Rachio and Smart Cities

Not long ago, I posted about the “smart city” that is proposed for the desert near Phoenix. Being terminally inquisitive, I dug a little more into what that designation might encompass.

Those of you who are techies, engineers, smart home enthusiasts, code / software developers or just plain curious, will find that the IoT will be integral to the design of the community. The term “smart city” has a very broad definition, but cities around the world are implementing various technologies to better manage infrastructure and collect data.

Rachio, while a self-described software company, has the opportunity to expand with the use of LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) technologies, notably the smart SIM. Currently, the IoT is dominated by Personal Area Networks (PAN), like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi or WLAN, but smart SIM cards support multi-operator global connectivity and the GSMA standard. Smart SIM card technology can solve the problem of no Wi-Fi to connect Rachio and expand the controller to commercial uses.

I know this post is sounding like I’m talking about a bowl of alphabet soup, but the technology is exciting and will likely become the standard to tie home automation devices together.

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Please elaborate or define terms like low power wide area.

@sunny got me curious! I found this definition of LPWA (along with a detailed write up at http://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/LPWAN-low-power-wide-area-network ):

Low-power WAN (LPWAN) is a wireless wide area network technology that interconnects low-bandwidth, battery-powered devices with low bit rates over long ranges.

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I was hoping that post would make people curious and start a discussion! :grinning: