Smart Planning
leads to Smart Cities
InterComms looks at how Teleplan Globe’s CARMEN
product offering could be a key IoT tool
“By 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to connect 50 to 100 Billion smart things and objects, paving the way to great economic opportunities and challenges. According to Cisco, by 2018, over half of all IP traffic will originate with non-PC devices and the machine-to-machine (M2M) traffic will grow at an annual rate of 84%. According to the IERC and the ITU, the largest barriers hindering the Internet of Things market development is the lack of interoperability.” Latif Ladd.
With the growth of Smart City technology, which can be as simple as using light sensors to turn on city lights rather than timers, with maintenance sensors telling a central control when the components need replacing, to water meters. The use of IoT and M2M technology leads to one big problem: where do the uses stop for individual corporations. The simple answer is they don’t; the only limit is money.
The key is in two main areas: strength of network and strength of planning. Identifying what you want to achieve first and prioritizing after that. What is really needed is a planning tool that can be adapted to any IoT use and M2M infrastructure. Thankfully the technology is already here in the form of Teleplan’s CARMEN tool, featured previously in InterComms, for Telecom and Utilities usage: this adaptable product can help at any planning stage for any project.
Q: Teleplan Globe have a history in working with utilities providing IoT and M2M planning for metering etc, so in terms of working with devices in city grid systems you understand the complexities and problems involved with Smart City technology deployment?
A: Yes, we do. Working with the largest DSOs in Norway, with a common goal to ensure a secure deployment of smart meters, Teleplan has gained valuable experience that easily can be transferred into IoT and other M2M deployments in a smart city context. These DSOs include the largest cities in Norway and we have proven that CARMEN is a tool that can cope with all challenges you’ll meet in such a project. As part of the planning there are a number of factors that are important, including coverage, stability, robustness and price. In order to find the optimal localization, as well as the optimal combination of the communication equipment in a geographical location, it is crucial to take into account the existing infrastructure, terrain and buildings. In addition to the optimal localization, it is essential to design the infrastructure with the proper degree of robustness to be able to handle a failure of a concentrator.
Q: CARMEN is one of the most flexible planning tools
on the market. It really can be used to plan from water
meter data collection, through to traffic automation of
traffic lights, right down to monitoring of weight levels
in refuse trucks etc. Can you explain in basics how this is
achieved?
A: CARMEN provides a detailed overview and an intuitive
user interface to plan, test and analyse the localization of
communication equipment from the parent level down
to the street - and single-house level. With the use of
CARMEN you are able to perform coverage calculation
based on various types of communication devices and
network topologies for each device. Based on the coverage
calculation, it is possible to identify and visualize problem
areas as early as possible. Furthermore, the import of large
amounts of short range devices is based on geographical
location, and you have the ability to add and modify the
properties of nodes in the map solution, to set parameters
and values that defines specific coverage areas, and the
choice of propagation model, as well as other criteria for
coverage calculation. In CARMEN you have full GIS tool
performance and functionality, thus navigation around
the map surface is similar to that of other modern
map applications. Several base layers and transparent
information layers can be superimposed to easily show
or hide information respectively interesting or redundant
for various tasks and analysis. The coverage analysis
is for the communication devices connected in various
network topologies (mesh, star and cluster tree). Coverage
calculation gives suggestions for a plan, based on criteria
such as equipment, location, power transmission and the
like. A communications plan may need to see coverage from
one to many devices in detail, while others just want to see
an overview based on coverage between nodes in a specific
area. An analysis tool based on a cost-benefit calculation
can propose an optimal starting point for configuration of
the infrastructure. The analysis is based on criteria such as
antenna type, radio coverage between nodes and required
level of redundancy. The analysis returns a cost-effective
plan for deployment, and configuration of appropriate
communication equipment for each device, while providing
sufficient robustness in the net.
Q: Could you talk through one of the projects that
CARMEN is being used for, the successes and the
problems that you overcame?
A: CARMEN is currently being used to plan a secure
deployment for most of the smart meters in Norway. In
numbers this means that approximately 2,1 million out
of a total of approximately 2,7 million smart meters are
planned making use of the tool. The largest project is
actually the largest one in Norway when it comes to the
number of smart meters. Our customer is an international
communication vendor that is responsible for the delivery
of the smart meters, including the communication
infrastructure to 27 DSO’s ranging from the Russian border
to the south-west coast of Norway. This means that CARMEN
has been challenged to the full, with all kinds of topology
issues, such as mountains, valleys, fjords, rural areas,
densely populated areas and more. What we have learned
is that our customers are very pleased to find a product like
CARMEN in the marketplace. We frequently hear that they
don’t see how they could have made their projects available
without the use of CARMEN, and that is always nice. Other
things that we have learned is that end-customers, like
everyone else, have a cost focus, which in this context has
meant that they seek to reduce the amount of master nodes
by increasing the amount of slaves and making use of better
covering antenna types, more antennas, etc. This is the
kind of information it would have been very difficult to gain
without making use of CARMEN.
For more information visit:
www.teleplanglobe.no | @TeleplanGlobe
www.linkedin.com/company/teleplan-globe |