Ambient IoT (A-IoT) is a key technology in the development of next-generation Internet of Things (IoT). A-IoT addresses power supply and battery lifespan issues for IoT terminals, constructing a low-power, cost-efficient, and wide-coverage 5.5G-oriented IoT network, ushering in a new era of IoT. With support of the team from Hangzhou eSports Center, China Mobile (Hangzhou subsidiary) and Huawei have taken the lead in completing the world's first real-time environmental monitoring application based on 5.5G A-IoT. Seamlessly integrated with the digital operations dashboard of the venues, the application successfully incorporates A-IoT-based environmental monitoring in areas such as equipment rooms into the "unified management on one screen", enabling highly reliable venue operations.
The stable running of equipment in the equipment rooms of the Asian Games venues is crucial for both the daily venue operation and successful event hosting. Two of the most critical preconditions for a reliable and safe environment are temperature and humidity, which determine whether the equipment room can function properly. A-IoT-based environmental monitoring effectively addresses the impact of abnormal temperature and humidity on the equipment running in equipment rooms. Integrated with the digital operations dashboard, A-IoT significantly reduces the time needed for manual monitoring, allowing more efficient O&M. In respect to temperature and humidity, the main equipment environment in the Asian Games venues must meet grade A standards. A-IoT-empowered environmental monitoring can achieve high-precision temperature and humidity collection, with a temperature error of less than ±0.2 degrees and a humidity error of less than ±2%. Once the environmental temperature and humidity exceed standard levels, the digital operations dashboard will make an appropriate adjustment or scheduling.
The end-to-end network for this A-IoT environmental monitoring system was completed in just one day, including onsite deployment and interconnection. This is largely due to the flexible, efficient deployment of A-IoT tags, which eliminate the need for power supply and wired installation in conventional environmental monitoring networks. For the first time, 5.5G A-IoT leverages the core network's Tag Management Function (TMF) to provide data management, read-write operations, access control, identity authentication, data encryption, and integrity protection for the tags. Furthermore, the 5.5G core network exposes tag-related sensor information to the venues' digital operations dashboard via the Network Exposure Function (NEF). From the management dashboard, temperature and humidity in equipment rooms as well as anti-tamper sensor alarms can be monitored in real time; and tag lights can be activated on the control console, making it easier for maintenance personnel to locate such small A-IoT tags.
The successful initial application of real-time environmental monitoring based on 5.5G A-IoT at Hangzhou eSports Center marks the first step in end-to-end pilot testing for A-IoT. It is a key milestone for the development of IoT will further the advancement of 5.5G A-IoT. A-IoT offers unparalleled advantages: the wide coverage of the 5.5G A-IoT network can accommodate a broader range of wide-area scenarios; the core network's lightweight interfaces significantly reduce costs, breaking through the limitations of high-power consumption, large size, and high costs for A-IoT terminals, making it applicable to a wider range of IoT domains. More importantly, the 5.5G A-IoT core network can implement secure communications, charging management, and mobility management based on tags. This enables the A-IoT network to be operational and helps in full-process tracking of tags, realizing network-wide control. It is suitable for a wide array of applications, both wide-area and localized, including warehouse logistics, intelligent transportation, intelligent manufacturing, and asset management.
As 3GPP specifications of 5.5G A-IoT continue to mature, A-IoT in mobile communication networks is poised for a new era of growth.