In a short interview in the energate messenger on the SMARTinfeld project, Jan Bose answers questions about the project and the prospects of LoRaWAN networks.
Schimberg (energate). The “Long Range Wide Area Network”, LoRaWAN for short, is regarded as a door opener for many new business models. The Thuringian village of Martinfeld is to become a showcase location. energate asked Jan Bose, project manager of “SMARTinfeld” and managing partner of Alpha-Omega Technology GmbH & Co. KG.
energate: Mr Bose, you want to turn Martinfeld into a model village for the Internet of Things using a LoRaWAN network. What exactly do you have in mind?
Bose: In the LoRaWAN field there are already pilot projects in some major cities today, and in some of them networks covering the whole area are being built. With the “SMARTinfeld” project we want to run as many use cases as possible in productive operation, concentrated in a single municipality. Our goal is to achieve the highest density of LoRaWAN-based IoT use cases in Germany. The term model village is well chosen, because not all of the use cases we establish in Martinfeld will bring a direct benefit to the village itself, but they can be put to good use in other places. Smart parking is one example.
energate: Which future applications are conceivable over the radio network?
Bose: The number of use cases grows continuously with the challenges that our customers from various industries bring to us. Every condition that can be captured by measurement is a potential use case for the technology. This ranges from monitoring public waste bins, water quality measurements and environmental measurements, through metering applications for water, electricity and gas meters, to building condition monitoring: indoor climate, doors and windows, motion sensors, water leakage or smoke detectors. In many areas the implementation of use cases is still limited by the restricted availability of LoRaWAN sensors, but more and more manufacturers of conventional sensors are working on integrating this functionality into their product portfolio.
energate: Large cities such as Munich and Karlsruhe are also planning LoRaWAN networks covering the whole city. Which applications do you consider possible there?
Bose: We know the activities of the energy utilities in the German-speaking region well, because we supply many of these projects through our online shop with hardware from our partners such as Libelium, Kerlink and GlobalSat. In the smart city field, the use cases will take a different shape than in rural areas. Smart parking and smart environment, for example, will play a greater role there. Information collected via the LoRaWAN network, such as the current occupancy of parking spaces, can be enriched with additional information such as the status of charging stations. Building condition monitoring also offers a broader approach in cities because of the large number of buildings. The variety stands or falls with the strategy of the new network operators, which, in addition to building and operating LoRaWAN networks, should definitely include active cooperation with local companies.
The questions were asked by energate editor-in-chief Christian Seelos.