FEATURE Sensors
Network choices Among the growing number of satellite IoT providers, there is a range of connectivity options including licensed and unlicensed spectrum. LoRaWAN, the low power, wide area network (LPWAN) protocol in the unlicensed spectrum, enables aff ordable connectivity and can seamlessly connect to public and private LoRaWAN networks as well as satellites. The LoRa Alliance recently upgraded its guidelines to include Long Range Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (LR-FHSS) data rates for the LoRaWAN standard. LR-FHSS enables reliable low-power data links directly from sensors to satellites. LEO satellite constellations will connect vast remote areas around the globe and support millions of end nodes to deliver a new level of reliable connectivity for IoT services. However, satellite IoT should be seen as part of an overall IoT networking strategy rather than a replacement to current terrestrial LPWAN connectivity. Its value is in its ability to augment terrestrial LPWAN networks, and provide a fallback for terrestrial networks whilst acting as a default for those situations where it is the only method available.
Sensors can be connected to satellite IoT terminals and, as the market expands this year and the next, many sensor manufacturers will look to embed LoRaWAN satellite capability into their systems to off er global connectivity, making it easy to set and deploy.
Changing the landscape for agriculture Sensor-to-satellite technology promises to deliver real change for good – not least in the world of agriculture. Even before the war in Ukraine and growing global instability, there have been increasing concerns around food
automationmagazine.co.uk
security. According to a recent UN report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, between 720 and 811 million people in the world went hungry in 2020. And according to an African agriculture and COVID-19 report published by McKinsey, up to 670 million people in Africa – roughly half of the population – already face food insecurity. To increase yields without a major increase in land is going to require signifi cant changes in the face of climate change, forcing agricultural producers to battle against water shortages, increasing temperatures and more freak weather incidents.
Over the last few years, IoT has emerged as one of the most important technologies to help address these challenges and in its ‘Worldwide IoT in Agriculture Market Size 2023’ report, Statista predicts that the global agricultural IoT market will reach almost $30bn by 2023. This is about delivering more data points to give agronomists, engineers, designers and farmers a highly granular data picture of the food production cycle. Key data sources include soil moisture sensing, weather stations, crop and storage monitoring, livestock and asset tracking, following the complete fi eld-to-fork journey. For example, Wyld Networks is working with Canadian-based Agrology to allow Agrology Ground Truth soil moisture sensors to gather data, from even the most remote locations. Agrology’s predictive agriculture platform helps to identify and mitigate a variety of issues, including smoke taint, irrigation and climate change. Meanwhile, Bayer Crop Science is also harnessing sensor-to-satellite technology to capture data from beehives in locations with no, or poor, cellular coverage. It will allow hive managers and researchers to reliably and
conveniently access and share critical sensor data to help maximise yield and optimise hive health. And in South America, Treevia is deploying sensor-to-satellite technology to help automate forest management anywhere in the world. With a critical need to develop sustainable forest management solutions, Treevia will be able to monitor variables in forest environments by automating data collection using high-precision IoT sensors.
New opportunities Away from agriculture, sensor-to-satellite IoT is also gaining a lot of interest from other sectors. For example, in oil and gas, Chevron is working on a pilot solution to improve effi ciency by collecting data from IoT sensors in remote locations to help reduce equipment downtime and enable preventative maintenance.
Global IoT is also at the heart of the utilities
data revolution, enabling smart grids, assets and meters to manage infrastructure more effi ciently, profi tably and sustainably. And with 100% global coverage across air, sea, road and rail, producers, manufacturers, logistics providers and other parties in the supply chain can receive valuable insight to deliver an improved customer experience, operational effi ciency and signifi cant cost savings. The revolution in satellite IoT technology will overcome the two key barriers to universal access – global coverage and aff ordability – and as such can truly be termed as technology that will democratise the IoT.
https://wyldnetworks.com CONTACT:
Wyld Networks
Automation | July/August 2022
47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
