In today’s connected and digital world, cellular coverage has played a critical role in daily business operation and daily life. People communicate with each other by mobile phones over cellular network 5G/4G LTE, while connected devices exchange data via IoT (Internet of Things) technology, and autonomous vehicles running on the road, etc., all these applications rely on reliable cellular coverage. We can say the cellular coverage not only helps us to improve efficiency and productivity, but also makes our world better and smarter.

However, in some difficult places where the cellular coverage is poor or limited, such as, government buildings, commercial properties, factories that comes with structures with thick walls, or cellular blocking materials, underground parking lot, remote rural areas and agricultural locations, these places will block or inhibit cellular service, and bring challenges to our world.

Thanks to the signal booster, which helps to improve the signal coverage of 5G, 4G, LTE cellular network, and it has been widely used in both rural and urban areas where cellular coverage is limited, to overcome the connectivity challenges.

This article will tell you what is signal booster, how does it work? Where do you need signal booster? How does IoT technology helps to monitor and manage signal booster remotely.

1. What is Signal Booster? 

A signal booster is a type of bi-directional amplifier used to improve cellular coverage. A signal booster system commonly consists of a donor antenna that receives and transmits signal from nearby cell towers, a signal amplifier, and an indoor rebroadcast antenna, which is also called server antenna.

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2. How does Signal Booster Work?

• Donor antenna to receive signal

A donor antenna will be installed or mounted on roof top, vehicle, walls outside to receive signals from cell towers nearby.

• Signal amplifier to boost the signals

The donor antenna outside to receives and transmits to booster to amplify and pass the signal to inside server antenna.

• Server antenna to rebroadcast the signals

The amplified signals will be distributed and rebroadcasted to the areas where cellular devices need it.

3. Where Do You Need Signal Booster?

4. How IoT Helps to Monitor and Manage Signal Booster?

Although the signal booster has helped telcos to expand their cellular coverage, it also brought challenges to them to remotely monitor the status of massive signal boosters, maintain and manage the signal boosters, as the signal boosters have been widely deployed in different locations remotely.

Thanks to the IoT technology, by connecting an industrial 4G IoT router to signal booster, and a management platform at cloud server, signal booster operator is able to check the number, locations, status of signal boosters deployed via web-based platform or mobile APP, and remotely diagnose the issues and upgrade the firmware. It not only improves service efficiency and customer satisfaction, but also reduce maintenance cost.

The post How IoT Helps to Monitor and Manage Signal Booster Remotely? appeared first on Bivocom.

The underwater structures of hydropower stations, reservoirs, dams and other water conservancy projects are under water all year long and operate under complex water flow environment, so it is inevitable that there will be damage such as abrasion and exposed sinew. However, the traditional safety monitoring methods are generally to check the upper water column by divers or to conduct manual inspection by lowering the water level, which is not only high cost and low efficiency, but also has a great negative impact on flood control safety and power production. And it puts the lives of the security operators at risk.

In the face of the urgent need of underwater structure defect monitoring in hydraulic engineering and the dilemma of limited existing inspection means, Bivocom adopts the 5G, IoT and sensor technology to independently develop the 5G gigabit IoT gateway TG463 with stable signal, high transmission rate and strong anti-interference, and applies it in the unmanned ship application. This solution can provide real-time image transmission, sonar image rendering and other functions in highly dangerous environment, highly polluted environment and waters with zero visibility. It not only guarantees the long-term safe operation of reservoir dam, but also improves the informatization and intelligent management level of hydropower dams.

System Solution     

The unmanned ship based on 5G gigabit IoT gateway TG463 can carry underwater detection equipment such as sonar, underwater high-definition camera and lighting as well as navigation and positioning equipment to monitor the real-time operation of underwater structures such as hydropower stations, reservoirs, dams, etc., and can mark structural damage, loss, cracks and aging of underwater structures as well as unstable body, erosion pit, landform, metal equipment corrosion and other problems. At the same time, this solution is based on the 5G wireless communication network with wide connection, large bandwidth, low delay and high speed, which can send back the high-definition image data collected by the unmanned ship in real time and send out different alarm information for different levels of emergency. What‘s more, managers can use multi-sensor data fusion, combined with inspection data, monitoring data, instability mechanism and aging life assessment to carry out remote control and risk diagnosis, timely eliminate hidden dangers of underwater structures, and ensure the normal operation of hydraulic engineering buildings.

