Steven Tompkins gives an insight into market development of the product range from Inmarsat Enterprise a specialist in supplying remote connectivity for farmers
The connectivity of vehicles in remote operations is becoming ever more necessary to achieve operational efficiencies and transition to greater autonomy.
This is particularly true for high-value machines operating in industries like agriculture, mining and construction where there is a compelling value proposition for telemetry to enhance predictive maintenance and proactive service regimes – avoiding lengthy periods of downtime and ensuring cost savings.
Public cellular networks are the work horses that operators rely upon to send data to the cloud. Yet, as telematics-based applications grow more advanced, this reliance is becoming problematic and outdated.
For example, in agriculture, process automation software is increasingly being used by farmers to monitor machinery downtime during business-critical operations such as harvesting and planting.
However, these processes rely on real-time data transfer at regular intervals – and for many rural fields, terrestrial cellular networks are either unreliable or non-existent.
To create an optimal experience for the end user, the ability for data to be transferred in real-time is crucial. In the absence of terrestrial coverage, satellite is the only way to get data from the edge to the cloud.
Will public terrestrial coverage be sufficient
Despite the rhetoric around increasing terrestrial coverage and the transformations expected by 5G, there will always be areas where terrestrial networks cannot reach. Put simply, the economics don’t cut it.
Deploying terrestrial networks requires large up-front investment in infrastructure which is not feasible to offset without enough subscribers to use the service over the long term.
Private terrestrial networks such as infrastructure heavy private radios are viable if equipment is being used in a defined geographic area, where there is significant density of machines and other devices that need to connect to the cloud in real-time – for example mine sites.
Yet, while this option may provide dependable high bandwidth (internet speed), the initial capex invested in the infrastructure, plus ongoing maintenance costs can be prohibitively expensive – not to mention the ongoing costs of providing power to such systems.
As a result, when considering this option, it is crucial to model the total cost of ownership of such systems over a defined period to see whether they are cost effective.
In many rural areas, the low population density means it is unrealistic to rely on terrestrial networks alone.
Historically, industry has been able to live with these coverage gaps – but as vehicle technology and systems advance, this is becoming less tenable in the eyes of customers who expect it will work anywhere.
These expectations are compounded by a rise of autonomy and robotics, with more of these technologies being deployed year-on-year.
In many use cases such as in transport and agriculture, we are now witnessing many original equipment manufacturers (OEM), Tier 1 suppliers and retrofit technology providers seeing an integrated satellite solution as a source of competitive advantage which provides a cost-efficient solution with no data gaps.
Satellite connectivity communication solution
Satellites have a long history of connecting machinery all over the globe in a broad range of industries – from fleet management solutions in energy; driverless trains in transport; to the facilitation of the latest precision farming systems in agriculture.
Satellite communications have moved on significantly in the last few years, both in terms of terminal technology (the device that connects the machine to the satellite) and in network capability and cost.
Where once satellite was the preserve of those with the skill and ability to deal with its technical complexity at integration and deployment, this is no longer the case.
Many terminals available today provide a simple IP connection and have omnidirectional antennas, which mean they can be installed quickly without specialist training.
They also typically have a long lifespan – it’s not uncommon for hardware to operate uninterrupted and with very little annual maintenance for over 15 years.
Advances in terminal and network technologies have also meant reductions in the cost of hardware and ongoing data, enhancing scalability.
So, when compared to other connectivity technologies such as private radio networks, satellite is often the most easily integrated, cost-effective way to enable telematics to get to the cloud from remote locations which don’t have existing public terrestrial coverage.
Many solutions also offer satellite as part of a hybrid network with terrestrial cellular, so it is only used as a failover or back-up, when required.
This makes the use of satellite even more cost-effective and adds the ability to decide which types of data to send over which communications bearer.
Factors to consider
When investing in satellite connectivity as a backbone to your operations, there are a few key factors to consider:
- Mobility: It is essential to make sure the satellite network you choose ensures full mobility on its terminal offerings. For example, Inmarsat’s ELERA network is truly mobile and has a long track record of being used on many vehicles, from loaders to locomotives.
- Global coverage: In many countries, satellite operations have complex regulatory frameworks. It is crucial to select a global operator, such as Inmarsat, whose network can support global device deployments. It is also essential these operators have well-established distribution partners that ensure the service offering has complete market access in countries you operate within.
Many newer entrants to the market ensure their network can be used in-country but put responsibility on the customer to ensure they are licenced to use it. If you are operating in multiple regions, you could quickly find yourself bogged down in endless discussions with individual regulators and paying licence fees, rather than concentrating on what you do best.
- Reliability: Vehicles in remote locations can be exposed to tough environmental conditions and choosing the correct network frequency to combat this is essential. Some frequency bands such as Ku or Ka are subject to deterioration in poor weather and offer less reliability than a frequency such as L-band which provides 99.9% uptime in all weather.
Solutions such as Inmarsat’s ELERA network offers global L-band satellite network coverage, which is highly reliable (99.5% uptime) and mobile.
The ELERA terminal offering also ranges from messaging devices capable of sending small amounts of telematics data very cost-effectively, through to IP based solutions which can handle greater data transfer needs at dependably low latency to support precision applications and autonomy.
- Terminal form factor: Vehicles in enterprise operations are often exposed to challenging conditions and proven terminal performance over an extended period (at least 5 years) will guarantee cost-effectiveness of the service.
As such, it is important to consider where the terminals are being used and for how long. Inmarsat’s ELERA terminals, for example, are small form factor and have a track record of being deployed in the harshest natural environments for decades at a time.
Article by Inmarsat Enterprise’s agriculture specialist Steven Tompkins
