Schaumburg, IL—Motorola Inc. and Automation Solutions Inc. (ASI, Houston, TX) agreed May 5 to integrate their technologies to provide utility companies with more cost-effective communications solutions for equipment monitoring and data collection.
Schaumburg, IL— Motorola Inc. and Automation Solutions Inc. (ASI, Houston, TX) agreed May 5 to integrate their technologies to provide utility companies with more cost-effective communications solutions for equipment monitoring and data collection.
‘By combining our companies’ capabilities, utility customers will be able to use their existing automation products over a single secure, private network, which will increase efficiencies and lower operating costs,’ says Geno Viviano, Motorola Communications and Electronics’ Special Markets division VP.
‘Our AES software can simultaneously and reliably communicate with utilities’ remote control and measurement products for data acquisition and automated meter reading,’ adds Doug Osburn, ASI’s president and CEO. ‘When you couple AES software with Motorola’s private network, it provides one of the most flexible and economic solutions for data collection and delivery available today.’
ASI’s software will support Motorola’s Private DataTAC, a user-owned, wireless data communications network, or Motorola’s iDEN wireless IP network, which combines voice, telephone interconnect, mobile data and fixed data on one network. AES software simultaneously supports supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and automated meter reading (AMR) functions from one Microsoft Windows platform.
‘This solution will enable utility companies to transfer their legacy communication methods to our Private DataTAC network with minimum disruption to their existing host systems, data validation systems and other related databases,’ adds Jim Hanson, Motorola Special Market’s wireless data solutions manager. ‘Our customers will have reliable and secure access to their data without incurring costs associated with public service providers.’
In addition, utility companies will be able to control their own private wireless networks. ‘This control is critical to business success because it offers customers the ability to expand capacity precisely when they need it in saturated zones without the need to wait for assistance from their wireless service provider,’ says Hanson.
Private DataTAC operates on 25 kHz or 12.5 kHz channels in the 800- and 900-MHz private mobile radio frequency bands, and uses Radio Data Link Access Protocol (RD-LAP) for high-speed communication and quick dispatch response time within all types of mobile radio environments. iDEN systems range from a large, statewide network to a small, single-site private application.
Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news [email protected]
