250 | PARKING
Streetwise parking and ITS How can the new NB-IoT communications protocol revolutionize on-street parking and other ITS applications? Words | Anders Hagen, Q-Free, Norway Below: Q-Free’s NB IoT sensor Opposite: The sensor’s long battery life enables deployments of up to 10 years
For three months at the beginning of 2017, Q-Free was involved in a joint research project with Norwegian telecommunications provider Telenor in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. It looked at the utility of the Internet of Things (IoT, see sidebar) and the use of a new wireless communications protocol, NB-IoT. The project involved Q-Free sharing its expertise in narrowband communications, which the company uses in its sensor technology for outdoor parking solutions.
New narrowband technology NB-IoT is a new narrowband communication technology. Standardized under the 3G Partnership Project (3GPP), it is based on LTE (4G) wireless telecommunications. In most cases, all that is required to achieve deployment is for a telecommunications provider to upgrade the software in its base stations. The base stations then provide a number of narrowband channels with a relatively low data rate, but much better link
Internet of Things
The IoT proposes a future in which even everyday objects have internet connectivity and are able to communicate their status and needs. The result will be a world that is inherently smarter. However, there is also a desire to make communications systems leaner and fewer in number. If many of the objects that will be part of the IoT, and need access to centralized servers or the cloud, can use existing rather than bespoke communication networks, realization and operation of the IoT can be greatly simplified.
margin (range). Compared with LTE, the new protocol is simplified and the transmitted power is lower. This enables battery-powered sensors and other devices to be employed.
Ease of use As part of its evolution from a tolling systems and services supplier into an all-aspects intelligent transportation systems (ITS) partner, Q-Free has looked for ways to use its specialist knowledge from different domains in ways that will revolutionize how we travel and, just as importantly, what happens when we stop. A good example of this approach is ParQ, the company’s versatile new central parking management system. Featuring a cloud-based architecture that can be configured to meet a client’s specific business needs and integrated with third-party hardware and software, ParQ incorporates some of the technological features of a free-flow tolling system. This includes the use of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) and onboard units – which employ standardized short-range communications protocols – to identify both stationary and moving vehicles. Strategically, Q-Free promotes the use of open standards and therefore ease of installation,
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2018
