Semtech Corporation announced that NetOP, a developer and manufacturer of LPWAN-based IoT applications, has developed a new smart energy consumption monitoring solution based on Semtech’s LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol.
The solution, named the “Octopus,” leverages LoRa devices’ advantages for real-time data monitoring to detect abnormal spikes in energy consumption in city substations.
“LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol provide the ideal IoT platform for the next generation of smart city utilities,” said Olcay Taysi, founder of NetOP. “The platform’s capabilities for consistent, accurate and real-time data monitoring allowed us to develop an application to simplify grid management. With LoRaWAN, cities can effectively detect swings in energy usage and respond to, prevent or address malfunctions, illegal activity or other hazards to the energy grid.”
NetOP’s LoRa-based Octopus sensors deploy to city substations and begin collecting energy usage data in real time. Applications analyze trends from the LoRa-collected data, and generate usage reports through artificial intelligence and advanced algorithms.
Semtech explained that these reports are immediately available for energy grid managers via a mobile device or desktop application and enable the detection and geolocation of abnormal energy usage throughout the city’s electrical grid.
The Octopus platform has already enabled a number of successful use cases, including the prevention and swift response to electrical fires and the detection and geolocation of illegal indoor grow operations.
“NetOP’s smart utility solutions prove the value of LoRa devices for energy grids and cities on a macro level,” said Rémi Demerlé, director of vertical marketing for utilities in Semtech’s wireless and sensing products group. “The proven flexibility of LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol allows the convergence of multiple IoT applications for smarter, simpler management. Applications leveraging LoRaWAN deliver highly effective municipal operations that, in addition to creating new efficiencies, enable a safer and more productive city.”
Semtech highlighted that IoT networks based on the LoRaWAN specification have been deployed in 100 countries.
NetOP develops and manufactures hardware based on Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors using communication technologies provided by LPWAN, LoRa, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, CAT-M1 and GSM. The company also presents a complete hardware management platform and software development kit (SDK) for many IoT applications and use cases.