Product Recommendation

Bivocom 5G Gigabit IoT Gateway TG463 integrates 5G, cloud computing, big data, IoT, AI technologies, supporting access radar, underwater camera, High precision navigation and positioning, etc. Through remote controlling, connecting with Bivocom unmanned ship monitoring platform, it can monitor low visibility waters and heavy silting areas and reach the monitoring position of underwater structures precisely by 5G wireless communication. In this way, the functions of intelligent controlling, automatic operation and autonomous inspection can be realized, which improve defect identification and location accuracy of underwater structures efficiently, like hydropower station, reservoir, dam, and enhance the efficiency of underwater unmanned operation, so as to satisfy operation and management demands of Unattended and cooperative operation.

Product Functions

1. Precise Detection

It is equipped with sound, light and other detection equipment to obtain data, and uses deep neural network, cloud computing, big data to achieve multimodal data fusion, edge mapping and location calculation of detection targets, which can realize self-automatic and intelligent identification and troubleshooting.

2. 24-Hours Power Supply

The lithium battery power supply can ensure the long-term underwater endurance of the power supply, so as to achieve round-the-clock working mode.

3. No Blind Spot Sensing

In complex water flow environment, 360° underwater high-definition camera detection equipment is supported to multi-view and variable angle monitoring, so as to solve the problem of blind area under fixed view and realize the complete perception of underwater structures without blind area.

The post How 5G and IoT Empowers Automatic Inspection of Water Conservancy appeared first on Bivocom.

     Router Settings

1. Enable data collect at basic setting.

2. Chose the right COM port and protocol, then click save and apply.

3. Setup the modbus rules and use Modbus slave to simulate slave device.

4. OPCUA Sever

1) Setup the server port and name, here we use 4840 port and the name as IoT in Motion OPCUA Server.

2) Anonymous Enable chose disable, here we set the username and password both as admin

3) Save&Apply.

      OPCUA Software Settings

1. Unzip uaexpert-bin-win32-x86-vs2008sp1-v1.5.1-331.zip, install uaexpert to simulate client device.

2. Open Uaexpert.

3. Right click on the Server to add new server.

4. Double click Custom Discovery to add server.

5. Enter the ip address and port of server, here we use 192.168.1.1:4840.

6. Double click on the None-None(uatcp-uasc-uabinary).

7. We can see new server at the Project plate, right click on it to enter server settings. For Authentication, chose username and password, here we use admin, then click ok button.

8. Click the connect icon to connect server.

9. You can see Dct at the Address Space, open the Modus, then drag it to Data Access View. You will see the details here.

The post How to Enable OPC UA Function appeared first on Bivocom.

The energy shortage and other energy problems have been a challenge in today’s world, and the energy crisis lasted for a long time. As a vital solution to solve the emergency energy needs for some specific applications, the hybrid power station has become more and more popular, not only helpful for alleviating the pressure of energy shortage, but also, for saving energy and environment protection.

You may wonder, what is hybrid power station? The hybrid energy power station has the same principle as the hybrid electric vehicle, which is mainly composed of renewable energy(solar, wind power, etc.), diesel generator, lithium battery energy storage system, energy management system (EMS). The solar panel or wind power is used for generating the electricity, while the diesel generator is for power backup. And the generated electricity can be stored in the battery bank for future use. And the EMS is used to monitor, control, and optimize the performance of the generation or transmission system. The hybrid power station has on-grid and off-grid solutions. It has been widely used in different scenarios, such as bridge and tunnel, building construction, data center, sport stadium, conference, industrial plant, etc., or in remote or island areas, where the grid coverage is insufficient and unstable.

