Page 81: of Marine News Magazine (November 2016)

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OFFSHORE COMUNICATIONS he Internet of Things (IoT) bene? ts from the IoT that weren’t has been a hot topic across previously available. many industries in recent years. Whether it’s a ? tness Uncontended TDMA Networks

T tracker, smart refrigerator, thermostat Another way Harris CapRock or apps within a car, most people are achieves connectivity is through un- now connected to electronic devices contended Time Divisional Multiple in ways that they probably wouldn’t Access (TDMA) networks. TDMA have imagined 15 years ago. Experts networks are very ? exible in support- are predicting that there will be more ing highly mobile assets that need to than 24 billion IoT devices installed move from one region of the world and $6 trillion invested in IoT solu- to the next. What many customers tions by 2020. At this rate of growth, don’t realize is that service providers the IoT ecosystem extends beyond have the ability to offer uncontended consumer electronics to other indus- TDMA networks with a dedicated tries like healthcare, logistics, agricul- committed information rate (CIR). ture and oil and gas, to name a few. This architecture allows access to

For most of these applications, es- committed bandwidth levels at all pecially those located in remote areas, times – an advancement over tradi- the IoT has only been made possible tional TDMA networks. through satellite-based communica- Under this network model, an un- tion. For example, companies such contended CIR is like a dedicated lane as Harris CapRock work with their on the freeway that can only be used customers to provide connectiv- by a single company, allowing the ity through satellite communications, company to send any mix of cars, vans with a specialization in transient en- and trucks as they like. The dedicated vironments. One way this is achieved lane is unaffected by rush hour, or ac- is through Harris CapRock One. It tivity in other lanes. In other words, provides a communication service and for operators tracking multiple that monitors for and adopts the best- assets or remotely monitoring myriad ? t satellite, wireless or terrestrial net- metrics from a wide array of equip- work as a rig or ship moves around the ment, the perfect match. TDMA net- globe. The solution’s multi-band an- works are able to react to changing tenna is capable of supporting C-, Ku- traf? c requirements from the VSAT and Ka-band and is remotely con? gu- to the hub much faster than a single rable, saving on the costs associated channel per carrier (SCPC) network. with an on-site service technician. This makes TDMA networks much

With this setup, customers are al- more appealing when dealing with lowed to freely roam wherever they bursts of traf? c or IoT applications. want worldwide and the equipment self-con? gures to the most appropri- Oceaneering ate connection in the given conditions In one such application, the results – making IoT applications a reality, are noteworthy. Harris CapRock de- even in the middle of the ocean. This ploys voice and data services through type of reliability opens a window to an uncontended TDMA network what customers can achieve through with its customer, Oceaneering, to communications technology and con- support live video services which are nectivity, allowing them to derive currently utilized for subsea and top- 81 www.marinelink.com MN

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