Smart Water/Wastewater Technologies Require Comprehensive Wireless M2M Communications
By Dan Steele, Director, OEM/Utility/Energy Markets at FreeWave Technologies, Inc.
Organizations with geographically dispersed assets, such as those in the water/wastewater utility industries, are continuously developing and implementing new ways to monitor and control all aspects of their business. With company personnel and automated machinery constantly in motion, businesses have had to create smarter communication networks out of necessity. A key indicator of enterprise organizations expanding their networking infrastructures ties directly to recent industry reports showing that the number of embedded wireless sensors installed across the world will reach billions and maybe even trillions over the next decade. This means these organizations must also leverage communication technologies to connect everything together – from the corporate office to the field site to the individual sensor – and everything in between. With a greater focus on operational efficiency to both reduce overhead and increase productivity, organizations are continuously tasked with objectives to improve the bottom line.
While Machine-to-Machine (M2M) is a relatively new industry term, these applications and technologies have actually been around for decades. In fact, there are some companies that have provided M2M technology solutions for over 20 years – long before the term M2M was ever coined. As wireless technology has grown in popularity, the M2M industry has also evolved. In its early days of implementation, a wireless M2M network was likely limited to a singular location – such as a water treatment facility where devices or machinery needed to communicate in just one location. But over time, organizations began to realize the value of the data that the communications technology provided and their needs began to shift. Speeds and throughputs began to increase, networking requirements evolved and the M2M networks became much more versatile. Furthermore, with the rise of “smart” machines, equipment and devices, coupled with the proliferation of the internet, new innovations have come about that are changing the paradigm of M2M. For example, the integration of tools such as sensors, process control devices, controllers, smart meters, IP video cameras, and more have increased the need for well-established, reliable communications networks that can provide dependable connectivity over long distances and in harsh conditions.
Business Challenges Driving the Need for M2M Communications
Modernized communications technologies of today enable much larger quantities of information to be rapidly and readily available. This high-volume type of accessibility is now an essential need for many industries that rely on M2M networking for a wide range of application solutions. Furthermore, as technologies specific to the M2M markets continue to grow in popularity and functionality, so do the industrial applications that the technology serves. Therefore, it’s not just the ability to have remote control from a central location or having access to information gathered by these widely dispersed tools at your fingertips; it’s how a decision-makers leverage real-time data to make quick and straightforward choices to improve their operations. Think of this concept as wireless connectivity enabling operational proficiencies for the real-time enterprise. Below are some of the top trends and business challenges that are driving innovation in wireless M2M networking:
- Organizations require more information and they need it faster. The increase in demand for data causes networking and communications technology providers to deliver high speed, high bandwidth solutions to create large data pipes to meet the growing operational demands of today (e.g. greater visibility into production, safety, security, manageability, etc.).
- The decision-makers and planners within enterprise organizations are changing. Today, IT administrators have adopted the responsibilities for all networking and communications programs. Therefore, organizations are integrating/connecting their core IT network infrastructure with all of their geographically dispersed assets for greater manageability, network visibility and control. Industries such as utilities, oil and gas, government and defense, education, municipalities, and public safety want high-speed connectivity, but they need to maintain top security standards and protocols.
- Organizations are investing in solutions to not only build or expand core communication network infrastructures, as well as remote networks, but to protect their existing network infrastructure investments. Many industries have leveraged serial communications in the past, but with a greater transition into Ethernet communications, there is pressure to find a balance between legacy networking equipment and next-generation networking equipment.
- Unlike the past, organizations aren’t limiting there communication technology options to just one vendor, one technology or one service provider anymore. In order to leverage the most cost-effective solutions for specific network deployments, organizations will leverage multiple technologies for a hybrid networking approach – to utilize the most cost effective data transport medium possible. In order to leverage the most cost-effective solutions for specific network deployments, there may be substantial benefits in leveraging multiple technologies for a hybrid networking approach and organizations are taking notice.
These communications trends are seen without barriers across many industries and situations – from utilities, oil and gas, government and defense to education, municipalities, and public safety. This is because the consumption of data via wireless technology is driving the need for high-speed connectivity, without sacrificing reliable service, security standards and protocols or cost effectiveness. Wireless broadband communication platforms, designed with the security and versatility requirements of the modern M2M network in mind, have made all of these capabilities possible.
Broadband Speeds Without the Wires
Mobile broadband, remote broadband, security over wireless, and the mix of M2M and human machine interference (HMI) have all played significant roles in the evolution of wireless broadband networking solutions into their current state. The ability to securely extend high-speed wireless networks into remote locations while maintaining mobility and end user device choices is an attractive offering. The increasing bandwidth in broadband communication technologies is driven by the demand for video and other bandwidth intensive applications to remote devices in remote locations. Certain industrial applications tend to be either very remote, very mobile, or both. For example, in the water/wastewater industries there are increasing demands for new application solutions such as IP video in the treatment plants and corporate Wi-Fi access for service personnel.
