RF sensors enable IoT network for smart commercial solutions

These solutions will include tens of millions of connected LoRa-based sensors spread across urban and rural areas to more efficiently manage, monitor and control things such as energy usage in buildings; traffic, parking and lighting conditions in smart cities; natural resource consumption in homes and businesses; early warning detection systems for fires; avalanches and floods; tracking devices for vehicles, people and pets; and commercial systems for supply chain management, mobile payments and shelf stock rotation.

Two early adopters of the new LoRa-based network are Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, and the Colas Group, a leader in the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure around the world. Schneider Electric will use the network to detect energy consumption as part of its Issy Grid project, which is the first operational district level smart grid in France, while the Colas Group plans to use LoRa floor sensors to detect available parking spaces in the city.

Bouygues Telecom’s IoT network was announced in March and deployed in June in Grenoble, France, and this expansion, scheduled to deploy by the end of this year with Sagemcom, will cater to about 40% of France’s population. Semtech’s sensors provide unprecedented range and penetration for the network and allow solution providers to access real-time, raw user data using cloud-based data analytics reporting processes for ease of use.

"Bouygues Telecom's rapid network expansion demonstrates the confidence they have in deploying a LoRaWAN-based network for commercial use," said Mohan Maheswaran, CEO, Semtech. "We believe this network will provide a solid platform for the delivery of smart new IoT products and services from commercial service providers and members of the LoRa Alliance."

Semtech, along with Bouygues Telecom and Sagemcom, is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance, a fast-growing ecosystem of partners that aim to standardise LoRaWAN globally and provide an open platform to scale IoT, M2M and smart city applications. The standardised LoRaWAN communication protocol has created an ecosystem of pre-certified solutions, including modules and connected sensors that enable solution providers and telecom operators globally to more easily integrate their technologies.