Technology Review writes about how Intelligent Machines could one day end up using the radio frequencies allocated of old GSM mobile networks.
The Chinese city of Macau could be the first as it plans to phase out GSM by June 2015.
The article cites a Cornell University paper on Dedicated Networks for Smart Meters.
Image source, Flickr College of Computing at Georgia Tech
Summary of “How Intelligent Machines Could Take Over the GSM Network” (Emerging Technology From the arXiv, November 7, 2014)
German Corrales Madueño and colleagues at Aalborg University propose repurposing the GSM network, a second-generation mobile technology, as a dedicated communication system for machine-to-machine (M2M) interactions, particularly for smart meters. While GSM, first used in 1991, is becoming obsolete for smartphones due to its low data rate (under 300 kbps compared to 4G’s gigabit speeds), its global coverage makes it suitable for M2M communication, which prioritizes efficient data distribution to many devices over high data rates.
The researchers calculated that a GSM network, with minor engineering tweaks, could support over 20,000 smart meters within a 1,000-meter radius of a base station, handling devices like gas meters, credit card machines, and traffic sensors sending small data packets (a few hundred bytes) infrequently. These optimizations could enable a single GSM frequency channel to process up to 70 messages per second, supporting 13,000 smart meters reporting every five minutes—133% more than current GSM standards allow.
Repurposing GSM for M2M communication leverages existing infrastructure, avoiding the need to build a new network. However, challenges include securing global agreement to reallocate GSM’s valuable radio frequency spectrum, as seen with plans like Macau’s to phase out GSM by mid-2015. The proposal suggests a practical use for an aging network but faces potential conflicts over spectrum allocation.
Reference: arxiv.org/abs/1410.6627