https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

The next wave

The next wave

  • Written by raidee
  • 1st October 2018

Perhaps the most-discussed industry associated with M2M technology is the utility sector, which plans to use such solutions extensively to develop a “smart grid” that is designed be more convenient for the consumer and greatly enhance the efficiencies for utilities.

Today, utilities already use low-bandwidth versions of M2M technology for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), which can reduce meter-reading costs, as well as the cost to establish connections with new customers. Tom Hoyne, director of utility markets for Harris, said he remembers a discussion with an official for one large utility regarding the value of AMI.

“He closed the door and said, ‘We’ve got 4.5 million meters here,’” Hoyne said. “‘We’ve got a lot of colleges and universities, and we connect and disconnect 1.5 million meters per year—and it costs $100 to roll a truck. Do the math. So, if it costs $400 million to put in AMI—at $150 million per year, it’s a pretty quick payoff.’”

By leveraging even more M2M technology, consumers can adjust the temperature in their homes or remotely control appliances such as refrigerators and stoves. This also can be useful for utilities. If given permission by customers, a utility could adjust the indoor temperature of buildings and homes in a given area during a peak load to ensure that a blackout or brownout does not occur.

In Plano, Texas, a similar system already exists to control sprinkler systems in the city, which tries to regulate water usage during the hot, dry weather that the area often encounters during the summer, according to Roy McClellan, Cassidian’s vice president and chief technologist for radio systems.

M2M technology also is expected to play a key role in ensuring the integrity and performance of utility grids, but the requirements for doing so are much more stringent, Hoyne said. If a meter is not read immediately because a cellular network is congested, that is not a big problem; however, key network indicators must work at all times and only can handle minute amounts of latency.

“When you get into the transmission system and the devices and reloads and stuff there, reliability is very critical and the coverage requirements are often spotty,” Hoyne said. “A lot of what they do is not even entrusted to wireless.”

Mass transportation is another sector that is expected to be impacted significantly by the M2M evolution. The U.S. rail industry already is facing a federal mandate to deploy low-bandwidth positive train control (PTC) systems—designed to prevent train collisions—that are expected to cost the industry billions of dollars and which are supposed to be completed by 2015.

Meeting this federal deadline is the first priority for many rail organizations, but the value of M2M communications is expected to extend beyond the PTC mandate, according to Jim Baker, founder and CEO of Xentrans.

“The whole point of M2M is to improve operational efficiency and reduce overhead,” Baker said. “So, although it may not be a direct revenue source, it is a cost-saving measure. What transportation needs to understand is those cost benefits. It’s a slow process; it’s not going to happen overnight, but it is my belief that M2M will increase operational efficiencies in transportation and those transit organizations need to account for that on their balance sheets.”

As with utilities, transportation entities have various communications needs that have different throughput and reliability requirements. Where coverage is available, commercial cellular connections can suffice for passenger connectivity and for non-critical applications—and it is the only option, in many cases. But private, dedicated networks would be preferred for critical system applications, Baker said.

“Anything that has to do with energy or any kind of remote machinery out in the field that needs to be constantly monitored, I think we’ll see those systems moving away from cellular and onto these license-free, long-distance communications networks, such as TV white space,” he said. “I think that TV white space absolutely will become something that is increasingly used for M2M.”

While PTC does not require a lot of bandwidth, transportation entities have significant closed-circuit television (CCTV) assets, and they need broadband connections to transmit the imagery captured by them in real time. Currently, this video typically is uploaded only when trains reach hotspots such as depots, but it would be helpful if it could be uploaded in real time during emergencies, Baker said.

“What we’re seeing now is this move to use DVRs to record video the whole time, but in the event of an emergency, some sort of activation—for example, the driver may hit the panic button, or a conductor [may push] a button on a lanyard around his neck—would immediately prompt the system to open a channel and send a message back to the NOC, so it can instigate a VPN connection directly into the DVR,” he said.

Tags:

Related Content

  • Analysts warm to Anterix
  • Preinstalled firmware updater puts 128 Dell models at risk
  • Ericsson report finds 5G investment increasing
  • Storms & Silver Linings: Avoiding the dangers of cloud migration

Commentary


Better technology can help solve the public-safety staffing crisis

26th June 2023

Updated: How ‘sidelink’ peer-to-peer communications can enhance public-safety operations

  • 1
27th February 2023

NG911 needed to secure our communities and nation

24th February 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.