REMOT Infrastructure
FSP and HPWREN personnel install a weather station at TCS3 in SMER.
REMOT communications and data collection infrastructure consists of hybrid networking technologies. Within a reserve, a network backbone is established using a set of telecommunication sites (TCS), communicating in the 2.4GHz band. There are 10 telecommunication sites (TCS) at Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and 1 TCS at Sky Oaks Field Station. From the TCS, connections to observatories are made at either 2.4GHz or 900MHz. Observatories requiring high bandwidth — such as real-time cameras — are best suited to transmit data via the 2.4GHz band, while the 900MHz stations are suitable for data acquisition stations requiring less power consumption and lower data rates. This hybrid network approach allows for a wide array of sensor planning, development, and implementation across large, rugged areas.
Both solar and line power are used for TCS and observatories. We actively monitor the network health in real-time.
The current REMOT strategy utilizes ROADNet as the middleware for real-time data collection system. ROADNet consists of several Internet-connected computers that work together to transmit real-time data from sensors to end users, while providing medium duration queuing capabilities to deal with network outages. ROADNet's real-time data distribution system, which encompasses several Virtual Object Ring Buffers (VORBs), provide users with the capability of conducting real-time analysis on sensor data. That is, the sensor data is not only displayed in real-time, but can actually be analyzed in real-time.
Equipment at TCS3 Site on Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.
Internet connectivity to Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and Sky Oaks Field Station is provided by High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN), which provides high-bandwidth Internet connectivity to "difficult-to-reach" places in Souther California for education and research purposes.
