Kigen enables businesses to reap the benefits of a secure IoT deployment
Kigen has enabled 2 billion SIMs in IoT devices and has new state-of-the-art eSIM and integrated SIM (iSIM) deployments with leading chipset providers, module vendors and network operators.
As an independent but wholly-owned subsidiary of Arm, Kigen will focus on addressing device-maker demand for greater choice in affordable security for trusted IoT devices.
Kigen, after incubating within Arm, has a well-established ecosystem with mature partners and has now added several new customers, including Alif Semiconductor, KORE, Qualcomm Technologies and Sequans Communications.
“If we are to accelerate global IoT innovation, security and trust for connected devices can never be an afterthought,” said Vincent Korstanje, Chief Executive Officer, Kigen.
”By making iSIM the future foundation for trust in the IoT, Kigen, together with our partners, are offering all device-makers greater freedom in how they manufacture secure devices and deliver the services that matter most to their customers.”
According to GSMA Intelligence, 65% of enterprises have deployed IoT solutions as part of a broad digital transformation strategy. Doing this requires companies to treat IoT deployments as core to their business. That often means extending the lifespan of deployed devices such as smart meters.
By using Kigen technology to virtualize SIMs on-chip, companies can create efficiencies and performance gains in how their IoT devices are produced, auto-provisioned and managed in the real-world.
These gains will reduce the time it takes to deliver new IoT products, allowing companies to deploy advanced IoT solutions faster and more reliably. As well as reducing deployment complexity, Kigen’s standards-based eSIM and iSIM technology enables greater interoperability based on a secure foundation.
Kigen’s iSIM solution, which makes the SIM an integral part of the processor in chip fabrication, is kinder to the planet too; offering 70% lower power consumption than a traditional physical SIM. This opens up new ways to deliver power-efficient data processing for 5G and global LPWAN networks, and more room to add advanced compute such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Democratizing the IoT
Through its secure SIM operating system (OS), data generation and professional services, Kigen is driving:
- A standardized path to secure products for device-makers: Hardware and device makers can leverage Kigen’s SIM OS for chipsets and modules, diversifying manufacturing and leveraging interoperable chip-to-cloud solutions.
- Highly flexible eSIM services for SIM vendors and connectivity providers: To balance the power, total cost of ownership and defence-in-depth requirements, Kigen’s range of eSIM OS, Remote SIM provisioning (RSP) solutions and data generation services provide the flexibility fast-moving SIM manufacturers and IoT Service Providers require.
- Ultimate security with iSIM for power-efficient IoT: Kigen’s iSIM OS extends the same small code-size and power efficiency advantages from most constrained to the efficient edge; critical to meeting the requirements of fast scaling IoT markets.
Kigen has invested significantly in standardization and GSMA accreditation during its three years of incubation within Arm. Orange has recently proven the use of Kigen’s GSMA IoT SAFE applet that simplifies how IoT Service Providers can establish strong trust between devices and clouds such as Orange’s LiveObjects, Microsoft Azure IoT or AWS IoT.
“To support the transformative applications that embedded AI and ML will enable for smart city infrastructure, healthcare and IoT endpoints, the devices powering those applications need to be built from ground up with high functional integration, deep security and ubiquitous cellular connectivity. Kigen’s iSIM is a key enabler to deliver power-efficient edge computing solutions that scale across constrained to computing-intensive applications,” said Reza Kazerounian, President and Co-Founder, Alif Semiconductor.
“5G will drive a massive expansion in the number of things connected, heralding a new generation of billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. We have worked with Kigen to develop standards for eSIM and iSIM security capabilities. These standards will ensure “root of trust” end-to-end IoT reliability, in the same way that we have come to expect from the SIM for over 25 years,” said Alex Sinclair, GSMA’s Chief Technology Officer.