StarFive and China Mobile Shanghai Research Institute Partner to Empower Industrial Equipment Smart O&M with RISC‑V 4G DTU

July 28, 2026 -- During the intelligent transformation of industrial equipment, challenges such as inefficient data collection and delayed after-sales services have become increasingly prominent. Leveraging its proprietary RISC-V architecture, StarFive has developed a 4G DTU solution and partnered with the Industrial Internet Platform team of China Mobile Shanghai Industrial Research Institute (CMRI) to address these industry challenges. Based on China Mobile’s Tiangong Equipment Cloud standardized product platform, the two parties jointly deployed the solution in an electrical project for a leading variable frequency drive (VFD) manufacturer in central China. The project has successfully enabled large-scale deployment of a RISC-V-based 4G DTU remote intelligent operations and maintenance solution across the region, accelerating the digital transformation of industrial equipment.

Customer Profile and Industry Challenges

The VFD manufacturer involved in this project is a leading regional supplier of industrial drives, recognized as both a provincial-level high-tech enterprise and a specialized and innovative enterprise. With a market share exceeding 50% in its target segment, the company has established a strong industry presence.

However, facing increasingly intense market competition and growing demand for intelligent product upgrades, the company encountered several operational challenges. After equipment delivery, insufficient connectivity capabilities made it difficult to collect real-time operating data. The lack of visibility into equipment status resulted in inefficient after-sales services, while high manual maintenance costs created significant operational pressure. Traditional business and service models were reaching their limitations.

Core Solution: StarFive’s 4G DTU Builds a Highly Secure Edge Data Hub

In this project, a 4G DTU device powered by StarFive’s RISC-V-based intelligent IoT chip was integrated into the VFD equipment. Built on RISC-V architecture, the chip provides a secure foundation designed specifically for demanding industrial environments. Through 4G Cat.1 cellular connectivity, the solution enables ultra-low-latency transparent transmission of data from serial ports and multiple device interfaces. With wide coverage, high reliability, and plug-and-play deployment capabilities, it establishes a secure data hub connecting industrial equipment at the edge with cloud-based management platforms.

Based on the 4G DTU solution, China Mobile Shanghai Industrial Research Institute integrated AI and big data capabilities to develop the Mobile Tiangong VFD Intelligent Management Cloud Platform. The platform provides an integrated solution combining:

•  AIoT intelligent connectivity;
•  Cloud-based equipment management;
•  Mobile-based remote operations and maintenance.

With second-level data interaction and intelligent fault diagnosis capabilities, the platform enables a complete closed-loop workflow covering equipment connectivity, data acquisition, real-time monitoring, remote control, and maintenance management. This significantly accelerates the digital and intelligent transformation of industrial variable frequency drive systems.

Typical Application Scenario: Intelligent Maintenance for Construction Site Elevators

The solution has already been deployed at multiple customer sites of the VFD manufacturer, delivering significant digital transformation benefits.

Taking a construction site elevator application at a large-scale construction project as an example:

• Traditional Challenges: Construction elevators traditionally rely heavily on manual scheduling and inspections. Potential risks such as overload, overspeed operation, and unauthorized start/stop events are difficult to identify in a timely manner. Meanwhile, real-time equipment monitoring remains limited, creating significant challenges for safety management.
• Digital Transformation Results: Powered by StarFive’s 4G DTU devices and the Mobile Tiangong VFD Intelligent Management Cloud Platform, the solution connects to comprehensive operational data from elevator VFD systems and integrates with panoramic cameras installed inside and outside the elevator cabins. The system collects key operating parameters, including:
  • Load capacity;
  • Operating speed;
  • Landing door status;
  • Other critical operating conditions.
• By synchronizing equipment data with real-time video streams, the solution enables visualized monitoring with both equipment status and operators displayed simultaneously, significantly improving safety supervision efficiency.
• Operational Improvements: After deployment:
  • Unauthorized operation incidents decreased by 70%;
  • 80% of on-site inspections were replaced by remote monitoring;
  • Supervisory data was automatically archived.

As a result, construction site safety management efficiency was significantly enhanced.

Explore StarFive IP:

• Ultra-low power consumption out-of-order commercial-grade 64-bit RISC-V CPU IP
• High Performance 64-bit RISC-V Processor
• 64-bit application processor for energy-efficient computation
• High-scalable, high-performance Interconnect fabric IP with cache coherence support

Key Outcomes of Deployment

This digital upgrade of industrial frequency converter O&M directly addresses the industry's pain points of high maintenance costs and insufficient intelligence, delivering comprehensive benefits across four dimensions:

• Ultra-fast connectivity, significant cost reduction: Within just a few months of launch, the platform has onboarded nearly 10,000 devices. With 24/7 AI monitoring replacing manual inspections, after-sales maintenance costs have been reduced by over 25%.
• Intelligent prediction, improved quality and stability: Real-time alerts and trend analysis have shifted the paradigm from reactive maintenance to proactive prevention, effectively avoiding unplanned downtime and boosting brand industry influence by 10%–20%.
• Hardware-software integration, business model innovation: The company has successfully transitioned to a new "hardware + cloud platform + O&M service" model. With an enhanced service experience, customer retention has increased by over 50%.
• Setting a benchmark, leading the industry: The project has established a replicable model for digital upgrade of industrial frequency converters, setting a new direction for industry-wide intelligent transformation.

Since the project was signed and launched in October 2025, StarFive’s DTU devices have achieved cumulative shipments of nearly 10,000 units, marking a significant milestone as RISC-V technology enters large-scale commercial deployment in the industrial IoT sector.

Looking ahead, StarFive will continue to deepen collaboration with ecosystem partners such as China Mobile Shanghai Industrial Research Institute, leveraging its proprietary RISC-V chips to empower more industrial applications and accelerate the high-quality development of China’s industrial Internet ecosystem.