The future of M2M communications is here today |
Mesh Radio technology, with its impressive ability to quickly create robust ad-hoc networks, has proven to be one of the most efficient and secure solutions for collecting energy consumption data in urban areas and as a key enabler for the Smart (Electricity) Grid.
It is however a generic communications technology, useful in a wide range of m2m applications, meeting stringent demands for reliability, cost-effectiveness and overall quality.
Networks based on mesh technology are dynamic and highly resilient to interference and interruptions. Smart routing algorithms in every device continuously cooperate to select the fastest and most secure way to transfer information. Our implementation – Connode is thus both self-configuring in a true plug-and play manner, and self-healing if there is any problem in either the local radio network or in the WAN (typically GPRS/3G) used for backhaul.
The Connode network is built according to simple, empirical, experience-based rules. In the event of communication failures, either in the mesh or over the WAN, it will automatically re-configure itself to ensure that data will reach its final destination. All communication with the devices in the field is abstracted – no network configuration or maintenance is needed.
If a micronet has lost its master node(s) it will merge with a neighboring micronet. Experience shows that current cellular data networks have less than 99% reliability in reality – if the WAN goes down, without alternative paths, the Connode will store data locally until WAN communications are restored.
Storage time will vary with the application, but a typical Smart Metering application, with hourly reads, will be able to store data locally for up to 60 days.
Connode has built in monitoring and “hard-reset” of the GSM/GPRS/CDMA communication modules if a problem should occur on this level (this include the so called “silent discard” in GSM-networks). Easy integration to back-end systems and other applications is done via a high-level web interface in the Network communication server |
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