LoRaWAN® and Satellite transmission offer SCADA systems key benefits

Advantages to using the above LoRaWAN® and Satellite network with SCADA devices versus traditional SCADA wired to satellite M2M solutions include:

• SCADA devices do not need individual satellite terminals per device with associated power requirements and costs 
• SCADA devices do not need satellite line of sight (LOS)
• SCADA to LoRaWAN® converter nodes have long battery lives of up to 10 years with no solar panels required for autonomous power
• SCADA to LoRaWAN® converter nodes can be ATEX Zone 1 certified as they are extremely low power devices
• A single MF GATEWAY can provide connectivity for up to 4000 SCADA field devices for different and evolving use case requirements 

SCADA Modbus over LoRaWAN® and Satellite Data Flow:

1. Set of Modbus devices connected by an RS-485 to LoRaWAN® node which functions as a Modbus Master
2. A Modbus master holds remotely configurable profiles with data collection periodicity, device address and Modbus function codes
3. Data collection starts automatically and periodically. At every wake-up, the LoRaWAN® converter node transmits the Modbus commands to the Modbus connected devices. The response of the Modbus connected devices is transmitted over LoRaWAN®.
4. The LoRaWAN® uplink is received by the listening MF GATEWAY unit over a distance of up to 5km (read more about the MF GATEWAY product).
5. The MF GATEWAY runs an edge LoRaWAN® Network Server (LNS) which receives the LoRaWAN® uplink and sends the LoRaWAN® node any required acknowledgement or queued downlink commands with an extremely low latency (LoRaWAN® nodes only receive downlinks immediately after an uplink is made to preserve power and extend battery life)
6. The MF Gateway gathers uplink payloads from many field devices. These uplinks are bundled together to be transmitted in a store and forward manner via the MinFarm optimized satellite protocol architecture over MF GATEWAY L-band satellite link
7. Satellite data is sent over a geostationary satellite to a managed service Teleport REST API (read more about MinFarm satellite connectivity over L-band)
8. The MinFarm REST API server, running on a private network hosted server, calls the Teleport REST API to retrieve bundled payload uplinks and send waiting command downlinks. This call is made from inside a customer’s private network and behind the customer’s firewall (read more about the MinFarm REST API and security architecture)
9. The MinFarm REST API unpacks the SCADA field device payloads and forwards the raw data to a customer designated endpoint on the customer network such as a SCADA server   
10. The SCADA server user interface presents the remote field device data to a control operator and allows command downlinks to be transmitted 

The field device can be located anywhere in the world. A similar process takes place for the HART protocol connected to a HART to LoRaWAN® converter node.