IoT Technology Used in Hybrid Power Station

By using the IoT, 5G/4G, big data and cloud IoT platform technology in hybrid power station, the operator can remotely monitor and manage the whole system, such as, how much electricity is generated by renewable energy(solar or wind), and the amount of electricity is consumed, in addition, it also helps to monitor the oil level of generator to ensure it’s at the certain level or send worker to refill the oil. What’s more, by integrating with the EMS(energy management system), it will help to ensure the whole system operate healthily and safely.

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System Composition

1. Power Sources

For off-grid hybrid power station, electricity mainly generated by solar panel or wind turbine. Besides, the diesel generator is used to back up the whole system.

2. Battery Storage System

To store the extra power generated from power sources, and used at night or when renewable energy is hard to get. It helps to reduce the noise from generator, as well as carbon emission.

3. Energy Management System

And intelligent system integrated with IoT technology, to control, manage and optimize the whole power system.

4. Cloud IoT Platform

To remotely monitor and manage the whole system.

Advantages of Hybrid Power Station

1. Reduce carbon emissions and lower electricity costs

Both energy storage system and diesel-generating provide power supply, with peak shaving and valley filling, so that the generator always runs in the high-efficiency area, with high power supply reliability, energy saving and fuel saving. What‘s more, the excessive energy generated by diesel gen-set could be stored in lithium battery energy storage system for next use. It reduces the consumption of energy greatly.

2. Less time for diesel generator and lower noisy

The energy management system automatically (EMS) identifies load variation, shuts down diesel and starts the power supply of battery automatically, avoiding idle diesel and saving fuel. And the lower load at night, and battery alone operates for the living area without noise.

3. High reliability and fast response

Battery undertakes the ripple load, and diesel station runs with a stable load, so that hybrid energy power stations can adjust the amplitude and frequency of output voltage rapidly. It provides a reliable power source capable to compensate voltage flickers, short power outages and production peaks and brings convenience to our production and life.

4. Strong environmental adaptability

The battery is cooled by air conditioning. And the wide operating temperature range of 20~45 °C or -30~55 °C optional. What’s more, it is suitable for deserts or tropics that heat insulation reflective paint on the surface of container.

5. Intelligent Monitoring and Operation

With the technical support of IoT, big data and cloud computing, users can operate by the EMS energy management system remotely and can get electricity consumption, load data through the Bivocom IoT cloud platform. Moreover, it supports remote start and stop, operation mode configuration, views statistical reports, monitors operation status, and maintenance, which simplifies management greatly.

Application Scenarios

For instance, on the construction site, the equipment starts and stops frequently so that the traditional Diesel engines have to run continuously, and runs at empty load, which causes a waste of energy. However, under the IoT smart hybrid power station system, the diesel generator stops and battery runs for backup power when equipment stops. Furthermore, through industrial 5G/4G IoT edge gateway and IoT platform, it is efficient and convenient for operator to check the situation of machine operating and battery storage system and control the on-site devices remotely.

The post IoT-Based Hybrid Power Generation Station appeared first on Bivocom.

In recent years, with the development of urbanization, gas has become one of the infrastructures of modernization construction. At present, digital technology is used to promote the intelligent construction of gas all over the country, continuously improve the informatization level of gas supervision, and realize the intelligent supervision and alert of the whole business and scene from pipe network, nodes, and equipment to gas cabinet users.

As an expert in the intelligent monitoring of gas cabinets, Bivocom has independently developed the edge computing gateway TG452 with the technical support of IoT, big data and cloud computing. TG452 integrates monitoring, collection, transmission, alert, management and control, and has been applied in the intelligent monitoring scheme of gas cabinet, which provides systematic, intelligent and digital intelligent security and service system for the safety of city gas cabinet.

System Solution

Bivocom’s intelligent monitoring solution for gas cabinets consists of sensing, transmission, and platform layer. Among them, the sensing layer, as the basic data source, is connected with the flowmeter, temperature transmitter, pressure gauge, gas detector, alarm, valve, etc., through the edge gateway TG452. While from the transport layer, the data of the gas cabinet can be remotely transmitted by the TG452 and sent to the monitoring IoT platform. This IoT platform can realize the collection and management of gas cabinet dynamic monitoring, equipment operating status, abnormal alarms, etc., providing convenient data services and professional decision analysis for managers.

