Wi-Fi, LoRa, Bluetooth, Zigbee... wireless connection frequency spectrums are crowded because of the rising number of connected devices around us. In addition to choosing one protocol, MiraOS, a mesh wireless network technology, could be another solution in smart buildings.
Wi-Fi,
LoRa, Bluetooth,
Zigbee... wireless connection frequency spectrums are crowded because of the rising number of connected devices around us. In addition to choosing one protocol, MiraOS, a mesh wireless network technology, could be another solution in
smart buildings.
There are many connection protocols existing in the field of smart buildings, such as Wi-Fi, LoRa, Zigbee and Bluetooth. Each protocol has its best use Wireless connections and powerefficiency, for the purpose of smart buildings, should be the most important features equal to selecting connection protocols. Bluetooth 5 and LoRa seem to currently be pretty promising in the field, due to their abilities to provide low power consumption and wide coverage connection for IoT and M2M are thriving in the world, and many businesses are investing billions of sensors and actuators being wirelessly connected.
According to a report by Gartner, it is estimated that around 20 billion devices will be connected by 2020. Another report by Ericsson predicts that 15.5 billion devices will be connected via short-range technology by 2020, accounting for 53% of all connected devices. Furthermore, wireless
Peter Lindkvist,
Sales Director, Lumen Radio
protocols like Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread and Bluetooth all use the same frequency channel. The traffic jam might someday cause communication breakdown and service quality downgrading.
“Many of the standard protocols available, such as BLE or Zigbee, do not have the capability to scale to thousands of nodes in one single network. They can neither cope with the amount of interference present in commercial buildings, nor are they energy-efficient enough to allow running the whole sensor solution on battery,” said Peter Lindkvist, Sales Director, Lumen Radio. These protocols don’t allow multiprotocol support. It means decisionmaking is difficult for smart building builders at the investment stage.
Guiding networks to a suitable frequency
“MiraOS from LumenRadio is a best-of-breed wireless mesh for HVAC and
Building Automation,” said Lindkvist. Mira operating system (MiraOS) is a future-proof wireless mesh network technology created and patented by LumenRadio. It enables mesh coexistence, ultra-lower power, over the air Firmware updates, easy commissioning and large-scale networks.
The operating system is mainly powered by the company’s patented Cognitive Coexistence technology, an algorithm which enables real-time, adaptive frequency shopping. “Within this algorithm, we build a predictive model of the frequency spectrum, where every single device weigh in the decision on the optimal channel to use in each individual (10ms) time slot,” said Lindkvist. Just like the weather forecast, the Cognitive Coexistence technology predicts how the frequency spectrum will be in the millisecond utilized and switch the connection to the best available and least congested frequencies.
Mesh frequency bands on applications
Produal Proxima wireless solution, developed by building automation measurement and control company Produal, is created based on MiraOS from Lumen Radio and u-box NINA module. The solution, which includes several hardware devices, is able to route data from up to 100 wireless transmitters to automated buildings. Swegon, a supplier of energy efficient and demand controlled ventilation (DCV) and indoor climate systems, is working with LumenRadio on a wireless climate control system– the WISE system. It is said to allow thousands of sensors, actuators and dampers to communicate and create an unprecedented indoor climate solution, helping buildings reduce energy consumption and operation costs, and increase the health of people in the building.
Unlicensed frequency bands, as more devices become connected, is today a scarce natural source. Frequency bands are just getting more crowded and congested day by day. Commercial buildings, are turning into an electromagnetic mayhem, where different products and systems secure for airtime against
smartphones and tenant Wi-Fi networks. “In order to remain reliable and enable industrial – and business-critical use cases, such as HVAC systems, OEMs must select agile technologies including strategies for interference mitigation,” said Lindkvist.