IpTL Enables Hi-Tech Farming by Connecting Herd Management IoT Sensors to Farmer Analytics

Summary

Technology has always lead the forefront to improving our lives.  Gathering, processing, and analyzing information makes it useful.  Now modern day farming is leveraging IoT technology with integrated sensor access with actionable analytics. Providing wearables for animals. Israel based SCR Dairy has brought bovine heard management technology directly to the farmer.  Supporting farms in Italy, Switzerland, and Israel IpTL is helping connect these sensors to the farmer and helps ensure our dairy supply while lowering costs, increasing yields, and protecting farming operations.

Challenges

SCR’s  DataFlow™ II and HeatTime™ Pro products provides a complete analytics solution from IoT wearables fitted on a cow.  The data from these sensors communicate to analytics software which interprets and signals the status of the herd as well as individual animals.  Wearables are the key.   Attached to each animal it gathers real-time data on the status of the cow, such as movement statistics, as well as monitored health parameters.   These wearables communicate via wireless to an RF-Ethernet gateway and then back to a local PC collecting all the data.

Dairy farms can occupy a large land area.  With many parlors and barns it can be just like a large campus installation. But how to you get remote RF readers, distributed across a large area, to communicate back to the headend PC without breaking the bank or wasting time?

Solution

Ethernet based RF Sensor readers need to connect to a central based PC on the LAN.   But there were a couple of considerations which needed to be overcome as well.

1. Connectivity had to be transparent.  The RF-Readers expected the Ethernet broadcast domain to be preserved.
2. The solution had to be plug-and-play.  No configuring a Farm’s routers, Internet service, or PC’s.
3. Had to be cost-effective.  No expensive and complicated microwave links; trenching new wires is a non-starter.

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Only IpTL’s low-cost appliances, with our patented AutoConnect™, could meet all three requirements.   The default operation of IpTL appliances is to provide a transparent Ethernet Bridge, with VPN security, which can be easily deployed as an Ethernet LAN Extender.  With our exclusive AutoConnect™ feature IpTL appliances can be installed without setting up port-forwards or other network configurations.  And IpTL was able to package 2-pack units from the factory eliminating any touch in-the-field.   Of course, the solution doesn’t break the bank being up-to 60% cheaper than alternate options.

Benefits
Ethernet LAN based Connectivity End-to-End
Most RF readers and IoT devices are designed to work like “they are on the LAN.”  This means they use the broadcast domain in order to discover, configure, and operate.   This is even more important for IPv6 where there is no more broadcast but multicast.  IpTL appliances operate like “The World’s Longest Ethernet Cable” — as long as it is in an Ethernet frame we can move it — including broadcast, multicast, VLANs, and more.  All RF-readers and devices work -and network- without modification!

Easy & Simple Deployment – Integrated Remote Management with IpTL SupportServer™ portal
IpTL setup “2-pack” units pre-configured at the factory to automatically point to each other.   Plugging them in is all that is required and it doesn’t even need a laptop on site!  With IpTL’s SupportServer™ portal every appliance is individually and fully manageable by SCR dairy support staff as well as IpTL support from anywhere in the world.   No need to send a technician to troubleshoot, upgrade, or make changes.

Immediate Connectivity without Expensive Equipment or Services
Time is money and there is no waiting for site-surveys, telco provisioning, or expensive monthly data charges.  Using any Internet, including cellular LTE, IpTL can make a complete, secure, and immediate link and get the farm up and running.

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