The idea of being able to connect all organizational networking needs into a single wireless broadband solution may sound ideal to some, but wireless is not without its critics who have placed more trust in wired solutions over the years. It’s important to note that wireless has come a long way. Today, many industries accept it as readily as traditional wired/cable communication solutions. Understanding the overall value proposition of wireless M2M communications technologies bring is important for decision-makers to adopt and integrate these solutions into their network infrastructures. Some of the top benefits include:
- Ability to leverage assets (both machines and people) in the most valuable way
- Mitigating or responding to issues via enhanced monitoring capabilities
- Achieving greater operational efficiency and therefore increased productivity
- Increasing data consumption and therefore the ability to analyze more of the key operational factors that drive success
- Diminishing the impact on the environment via monitoring/control across large geographic regions
- Aiding the development of increased safety and security measures
- Greater adherence to regulatory and compliance factors
- Improving product quality and therefore innovation within an organization
Furthermore, organizations can deploy several essential network elements, such as wired network access, cellular network backhaul, local area communications, high speed backbone communications, Wi-Fi Hotspot access, and mobile mesh networking to achieve desired results from production networks and teams. This not only provides the ability to enable data-intensive applications over long distances, but allows organizations to empower field personnel and their smart devices through wireless access to back office systems, streamline the integration of new equipment into existing infrastructures and drastically simplify overall networking integration and deployments. Wireless broadband networks can now be deployed for one or a combination of the following network topologies:
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Networking Type |
Potential Features, Benefits and Applications with Wireless Broadband Solutions |
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Cellular backhaul |
For network redundancy and/or enabling drop-in networks wherever cellular is available. Key Benefits:
Application Example: In the event of a disaster when wired solutions are down, a wireless broadband solution can use its drop-in network capabilities to serve as temporary communications until the damaged systems are up and running again. |
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Point-to-Point Networking |
For transmitting high volumes of data becoming the backbone infrastructure. Key Benefits:
Application: A water district / municipality with three separate buildings and the need for 50 Mbps of data. This would typically require a DS3 connection per building – which is an expensive investment and requires on-going monthly fees for each circuit. Wireless broadband solutions can provide the same high throughput in data with only the initial cost of the broadband device and deployment and the on-going fees of a single circuit cutting operational costs by more than 50 percent.
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Point-to-Multipoint
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Networking for providing fixed point mesh capabilities and allowing multiple systems across multiple client points and sites to be connected back to a central location. Key Benefits:
Application: A rural community that has been dominated by one communications provider for years, but now has competing carriers. New broadband solutions can offer public domain Wi-Fi for small to mid-size businesses by setting up a communications base and several key data points consisting of broadband communication devices and Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the community. |
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Wi-Fi |
Networking to easily connect people, sensors, and other systems in the field to the back office. Key Features:
Application: A field technician at a remote water/wastewater site needs to connect to the corporate network. Broadband wireless can securely enable this through the technician’s smart phone, tablet or laptop/PC. |
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Mobile mesh |
Networking to provide high speed communications links for multiple access point network and self-configuring ad-hoc networking capability. Key Features:
Application: In agriculture, mobile grain carts can operate and associate with each other, knowing they are securely on the same network with the support of RADIUS authentication technology. |
Ideally, organizations should have the choice to select a network topology or combination of networks that best suit their applications with a mix of high speed Ethernet and Serial data ports for easily interconnecting with existing system technologies. The latest wireless broadband networking solutions can meet these requirements, integrate with existing technologies, preserve existing network infrastructure investments, and replace obsolete communications technologies without a hitch.
Final Considerations
Today, it’s important to understand that M2M applications require purpose built wireless networking solutions to address specific business needs and the one size fits all mentality has been washed away. By understanding business needs and challenges from the get go, decision-makers can use the best communication technology, frequency, network topology, etc. for a particular application solution. Furthermore, organizations will be able to overcome challenges with a networking element and leverage the best option for each deployment, thus creating cost savings and ease of use and deployment. As greater connectivity also means networking across entire organizations and businesses (not just disparate networks and technologies), installation of networking technology must comply with today’s IT-centric security policies to easily extend the corporate IT network functionality across a widespread area.
An organization that wants to enable data intensive applications (such as video) over distance, reduce operating expenses, have advanced security or achieve all three of these will benefit from a wireless broadband communications platform. It is critical for any decision maker to properly research all of the options on the market, choose reputable vendors who support path studies and network design, and select a technology that can support specific communications needs – and with future considerations in mind. It’s time to find solace in the fact that the right wireless M2M network can handle all of today’s communication demands, no matter how varied or different the applications or industrial demands may be for the organization.