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WiMAX in Industry Verticals: Agriculture
"Killer App" of WiMAX is that which makes an industry more efficient.
I'm off to Minnesota to give a seminar on WiMAX and IP applications. I grew up on a farm in northern Iowa and I'm trying to visualize how wireless professionals on the Great Plains can deploy WiMAX for their customers so that the end users gets the optimum efficiency from the technology. Agriculture is the number one industry out on the prairie, so lets take a look at some WiMAX-based applications for farming.
1. Broadband internet access on the farm: Farmers often sell their commodity grain and livestock products on the Chicago Board of Trade. Having a reliable broadband internet connection is essential to this trading. Miss a few minutes and it could cost you a few thousand dollars
2. Mobile/portable broadband internet access: Farmers need weather and market reports in real time and the office may be miles away, especially during planting and harvest season. Yes, you need a laptop on the tractor or combine with a WiMAX connection to the Internet.
3. Terrestrial substitute for satellite applications: Ag departments at state universities in the Midwest experiment with GPS controlled robotic tractors and satellite imagery to determine which fields need more chemicals. WiMAX could do this for less money
4. Inventory control for ag supply dealers: Fertilizer and ag chemical dealers have been challenged in gaining broadband WAN access to manage inventories during the height of planting season. Many have relied on Wi-Fi to connect their supply depots. WiMAX is a marked improvement. A tractor dealer in Iowa recently connected his 3 dealerships via point-to-point Wi-Fi and reports his VoIP between the dealerships is better than what the telephone company offered. He is considering a WiMAX solution.
5. Video surveillance: Livestock operations have become very large and scattered with one producer managing multiple production facilities. Livestock theft is a constant concern. Networking video surveillance cameras can alleviate a lot of that worry.
6. RFID and livestock: RFID in ear tags enables a farmer to track his livestock. Add an interface RFID to WiMAX enables a farmer to track livestock over a wide range of property.
7. Remote building monitoring: Large chicken and hog operations go unmanned and unmonitored. Using WiMAX to monitor heat/cooling/humidity/fire would go a long way in providing that extra element of efficiency in controlling costs and optimizing production.
In future blogs we'll look at other industries to gauge how WiMAX can make industries more efficient.
Frank Ohrtman
WMX Systems, LLC
