Innovation

AquaWAN is a complete and innovative IOT solution, fully automated, that can read and communicate the value of the water meter index.

ETA2U adopted LoRaWAN technology as the communication standard for IoT networks. LoRa (Long Range) technology is a long-range, low-power radio communications technology. Unlike conventional digital radio transmission technology, this technology has the ability to communicate data over several kilometers or even tens of kilometers, with wide applicability in wireless Internet of Things (IoT) networks. LoRa uses ISM sub-Ghz - 868Mhz radio frequency bands - to transmit data at high distances with very little power consumption.

Devices can connect to any base station without additional requests. Base Stations connect devices through a backhaul to a network server, the LaRaWAN central unit that suppresses duplicate reception, adapts radio access links, and transmits data to appropriate application servers. Application servers then process the received data and execute user-defined tasks. The LoRaWAN standard uses symmetric cryptography to authenticate devices on the network and keep application data confidential. Very briefly, this technology can be described as a radio frequency communication technology that has reached the level of maturity required in the industry and has the highest adoption rate in specific IoT implementations

What are the important factors that recommend this technology?

Implementation of AquaWAN brings direct benefits to water company subscribers as well as immediate and measurable benefits within companies:

Makes possible remote reading of water consumption from water meters and allows the interruption or restoration of water supply with a single click, without the need for human intervention of the operator in the location by installing remote control valves using the same transmission protocol
Allows dynamic modeling of the frequency of readings, depending on various parameters set by the operator, based on operational needs
It is based on an open platform that allows reading of other data from all water company infrastructures, regardless of its degree of automation and location, solving the problem of lack of Internet connection or the need for power supply
Can collect both quantitative pressure, flow, loss detection, reverse flow, and water quality: chlorine, turbidity, etc. by installing specific sensors that can communicate using the same infrastructure
It only requires the installation of counters equipped with EDC communication module LoRa, counters that can be mounted by the water company's personnel without the need of an automation or IT specialist
Provides a connected infrastructure that can gather data to increase production yield based on daily consumption information, correlated with environmental and seasonality conditions
Assists in estimating consumables for production (depending on turbidity and historical consumption data), or can estimate critical situations
It allows the development of new services for consumers, or the application of differentiated tariffs.

ETA2U proposes a viable solution for telemetry of water meters, namely metering and direct control, through smart meters using LoRaWAN technology.

The reference architecture of the proposed system is:

The key element in this system is the water meters, which are from the manufacturer Zenner, with the following features:

Dry Cylinders meters, Class C (R160) IP68, DN 15-300;
The manufacturer develops LoRa technology across the range of counters in the portfolio;
Minimum estimated battery life 10 years;
Operation in unlicensed band 868MHz;
Provides Bi-Directional communication with very good penetration inside buildings;
Anti-fraud and corrosion-resistant architecture;
LoRa module and counter are interchangeable and can be replaced separately if needed.
Configured for 24 hour transmission windows and recurrence with signal power set to SF12, 1.2s

The application developed by ETA2U for displaying and analyzing the collected data responds to the demands of the telecoms of the water companies. AquaWAN allows easy and easy access via any web browser, both on your PC and your mobile phone.

The rapid global view of meters allows visual identification of common problems, both communication and water network problems - atypical consumption indicator or network losses. The selection of a counter shows all its identification data, index, location, consumer, billing details, etc..

Also, within the AquaWAN platform, users can view tabular information of recorded meters. These data can be sorted and filtered. For each meter, you can then view a consumption history and configure the alert consumption thresholds and the consumer identification data.

Filtered information can be exported in common formats, CSV or Excel, to be imported and used in your own billing applications.

AquaWAN also allows you to manually enter the index value for bus counters as a virtual counter. Based on these values, the platform can trigger an alert on Identifying Losses or High Consumption Differences.

