Hardware manufacturers have included wireless capability in a wide range of devices. Wireless data transmission has never been more important to the industry and environmental monitoring sectors, allowing all types of professional and user applications to connect to an increasing number of networked devices.

In a way, M2M communications are similar to mobile phone or internet services.

However, instead of phones and PDAs for making calls, sending emails or texts, or surfing the "web", smart M2M devices (such as our data loggers) are equipped with mobile phone-based modules that collect information from remote locations and transmit it to a central station.

GEONICA develops wireless M2M networks to intercommunicate remote measurement stations with SCADAs and Central Receiving Stations in real time.

Our networks support the transmission of the data stored by the field dataloggers to which the measurement sensors are connected, whether they are analog or digital, in such a way that all the information is transmitted to a Data Reception Center in which our GEO-DataView software package is installed, which governs bidirectional communications, remote programming, network management, and database generation.

The M2M communication paths of GEONICA solutions can be individual and mixed or redundant, including:

• GPRS / 3G / 4G / 5G mobile networks
• INMARSAT BGAN, bidirectional and with global coverage
• Physical interconnections through fiber optic cables
• Wi-Fi, WiMax
• Point-to-point radio (PTP) and Point-to-Multipoint
• THURAYA satellite network (GmPRS)
• INSAT satellite network (unidirectional)
• GOES satellite network (unidirectional)
• IRIDIUM satellite network

From a technical point of view, we have a clear recommendation on the priorities for the use of the different M2M communication channels available: first, we recommend a GPRS / 3G / 4G modem as long as there is mobile phone coverage at the remote site.

Secondly, we recommend INMARSAT BGAN satellite communications in places where there is no GPRS / 3G / 4G coverage or when the criticality of the system warrants redundant data communication, for example, simultaneous GPRS / 3G / 4G and INMARSAT or alternatively.