Wireless IoT Lessons learned from Industrial Implementations Nick Baker Adaptive Wireless Solutions Ltd TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Adaptive Wireless Solutions Ltd 12+ years’ experience delivering wireless monitoring and control solutions VAR and Distributor in UK and Europe for a couple of US mesh radio manufacturers Certified System Partner for HMS Industrial Networks (Netbiter/Anybus) in UK Projects in a wide range of sectors Customers in UK, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Israel, Saudi Arabia Have gained a lot of experience and learned a lot of lessons on the way! BOMBARDIER Over 12 years’ experience in delivering monitoring and control solutions using wireless mesh sensor networks and other wireless technologies Projects in BMS extension energy management industrial plants IT environments commercial offices universities and colleges hotels and apartment complexes Warehousing recycling plants food companies national utilities TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Application example – Westfield Shopping Mall BMS integration for temperature control 55,000 m2 on two floors with Atrium 49 Air handling units on roof 1 Wireless network 18 Mesh repeaters 30 Sensing nodes Ambient Temperature input to HVAC zone controls via Modbus TCP Radio Coexistence with Wi-Fi in every store Installed in 2 days 3

Application example – Large Data Centre TRH Monitoring Solution 4 Floors Phase 1 6 Wireless Sub-networks 22 Mesh repeaters 178 Sensing nodes Phase 2 100 additional TRH sensors on two floors 4 more wireless sub-networks Locally connected via Modbus TCP to monitoring system with HMI on DC ‘video wall’ Floor 3 Floor 2 Control Room Viewers Primary Server Main Mission Critical Data Centre Console Floor 1 Other Viewers Basement Common Ethernet Network Remote Business Continuity Centre Secondary Server Remote Disaster Recovery Centre Secondary Console 4

Application example – University Site Utility submetering Gas, water and electricity monitoring on 6 floors 1 Wireless network Stage 1 main incomers – 5 meters Stage 2 – primary submeters. 44 electricity, 13 gas, 8 water Supply management software £15,000 wireless equipment, software and commissioning cost £15,000 electricity meters

Other application example projects Refrigerator, freezer temperature monitoring. 40 Supermarkets nationally. Centralised monitoring. Electricity consumption monitoring. 7 storey building, 56 meters. Wireless installed and commissioned in 2 days. Electricity feeder pillar and generator status monitor and control. 100 acre government laboratory site. UPS on wireless devices Ambient temperature and Humidity monitoring. 5 warehouses in 56,000 m2 warehouse complex. SLA compliance Pharma laboratory Refrigerator, freezer and warehouse monitoring. FDA CFR21 part 11 validated environment. Compressors and compressed air system Wireless condition monitoring on large electricity substation sites. GPRS data transfer to central asset management system. TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Project-related characteristics Every project has different wireless challenges Complex built environments - site survey required for 2.4 GHz and even for cellular Most projects had an intermediary SI involved. All networks have been private, closed. Most wireless sensor systems need open, standards-based, back-end data interface Standard commercial sensor interfaces are important Data frequency is quite low in most applications Much less than 802.15.4 2.4GHz bandwidth provides E.g. Modbus TCP and RS485, BACnet, OPC E.g. PT100, 0-10V, 0-20mA, Thermistor, RS485 TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Key Lessons Learned No one wireless vendor supplies a range of products that covers all application types It took us a while to find ‘good’ suppliers of reliable kit. Unreliability destroys commercial economics Manufacturers can and do go bust There is a substantial wireless equipment implementation learning curve. Hardware cost is a barrier to wide use No obvious single vertical market pull No obvious single application pull It took us a while to find ‘good’ suppliers of reliable kit. Protocol must perform in real-world radio environment (interference avoidance) Device reliability is essential Wireless data transfer reliability is essential There is a substantial wireless equipment implementation learning curve. Integrators/Distributors must know the capabilities and limitations of what they are selling Practical experience is vital (i.e. not just a list of theoretical dos and don’ts) Wireless equipment could not be bought and implemented by the end-user or SI without our help, at least initially. Our customers have not shown any inclination to go through the learning curve themselves No obvious single vertical market pull, and no obvious single application pull Tough to justify development of a vertical market application ‘solution’ TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

ON World research survey ‘Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks’ January 2017 “The survey found steady growth for the wireless mesh standards but there is also a strong awareness and early adoption of LPWAN solutions.  Satisfaction with WSN solutions has increased overall but improvements are needed for battery life, costs, system integration and network range.” TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

What would I look for now? Reliability Lower-cost equipment Topology that requires less infrastructure devices Implies longer range and probably not 2.4GHz Automatic gateway failover Standards-based gateway data connection A wide range of integrated sensors and standard sensor interfaces at the node Some limited node-level data processing capability that can be user-defined Interoperability between different manufacturers’ devices To convert from data to engineering units, apply alert levels TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Conclusions Reliability is key Low-cost is key Interoperability is key Wireless definitely has a major role in IoT Educating the market is a big challenge End user organisations need help to implement Non-cellular wireless ‘killer applications’ hard to see at the moment Any ‘bet’ on a particular wireless platform carries a commercial risk for all involved over the medium term We’re looking into LoRa but need to know more about its real-world capability TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17

Thanks for your attention! Questions? Adaptive Wireless Solutions Ltd 42 High Street Great Missenden HP16 0AU Tel:+44 (0) 1494 865992 www.adaptive-wireless.co.uk Nick Baker Director Mobile: 07968 352875 nbaker@adaptive-wireless.co.uk Skype: adaptivewireless TV IoT Meetup 25/01/17