Project Overview
Product Development Challenge
“Everyone told us this could not be done”
Our client needed an IoT system that could transmit from the basement of a building to a vehicle 1.5 Miles away in a heavy ground clutter environment (trees, buildings, etc). In addition, the battery had to last 10 years, and the cost could be no more than $10 each.
After being told several times that such an IoT system could not be developed, our client finally reached out to Finish Line Product Development Services. Having worked with RF systems for decades, we recognize that the technology they needed was not latest and greatest IoT invention, but the “forgotten” IoT standard developed more than 50 years ago.
Finish Line PDS Bottom Line
“I was surprised to learn that the technology that could meet our requirements not only existed but had been around for a while.”
Long before the word IoT existed, the FCC recognizes the need for businesses and local governments to have access to spectrum to efficiently coordinate the activities of their operations. The FCC reserved spectrum just for business – the so-called Land Mobile Radio Services (LMRS or Part 90). Recently, the FCC has encouraged unlicensed use of this spectrum by allocating some of the LMRS channels to MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service). For more details check our paper on What IoT Standard Has The Longest Range.
LMRS had long been considered too expensive to use as an base for IoT because of its cost. However, recent advances in SDR technology has changed everything. This technology allows VHF/UHF radio with high performance and low cost. The bottom line is the LMRS/MURS IoT uses a lower frequency than traditional IoT technology and thus has greater free space range and better penetration through ground clutter; and because the protocols are simpler, battery life is much greater. In fact, if long range, battery life, and low unit cost are the most important requirements, MURS/LMRS IoT is the best solution.