Product Recommendation

By constructing monitoring environment together with temperature transmitter, pressure gauge, gas detector and other equipment, the edge computing gateway TG452 can realize real-time dynamic monitoring, remote management and one-button alarm functions of equipment status, operation and maintenance of gas cabinet. While ensuring the safe and stable operation of the gas cabinet, it can also effectively reduce the frequency of personnel inspection and reduce the cost of the whole life cycle management of the equipment.

Product Functions

1. Intelligent Data Collection

TG452 can collect temperature, pressure, flammable and explosive gas, flow and other data of gas cabinets, and provide comprehensive safety detection services, so as to prevent in advance.

2. Real-time Storage and Transmission

The real-time data collected by the sensors of each gas cabinet is automatically stored, and transmitted to the Bivocom monitoring IoT platform through 5G/4G, WIFI and other networks as well as supporting overseas operators’ networks, providing strong support for the safety management of gas cabinet.

3. Remote Supervision

Through the connection between the gateway TG452 and the server, the management personnel can collect and track the gas cabinet parameters online through the monitoring platform. It is convenient for the management personnel to quickly respond and make decisions, and greatly reduces the consumption of manpower, material resources and time.

4. Abnormal Alarm

When the monitoring data of the gas cabinet exceeds the limit threshold, TG452 can automatically alarm and accurately send alarm information to the manager in the first time, which helps the manager quickly carry out rescue work.

The post IoT-based Intelligent Monitoring System for Gas Cabinet appeared first on Bivocom.

Challenges City Manager Faced

Before IoT technologies were used in the smart traffic light system, there are some challenges and pain points the authorities faced

1. There are different types of traffic light systems with different suppliers in the city
2. The traffic light systems have their own platform, which is not convenient to manage the different systems.

IoT Based Smart Traffic Light Control System

A solution provider of smart traffic light control systems in Asia has used IoT technology to help the authorities to simplify the traffic light system, which enhances existing traffic control systems by providing central monitoring, data visualization & analytics through a single platform.

• Different Traffic Light Control Systems

• Single Centralized Traffic Light System

• Diagram of Smart Traffic Light System

The solution provider of ITS(intelligent transportation system) has used an industrial 4G IoT router to connect to TCU(Traffic control unit) and added a traffic loop sensor or radar sensor, as well as a traffic AI camera to field traffic sign controller, which not only helped to merge different systems into the single dashboard, but it also made the whole system smarter than before.

Conclusion

The IoT has not only helped the city authorities to make the whole system management and monitoring easier, but it also helped the drivers to spend less time waiting at the junction and made their journey smoother.

Related links:

Bivocom Helps to Ensure a Safe School Zone

IoT Enables On-street Smart Parking Management System

The post How IoT Simplifies the Smart Traffic Light System? appeared first on Bivocom.

Unlike the traditional car parking solution, the supplier uses an all-in-one intelligent camera that is integrated with technology of license plate recognition (LPR), parking bay space detection, image capture, which has helped the car parking operators to save cost of digging hole to install the sensors on parking bay and pay station meter. Besides, it accepts types of digital ticketless payment methods: Mobile APP or scan the QR code to pay, delivers a convenient ticketless car parking experience to users.

There are 2 types of all-in-one camera solutions for different applications.

• High camera pole for detecting and managing 8 parking bay spaces

• Individual camera pole for detecting and managing 1 parking bay space

System Diagram

When a vehicle has parked in a specific parking bay, the camera will capture an image of vehicle, and its license plate number too, and all these info will be stored in a local controller which is connected with an industrial 5G/4G IoT Router, meanwhiles, it will transfer the data to remote parking management platform as well. If the vehicle’s license plate number is registered in car parking operator’s parking APP, users can pay via the parking mobile APP, while if it is not registered in the APP, driver can scan a QR code on the car parking bay to enter into the APP to park and pay to go.

Onsite Installation

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Related link:

Monaco Parkings Selected Bivocom IoT Router for Its Parking Solutions

Image resouces: https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/753876/

The post IoT Enables On-street Smart Parking Management System appeared first on Bivocom.

