Sensors record data and report limit values
"Digital technology is the key to the urban infrastructure of tomorrow," adds Viktor Kostic, Managing Director of the special-purpose association. "Municipalities will develop into smart cities, for which we are creating the basis with LoRaWAN. This enables technical progress that supports cities and municipalities in their efforts to digitalize many areas of activity." Numerous processes can be made more efficient with the help of the wireless network: Whether defective street lamps, remote reading of water meters or theCO2 content of the air in classrooms - with the LoRaWAN, measuring and switching processes can be controlled automatically and information or warnings can be transmitted. The list could go on and on. The range of possible applications in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) is almost endless. There, the data is available for further use by local authorities, for example via IoT platforms. The principle also works in the opposite direction, i.e. for control systems. "SWLB is not only contributing its expertise in the field of wide area networks, but also its infrastructure. As part of our cooperation, we grant each other access to the partners' gateways, which is certainly not a matter of course. It is therefore all the more remarkable that we quickly reached a common understanding on this point," emphasizes Johannes Rager, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Ludwigsburg-Kornwestheim.
Energy-efficient network bridges long distances
The abbreviation LoRaWAN stands for "Long Range Wide Area Network" and refers to a large-scale network. The radio network can transmit measured values or the status of sensors and actuators over long distances with low radiation and energy efficiency. A few, usually stationary gateways and radio antennas form the backbone for this. Sensors fitted with batteries at the facilities to be monitored deliver their information via these gateways to two network servers of the municipal utilities and Netze BW. There, the data is available for further use by the municipalities, for example via IoT platforms. The principle also works in the opposite direction, i.e. for control systems.
"IoT opens up new ways for us to intelligently and automatically design work processes. The basis for this is the LoRaWAN, which enables local authorities to monitor and control parts of their infrastructure based on data," explains Steffen Ringwald, Managing Director of Netze BW. "Internally, we also refer to this technology as the radio network of the future. We are delighted to be taking this path together with our partners."
"A connectivity system such as LoRaWAN offers municipalities with self-determined area coverage a huge range of feasible smart city applications," Christian Schneider, CEO of SWLB, is convinced and adds: "We can map a wide variety of use cases and use smart technologies to enable both intelligent urban living and improve quality of life. There are no limits to the imagination. Today, we only know a fraction of what will be possible tomorrow via the brain of the network, the IoT platform. We look forward to working together."
