| Using Spread Spectrum Radio in Water & Wastewater Applications |
|
| Written by Dan Paladino, FreeWave Technologies | |
|
Page 2 of 2
Uses for Spread SpectrumDue to the global use of radio communication, various shortages (by geography) of available licenses for license radio systems, and the declining cost of technology (landlines, cell phone, satellite, etc.), the utilization of spread spectrum radio in water and wastewater applications is expanding at a rate never seen before. Radio communication is now being used for communication and control in water treatment, lift stations, metering, flow control, SCADA and other applications. The reliability and flexibility of spread spectrum allow for multiple networks consisting of potentially hundreds of radios, each located in the same geographic area, with little or no impact on the performance of any of the networks. Irrigation districts are monitoring and controlling automated gates, resulting in significant resource conservation. Wastewater facilities are monitoring chemicals and controlling processes which allow for more precise treatment methods and improved utilization of employees. The ability to gather, change and distribute current treatment conditions to other locations - in a matter of seconds - allows for better decisions in more real life situations. Municipalities are measuring lake and flow levels and metering users in residential, commercial and agricultural segments of their service area. Where metal pipe is the primary vehicle for water transfer, radio is used to advance cathodic protection efforts to monitor the integrity of the pipelines to ensure that no cracks or breaches are occurring which could cause a catastrophic failure and lead to interruption and/or loss of delivery capability. Spread spectrum radios are also used in various other roles, depending upon the over air-speed of the radio. An example of such varied utilization is the extended visual monitoring of facilities that require a higher level of security but are located in remote areas. High speed spread spectrum radios are deployed in remote locations (pump stations, limited access facilities, etc.) with Internet protocol cameras to remotely monitor sensitive areas. The high speed radios can also be used as a high speed backbone. A backbone is a central wireless communication path where slower devices and/or networks can connect to a higher speed network. This application is similar to the fiber network many of us are familiar with and have installed. The wireless version of this backbone is much less expensive, can be much more flexible and can more quickly accommodate the growth needs of your particular situation. You can even extend your current fiber network with the integration of the higher speed radios available with full Internet protocol functionality and security. SummaryFHSS technology has been used for more than 50 years, in applications ranging from mission critical military complexity to more simple uses, such as monitoring, control and SCADA. The advancement of this technology brings tremendous growth to our ability to develop and employ streamlined processes. The reliability and robust nature of today's FHSS provides a tool that can be used to more effectively manage our systems and objectives and win the battle of conserving our precious natural resource called water!
1 More detailed information on this process can be found in a complete summary of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules for Frequency Hopping radios on the FCC website at http://www.fcc.gov/. Dan Paladino works in business development for FreeWave Technologies, 1880 S. Flatiron Court Suite F, Boulder, CO 80301, 303-249-4558, Fax: 303-786-9948, http://www.freewave.com/. Comments (0)
 Write comment
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
