gridComm's PLC Technology Enables Reliable Communication with Ocean Floor Sensors at 3000 Meters Deep
Singapore (PRWEB) August 25, 2016 -- gridComm, provider of the world’s most reliable and robust power line communications (PLC) solutions, today announced that its technology has enabled Ocean Networks Canada to monitor and read ocean floor sensors placed 3,000 meters under sea level and 25 kilometers apart.
Ocean Networks Canada has been monitoring deep ocean and coastal environments using cutting-edge technology to do scientific research for ten years. One of the objectives of this project is to detect and model tsunamis using specialized, highly precise and accurate pressure sensors known as bottom pressure recorders (BPRs). BPRs can sense water level changes from the seafloor down to a millimeter, and are deployed 3000 meters below sea level to detect tsunamis resulting from earthquakes. Each BPR is installed and linked to a junction box residing 25 kilometers away (also on the ocean bed) using copper wires. At each end of the BPR and junction box, a gridComm GC8802 PLC module is installed to enable reliable communications over the copper lines. The data collected from the sensor array is made accessible to the land office via satellites in real time. This data gives the land office early notice for emergency responses which include issuance of tsunami warnings.
“Our ocean floor sensor project is an extremely important one and has the ability to save lives,” noted Tom Qiu, marine equipment specialist for Ocean Networks Canada. “Prior to implementing gridComm technology, we had tried using fiber cable and other PLC devices with no success. Fiber cable is very expensive and snaps easily in deep water, and other PLC devices simply didn’t work. gridComm’s technology, combined with their professional, responsive team did the trick, and we were able to successfully initiate our project.” Another gridComm PLC device, the GC9200, is also employed in Ocean Networks Canada’s program. It is fitted inside a remotely operated vehicle, which resembles submarine, and provides maintenance and configurations for the BPR and the GC8802 module. Both GC9200 and GC8802 make use of gridComm’s industry-leading GC2200 PLC module. This fundamental communications enabler represents the next generation of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) multi-redundant channel PLC transceivers and enables a real-time, adaptive and self-configuring network over noisy power lines. This is in stark contrast to other solutions which are largely fixed frequency channels, making them prone to reliability issues.
“We’re proud to be part of the groundbreaking work that Ocean Networks Canada is doing,” said Nge Tuck Long, vice president of sales and marketing for gridComm. “Our field-proven, industry-leading, robust and reliable technology can be counted upon to deliver the highly accurate communications necessary – under any conditions.”
For more information on gridComm’s PLC solutions and how they enable the transformation of traditional power grids into smart grids, please visit http://www.gridcomm-plc.com.
About Ocean Networks Canada
Ocean Networks Canada, an initiative of the University of Victoria, operates world-leading cabled ocean observatories that supply continuous power and Internet connectivity to a broad suite of subsea instruments from coastal to deep-ocean environments. Data from these observatories, and from ferries, gliders and moorings, fish tag receivers, and coastal radar, address pressing scientific and policy issues by providing long-term measurements of physical, chemical, biological, and geological aspects of the ocean during a critical time of climate change, ocean industrialization and increasing concern about marine hazards. Research priorities include ocean change, developing forecasting and early warning systems for tsunamis, earthquakes and storm surge, deep-sea and arctic ecosystem studies, developing automated methods for analyzing ocean ‘big data,’ and establishing marine science programs in coastal communities to build resilience to ocean change.
About gridComm Pte. Ltd.
Singapore-based smart city solutions company gridComm provides hybrid power line communications and systems that enable cities to transform their streetlights into smart city networks.
gridComm turns urban streetlights into dynamic, resource-efficient platforms by using proprietary sensors and wireless-augmented power line infrastructures to create ultra-reliable, real-time smart city networks. By communicating data across a city’s existing power lines, gridComm’s unique solution paves the way for connectivity between street lights and the smart city applications of the future, including environmental sensors, traffic monitoring and connectivity to third party IoT/M2M devices such as autonomous vehicles.
gridComm’s patent-pending chip technology and reliable network configuration enable interoperable, reliable, robust communication in noisy power line environments. To learn more about gridComm, please visit the company website at http://www.gridcomm-plc.com, follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter, and like them Facebook.
Dena Jacobson, Lages & Associates, +1 (949) 453-8080, [email protected]
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