If you're a relatively new kid on the block, it’s always nice to be able to offer your technology in your hometown, and it’s even better if that town agrees to work with you, which is what Ingenu is doing in San Diego.
The Internet of Things (IoT) tech provider announced that its Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA) network is available in the greater San Diego metro area. Created by some of the pioneers who invented CDMA, RPMA is designed to be highly scalable and address specific needs of IoT, with long battery life and wide coverage with fewer access points.
Landon Garner, chief marketing officer at Ingenu, said the company is covering the San Diego area with just 17 access points, a pretty impressive number given the company won’t announce a market unless it can cover 90% of the population. Garner said Ingenu’s coverage spans from the border all the way north through to Carlsbad and touching parts of Orange County.
Ingenu is working with the city to deliver what it calls the Machine Network, driving applications related to municipal sustainability and clean energy. Applications will include smart grid, environmental and water monitoring, smart street lighting, waste management, parking and others.
Garner said like a lot of cities, San Diego is concerned with addressing environmental challenges and using sustainable solutions.
“Through the Climate Action Plan, San Diego is executing on its strategy to reduce greenhouse emissions, enhance renewable energy and provide a better environment for its citizens,” said David Graham, deputy chief operating officer for the City of San Diego, in a press release. “Innovations in the areas of smart technology powered by IoT networks such as Ingenu’s RPMA will assist in delivering actionable data to align with these important environmental initiatives.”
Ingenu is among the low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology providers that are deploying new networks across the U.S. to meet the growing IoT demands. Sigfox has said it’s already in more than 100 U.S. cities and plans to continue its expansion, with the goal of covering 40% of the U.S. population by the end of 2017.
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Backers of LoRa also want to expand their presence in the United States. Comcast announced last fall that is was conducting trials of LoRa in at least two cities, and LoRa supporters hope that two or three other U.S. carriers will adopt it this year. Meanwhile, U.S. wireless operators are moving forward with their own standards-based LTE technologies for IoT.
Ingenu says it has a history of providing smart city solutions to the San Diego region with its RPMA technology, which is currently deployed by San Diego Gas & Electric on a private smart grid network. The public San Diego Machine Network will serve the greater metropolitan area with its purpose-built machine connectivity, offering coverage and capacity with low power and long-lasting battery life.
Ingenu previously shared a list of the more than 30 metro areas where it launched in 2016, and San Diego was on that list. So why announce this deal now? Answer: Location. The company is showing off RPMA at the DistribuTECH Conference and Expo this week at the San Diego Convention Center. Ingenu’s goal is to cover 100 metro areas by the end of 2017.
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Added bonus: Ingenu can not only show off its ability to cover San Diego's peaks and valleys and challenging RF terrain, but it can also demonstrate RPMA to the wide range of wireless experts who call the valley home.