2 Types of Development Environments

1. Bivocom provides toolchain (MOQ required), and developers can compile their own application code and install the application on LINUX OS
2. Bivocom provides a hardware with pure OpenWRT environment (22.03.0) which developers can build their own images

Pleases note that above environments require the developers have deeper knowledge of programming(C/C++, Python, etc.), as Bivocom team only provides basic support on standard product, and may require MOQ and R&D cost if customers want Bivocom team to customize the firmware for them.

Bivocom TG463 Gateways Secondary Development Compiler Instruction

Bivocom TG serial gateways provide powerful hardware computing capability, while TR serial routers with basic hardware computing capability. They all supports secondary development by users using Bivocom owns compiler to create your specific programs and running on TG or TR devices to match your application.

This instruction indicate how to use Bivocom compiler to create your own programs.

Minimum Operating Environment

• Hardware: 64 bit CPU, 2G RAM, 10G Storage.
• OS: Redhat/Ubuntu/Centos/Suse 64 bit.

Programming language Requirements

• Developer shall have knowledge of socket, Linux device file
• Secondary development only supports C/C++ programming

About TG463

CPU:            MIPS, dual core, 800MHZ, 32K Icache, 32K Dcache

RAM:            256MB

Flash:       32MB

Ethernet ports:    5X10/100/1000M

Serial ports:  1xRS232, 1xRS485

DI/DO:        2xDI, 2xRelay

ADC:          3(4-20mA, or 0-5V)

Software Interface Description

1. Serial Port Device File
   1. RS232: /dev/ttyS0
   2. RS485:/dev/ttyS1

2. Read ADC

int read_adc_raw(int adc_num)

Parameters description：

adc_num: 1, 2, used to indicate which ADC to read

Return: 0~4096

If return is X, please use formula Y =(X/4096)*6.72, to convert it to real voltage value.

3. Configure GPIO input and output

int gpio_set_dir(unsigned int gpio_num, unsigned int dir)

Parameters description：

gpio_num: input GPIO_DI1, GPIO_DI2 or GPIO_RELAY1, GPIO_RELAY2, to indicate which channel of GPIO to operate

dir:   input DIR_IN, DIR_OUT, to configure the digital input or digital output(relay)

Return:

1: success

0: fail

4. To get GPIO data

int gpio_get_val(unsigned int gpio_num, unsigned int *val)

gpio_num:  input GPIO_DI1, GPIO_DI2 or GPIO_RELAY1, GPIO_RELAY2, to indicate the value of GPIO

val: value of gpio, return 0，1

Return：

1: success

0: fail

5. Configure GPIO value

int gpio_set_val(unsigned int gpio_num, unsigned int val)

Parameters description：

gpio_num: input GPIO_DI1, GPIO_DI2 or GPIO_RELAY1, GPIO_RELAY2, to indicate which channel of GPIO to operate

val:   0 or 1 only.

Return:

1: success

0: fail

Operation Steps

If you have got the toolchain of TG463 from Bivocom team, you can follow below steps.

1. Copy the complier file “toolchain.tgz” into your directory of Linux system, here take “/opt” as example.

After that, Unzip the toolchain:

tar xzvf TG463_toolchain.tgz –C /opt/

2. Configure cross-complied environment:

export PATH=$PATH:”/opt/staging_dir/toolchain-mipsel_24kc_gcc-7.3.0_musl/bin/”

Input commands:

mipsel-openwrt-linux-gcc

If about commands running, it means the cross-complied environment has been established.

Example:

Below is an example of how to use Bivocom TG463 to read ADC1(voltage value), DI1, control relay on/off, codes as below.

