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satellite can be reduced. The other incentive is power consumption: sending a lot of data tends to mean larger antennae which can’t operate without utility power. And as we’re talking exclusively about IoT here, we’re assuming the 10 percent of sites you’re unable to connect with cellular are also fairly unlikely to have utility power, as well. In these scenarios, the most practical solution is edge computing. There are lots of ways in which you can utilize some intelligence at the edge to restrict how much data is sent over satellite. You can reduce the frequency of your transmissions, batching them to make better use of an IP connection; you can report by exception, and you can define and tag your data priority. Doing this will allow certain types of data to pass through more frequently than other, less critical, types of data. Interoperability You may have had to navigate situations where there have been multiple communication protocols to contend with – such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Zigbee – particularly in legacy infrastructure. If so, you’ll already appreciate the benefit of planning ahead and considering the future development of your customer’s network. If it’s at all possible, satellite IoT will factor in, knowing the application protocols in most common use will help. There are basically three options for IoT communication over satellite: 1. Use an IP service such as Iridium Certus 100 or Inmarsat BGAN M2M. This plug-and-play option is the easiest means of sending data over satellite but not the most efficient or cost-effective way. However, there’s plenty you can do to optimize data to make it work better for you if you’re not in a position to change an application. 2. Use a distributed MQTT broker solution. If using MQTT, Ground Control’s IoT Gateway effectively places an MQTT broker at either side of a satellite transmission, re-formatting the data and managing the connection, message queuing, retries etc. automatically. Ground Control uses Iridium Messaging Transport to move data, which is message-based. Messaging is the most cost-effective way to transmit data over satellite, and this is an easy way to leverage those efficiencies. 3. Re-engineer your solution to use messaging. This low-level integration will allow you to use one of the proprietary messaging services offered by SNOs such as Iridium Short Burst Data, or Inmarsat’s IsatData Pro, both extremely cost-effective means of sending data via satellite. However, it does usually require development work to make data compatible with a messaging service. Coverage Lack of cellular coverage is most likely what brought you to satellite in the first place but not all satellite network constellations are created equal. Firstly, you need to ensure that the satellite network, or networks, you’re considering have orbiting satellites that can “see” your devices’ locations. Only one satellite IoT network – Iridium – is truly global, although others, including Inmarsat/Viasat, come close. Then you need to consider satellite density and architecture. Newer satellite networks may have just one or two satellites in orbit, which means you’ll get your data very slowly. On the plus side, they charge relatively little for airtime. Like many things, you get what you pay for: pay little, and you’ll get data once or twice a day with no delivery guarantees. Pay more, and you’ll get virtually realtime data from a network heavyweight trusted by the military and critical national infrastructure. Further, you need to look at the precise location of the asset/application you’re extracting data from. If it’s surrounded by trees, mountains, buildings etc., then there’s a good chance it will have difficulty “seeing” the satellite. There are workarounds in these scenarios, and your satellite IoT partner will help you here. Power Consumption If a device is so far removed from civilization that there’s no cellular coverage, there’s a reasonable chance there’s a limited power supply, too. Larger VSAT dishes such as the types required to provide Starlink and OneWeb broadband internet services need utility or generator power to operate, but satellite IoT-specific terminals can be, and often are, battery powered. You can preserve battery power in a number of ways we’ve already touched on, such as sending data less frequently and simply sending less data. In addition, battery power can be preserved using a message-based connection instead of an IP-based connection or by making sure your antenna has a clear view of the satellite network, so no power is wasted in failed connection efforts. These aren’t all exclusively satelliteIoT considerations either; if your device application disregards the characteristics for which LPWA networks were designed, you’ll drain batteries faster, congest networks unnecessarily and degrade the service quality. If you assume data constraints from the outset, it’ll benefit your application across all communication technologies. Satellite IoT delivers reliable connectivity in remote and hard to reach locations but comes with operational challenges due to increased power consumption and non-terrestrial connectivity expenses. If you consider data constraints from the earliest part of your planning, you will find these challenges far easier to overcome should they occur in your future network development. Even the cellular spectrum has limits, and scarcity drives innovation. o Alastair Macleod is CEO of connectivity provider Ground Control. 53 JULY - AUGUST 2024 | CHANNELVISION

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