AquaWAN – key functions

SaaS Licensing Solution or One-Time License
Stable, stable, secure, and integrable platform
Automatic and centralized meter reading
Real-time control and automation of shutdown / re-commissioning of water supply
SOA architecture with advanced configuration options
API-level integration
Full system monitoring and alerting, with malfunction management system and automated controls
Data Analytics Interfaces and Performance Reporting with centralized Dashboards with advanced synthesis and filtering capabilities, accessible from any mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop
Compatible with various Hardware or Software solutions for automatic data integration

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One of the Projects successfully completed by Innovation Department is referring to the Internal Environment Parameter monitoring in a production Plant. For this specific project LoRa communication technology and LoRaWAN™ communication protocol are the best fit. The proposed network can support a significant number of sensors (thousands) distributed in various locations inside the Plant.

The first step of this Project was an application program able to collect the following pieces of information:

Server racks’ temperature levels for all the Servers existing on the shop floor;
Temperature and humidity levels in “raw materials (RM)” and “finished goods (FG)” areas.

The Software Solution has the following components:

A purpose-built Data Base based on the data from all temperature and humidity sensors;
An analytic platform which allows to query and visualize the data collected from the sensors. It creates a meaningful Dashboard to various users so they can understand the current status of the requested data. The dashboard was configured based on Customer’s specifications. In addition it can be scaled up if further sensors are added and it’s independent of the hardware system.
An Email Alert System triggered by specified thresholds.

The proposed network architecture allows multiple types of sensors and software applications to be integrated all together in “one stop shop”.

ETA2U implemented solution using LoRaWAN™ communication protocol has fully satisfied Customer’s requirements and created room for further developments in manufacturing parameters monitoring at Customer premises.

The LoRaWAN is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated ‘things’ to the internet in regional, national or global networks, and targets key Internet of Things (IoT) requirements such as bi-directional communication, end-to-end security, mobility and localization services.

LoRaWAN network architecture is deployed in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay messages between end-devices and a central network server. The gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa. The wireless communication takes advantage of the Long Range characteristics of the LoRaÒ physical layer, allowing a single-hop link between the end-device and one or many gateways. All modes are capable of bi-directional communication, and there is support for multicast addressing groups to make efficient use of spectrum during tasks such as Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) upgrades or other mass distribution messages.

System architecture:
1. LoRa Nodes / End Points: LoRa end points are the sensors or application where sensing and control takes place. These nodes are often placed remotely.
2. LoRa Gateways: LoRaWAN nodes are associated with a specific gateway. Instead, any data transmitted by the node is sent to all gateways and each gateway which receives a signal transmits it to a cloud based network server. Typically the gateways and network servers are connected via some backhaul (cellular, Wi-Fi, ethernet or satellite).
3. Network Servers: The networks server has all the intelligence. It filters the duplicate packets from different gateways, does security check, send ACKs to the gateways. In the end if a packet is intended for an application server, the network server sends the packet to the specific application server. Using this type of network where all gateways can send the same packet to the network server, the need of hand-off or handover is removed
4. Application Server: Application Server or Customer Application Server provides a web-interface for the management and configuration of network-servers, users, gateways and devices.

It is designed to allow low-powered devices to communicate with Internet-connected applications over long range wireless connections. Other features: bidirectional communications, flexibility in IoT application development, easy to be scaled up.

Project’ Benefits:
The solution implemented is part of the IoT/IIoT technologies which changed the way of collecting, transmitting and processing data in a very innovative way;

No wiring required for wide- spread data collection;
Opportunities for Nodes/End points scale up with no significant costs and complexity;
Nodes/ End Points are self-sufficient from the standpoint of power supply, which is really useful in heterogeneous applications;
Customized solutions from the standpoint of analysis, reports and alert requirements, aligned with Customer preferences.

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When it comes to technologizing in agriculture, an association is made automatically with complex watering systems, intelligent machineries or advanced monitoring systems. However, when a company operating in the farming field is confronted, in the first phase, with the same IT problems confronting any other company, we must take into account the efficient management of internal resources and assets. The sustainable growth of every company is based on a concrete image of the current state offered by an ERP software solution.