Slicker cities turn to smart grids

Imagine a city truly committed to environmental protection, capable of reaching a target of zero emissions by 2030. Imagine a city that uses innovative technologies to enable energy efficiency, public safety, and smart urban services. Imagine a city that uses a scalable wireless network to control street lights, but can also monitor and control parking spaces and meter pricing, manage electric vehicle charging stations, pumps and seasonal lighting. That city is San Francisco, the latest addition to a new wave of smart cities.

In order to implement such projects, San Francisco chose to cooperate with Paradox Engineering, a highly dynamic company, building its success on a spirit of exploring markets and pioneering technologies enabling customers to unlock the value of their data. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Switzerland, the company is now starting a pilot project to help San Francisco manage its lighting infrastructure, and further advanced services in the future.

Cities can become ‘smart’ when they rely on the use and interpretation of information for any decision about energy and public resources management and service delivery. There is a variety of things (energy distribution networks, public transport, car parks, lighting infrastructures) which can be sources of useful information, with more to come via the transformation of any object into a talking entity through the advancement of the internet.

Municipalities, though, often do not have the possibility to take advantage of these pieces of information due to their infrastructure.

Reliable infrastructures for data collection and the relevant correlation processes are fundamental to turn any system into smart architecture. Furthermore, the foundation of any ‘smart city’ is the integration of existing distribution, communication and service networks with an advanced communication platform. Paradox Engineering offers a unique set of solutions to collect, transport, store and deliver data from new or existing urban infrastructures, therefore enabling the development of any kind of smart services.

Future-proof solutions
Paradox Engineering’s PE.AMI metering infrastructure package stands as the ideal architecture for a full-mesh IPv6 ultra-low power wireless sensor networks for smart grid and smart city projects. Wherever a object generates data, PE.AMI is the platform to collect it and integrate it into a wider system of devices, which enables a new generation of services. Offering full modularity, it also allows municipalities and utility companies to develop new methods to take advantage of their large investments.

Another Paradox Engineering system is the PE.WSNi. This system is the first IPv6 modular cost-effective wireless mesh sensor network platform for industrial data acquisition. It can be successfully implemented in power generation/distribution and waste-to-energy plants to enable smarter conditioning and remote monitoring processes.

Finally, the PE.VNO system allows municipalities and multi-utilities to cost-effectively integrate satellite communication into their wireless sensor networks and smart city infrastructures, so to ensure reliable communication of data and commands even in congested urban centres where standard wired and wireless technologies may be unfeasible (such as limitations in terms of right-of-way access or line-of-sight). Thanks to Paradox Engineering’s technologies, the goal of a sustainable development model is now fully achievable, offering a higher quality of life for communities, a wiser management of natural resources and greater public participation.

For further information: Paradox Engineering SA; Email: info@pdxeng.ch; Phone: +41 91 233 0100