Demonstrating a New Form of IoT Implementation in Out-of-Service Areas: Achieving Wide-Area Remote Monitoring in Mountainous Regions through Satellite Communication and Terrestrial LPWA Collaboration

ForestSea Inc. (Representative Director: Yoshiaki Tokita, Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo), in collaboration with KDDI Corporation, conducted a joint demonstration linking the satellite communication service "au Starlink Direct for IoT" with ForestSea's proprietary IoT communication standard "GEO-WAVE." This demonstration confirmed that it is possible to build a flexible IoT communication network tailored to topographical conditions in mountainous and out-of-service areas, where communication has traditionally been difficult.

1. Background

In Japan's mountainous and semi-mountainous regions, there are vast areas without mobile communication coverage. In fields such as disaster prevention, infrastructure maintenance, forestry, and wildlife damage countermeasures, the challenge has been relying on human intervention to grasp on-site conditions.

In recent years, advancements in satellite communication technology have expanded communication possibilities even in areas where connectivity was previously difficult. However, in environments such as deep forests or valleys where a clear view of the sky cannot be sufficiently secured, further ingenuity is required to establish communication means.

2. Overview of the Demonstration

In this demonstration, the satellite communication service "au Starlink Direct for IoT" provided by KDDI was linked with ForestSea's proprietary long-range, low-power communication standard "GEO-WAVE." The configuration for transmitting observation data from sensors installed in mountainous areas to the cloud was verified.

By combining wide-area connectivity via satellite communication with a terrestrial network between sensors using GEO-WAVE, flexible communication configurations become possible even in areas that were difficult to cover with a single communication method.

3. Demonstration Results

As a result of the demonstration, it was confirmed that observation data from river and weather sensors could be stably transmitted to servers even in mobile out-of-service areas. This indicated the potential for building remote monitoring networks for disaster prevention infrastructure in locations where installation was previously difficult.

Weather sensor

4. Significance of this Initiative

This initiative demonstrates how a practical IoT communication infrastructure can be realized by satellite communication and terrestrial LPWA complementing each other, leveraging their respective characteristics.

Satellite communication plays a crucial role in covering wide areas. However, in environments affected by topography and trees, such as mountainous regions, a mechanism is required to connect many sensor terminals to terrestrial base stations via terrestrial LPWA, thereby expanding the communication area comprehensively.

GEO-WAVE is responsible for communication between sensors in such environments, and by combining it with satellite communication, it enables the construction of an IoT network that covers entire out-of-service areas.

This demonstration confirmed the effectiveness of a new communication architecture: "Connecting points with satellites, and creating surfaces with terrestrial networks."

5. Future Developments

ForestSea, under its philosophy of "Coexistence of people and nature through IoT," is working to advance communication technology centered on "GEO-WAVE."

Moving forward, through collaboration with partner companies including KDDI, ForestSea will contribute to realizing DX that enhances the sustainability of entire regions, including out-of-service areas, in fields such as disaster prevention, forestry support, wildlife damage countermeasures, surveillance, and monitoring.

Reference Information

Details of this initiative are introduced on KDDI's owned media "KDDI Tobira."

KDDI Tobira Detailed Article

Inquiries regarding this matter

ForestSea Inc. Public Relations Email: fs_info@geowave.jp Inquiry Form: https://foresttosea.jp/about_us/contact/