https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Low-cost connection platform to enable mining, agriculture IoT sensing

27th July 2018

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

Swiss low-power, mass-Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity company Thingstream promises to provide 10 000 message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) messages per device each month for $1/m using its cell-based connectivity systems, which are suitable for use in mining and agriculture, says Thingstream Business Development VP Neil Hamilton.

This connectivity-as-a-service proposition includes open-standards IoT device speci­fications for companies to build their own IoT devices.
The company also provides starter kits that include subscriber identity module cards and basic circuit boards to build their own IoT devices.

Significant Impact
The low-cost and low-power IoT con­nec­tivity will have a significant impact on industrial IoT and the development of more serviceable deployments of the technology.

Battery power has always been a challenge for industrial IoT use cases, as it is not viable to frequently replace the batteries of thousands of devices being deployed across an operation, he adds. “Low-power connectivity means that thousands of connected devices can be distributed in the field for industries including agriculture, mining, construction and many others for years, before batteries have to be replaced.

Low-cost solutions also mean that collecting valuable data from field opera­tions becomes more economical and return on investment and business cases for the technology more justifiable.”

Many current IoT devices can cost between $100 and $300 and are usually applied only to key equipment or in critical applications. Thingstream-enabled, battery-powered IoT devices can cost as little as $50.

The Thingstream connectivity relies on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) cellular services, available within 2G, 3G and emulated in 4G networks.

Thingstream delivers a global IoT-connectivity platform, which connects through GSM networks using a combination of MQTT and USSD messaging protocols.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Article Enquiry

Email Article

Save Article

Feedback

To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Showroom

Rio-Carb
Rio-Carb

Rio Carb is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) of R-C700 Chromium Carbide (CrC) alloy clad wear plates and pipes used for heavy materials...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Industrial Nozzles & Systems (Pty) Ltd
Industrial Nozzles & Systems (Pty) Ltd

Industrial Nozzles & Systems (Pty) Ltd (Est. 2000) exclusive representative in Southern Africa for LECHLER GmbH (Est. 1879) - Europe's leading...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







301

sq:0.054 1.153s - 124pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now