#include <stdio.h>

#include <string.h>

#include <gpio.h>   /* have to include , GPIO_DIx, GPIO_RELAYx defined in this head file */

int main(void)

{

int ret;

int raw_adc;

float voltage;

unsigned int val;

printf(“start to test \n”);

raw_adc = read_adc_raw(1);  /* read ADC channel 1 */

printf(“raw adc 1 value is %d\n”, raw_adc);

voltage = (float)raw_adc / 4096;

voltage *= 6.72;

printf(“adc1 voltage is %.3f\n”, voltage);

ret = gpio_set_dir(GPIO_DI1, DIR_IN);  /* set DI1 to input */

if (ret == 1) {

ret = gpio_get_val(GPIO_DI1, &val);

printf(“GPIO_DI1 value is %d\n”, val);

} else {

printf(“Fails to set di dir %d\n”, GPIO_DI1);

}

ret = gpio_set_dir(GPIO_RELAY1, DIR_OUT);  /* set RELAY1 to output */

if (ret == 1) {

val = 1;

ret = gpio_set_val(GPIO_RELAY1, val);

} else {

printf(“Fails to set relay dir %d\n”, GPIO_RELAY1);

}

return 0;

}

Makefile’s content as below：

LIB_DIR=/opt/staging_dir/target-mipsel_24kc_musl /usr/lib/

INCLUDE_DIR=/opt/staging_dir/target-mipsel_24kc_musl/usr/include

CC= mipsel-openwrt-linux-gcc

CFLAGS=-I $(INCLUDE_DIR)

LDFLAGS=-L $(LIB_DIR)

all: test

%.o:%.c

$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $^

test: test.o

$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^ -lgpio

Bivocom will provide the code of this application, and you can edit the codes of above example.

If above cross-complied environment has been set up, then you can ‘make’, and generate the executable program of ‘test’, as below

The compiled executable file ‘test’ can now TFTP to the TG463, for example, your computer’s IP address is 192.168.1.10; (Note: The router is connected to the computer through the network cable and connected to any LAN port)

1) Run the tftPD32 program on your computer and change the current directory to the one where the ‘test’ file resides

2) Telnet 192.168.1.1 to TG463，default account and password: admin

3) Run command: tftp –r test –g 192.168.1.10 // to download the ‘test’ to TG463

4) chmod a+x test // Modify the program to run

e: ./test         //run application

If the program debugging is OK, you can put the program in the /usr/bin/directory

5) To configure this program to run on startup, simply add it to /etc/rc.local as shown in the following image:

‘&’ is required

Attachments

• Bivocom TG463 Compiler “TG463_toolchain.tgz”.

Only available for customers who have cooperated with Bivocom and have projects working on(MOQ required)

How to Set Up IoT Gateway Under Latest OpenWrt 22.03.0?

Please go to below link:

https://www.bivocom.com/blog/how-to-set-up-iot-gateway-under-latest-openwrt-22-03-0

Banner image source: https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/943096/

The post 2 Ways of Building Your Own Application on IoT Routers and Gateways appeared first on Bivocom.

Background

Flasher system has been widely used in school zone to ensure a safe and efficient way for students and drivers to get to where they need to be. An industry leader of intelligent traffic system manufacturer in US was looking for an industrial 4G modem with RS232 to replace their legacy 3G modem due to the end of 3G service from AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile, etc. In addition, the manufacturer was also requiring a customized firmware to meet their remote diagnosis and control needs. After more than 1-year field testing, Bivocom 4G serial modem TD210’s high quality and customized features finally won customer’s trust, and was added to their intelligent flasher system for school zone.

System Diagram

The intelligent flasher system for school zone includes solar panel/AC power supply, LED signs, battery, control panel, time switch, M2M modem TD210, and centralized platform to monitor and manage the system remotely.

Benefits of Using M2M Modem TD210

1. Establish a robust and stable M2M connectivity between field system and remote platform
2. Solar voltage, AC supply, battery and cabinet door can be remotely monitored
3. Scheduled program can be downloaded to time switch remotely
4. Alerts can be sent to users via text or email from platform
5. Remote diagnosis of modems via SMS commands

Related links

1. IoT Technology Empowers Mobile VMS

2. 5G/4G LTE Wireless Digital Signage Solution

3. How IoT Helps to Transform the Solar Power System?

The post Bivocom Helps Ensure a Safe School Zone appeared first on Bivocom.

May you all always be happy, healthy and lucky.

Due to Chinese New Year Holiday, Bivocom office will be closed from Jan 19-27, 2023, thank you for your support all the time.

The post Happy Chinese New Year of Rabbit! appeared first on Bivocom.