the lengths of stay in schools
• Stable Environment – devices stay connected to Cassia long range Bluetooth gateway at a distance for seamless coverage
• Security – end-to-end device security supported
• Bluetooth Locationing – track student movements throughout a facility for faster responses to emergencies situations, improving student outcomes
• Data Collection – collects student vital signs reducing costs of registered teaching staff