Silvanet Mesh Gateway

The Dryad Silvanet Mesh Gateway extends the Silvanet Network to allow for large-scale deployments of Silvanet Sensors throughout large forested areas.

Large deployments of standard LoRaWAN networks are typically beyond the reach of the standard single-hop direct connection between sensors and gateways. Messages from Silvanet sensors hop from Mesh Gateways to Mesh Gateways until messages reach the Silvanet Border Gateway(s). As a consequence, Silvanet Networks can be extended to large deployments beyond the reach of the sensors.

The patent-pending architecture uses a multi-hop mesh network of Gateways interconnected with LoRa and each serving as a standard LoRaWAN gateway to Silvanet Wildfire Sensors and 3rd party sensors.

Key features

• Provides range extending capabilities by using the same LoRaWAN network as the sensors to receive and forward messages.

• Placed in the forest itself, forming a mesh network with a typical distance of 2-6 km depending on topology and physical placement of the Mesh Gateways.

• Does not require direct 4G/LTE-M radio or Ethernet connectivity which ensures low power consumption supported by the built-in solar panel.

• Supports FUOTA (Firmware Update Over-the-Air) to allow its firmware to be updated remotely as required.

• The typical coverage area of a single Mesh Gateway is between 2 to 6 km, depending on the physical terrain, the density and type of forest.

• Each Mesh Gateway supports up to 100 sensors.

Connectivity

Each forest is unique. Different topology, difficult terrain, mountains, valleys, any feature that blocks transmissions are some of the many challenges facing quality connectivity.

However, the Mesh Network uses LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) to overcome transmission obstacles within a forest. LoRaWAN is a technology built on top of LoRa, a patented type of frequency modulation ideal for low-power, wide area networks such as required by Dryad Silvanet.

Dimensions

The dimensions of the Silvanet Mesh Gateway are (LxWxH) 68 cm (87 cm with antenna) x 29 cm x 5 cm and weighs 2.8 kg.

Range

The Silvanet Mesh Gateway can communicate with other Gateways (Mesh / Border Gateways) in a range of several kilometers. The actual range may vary depending on environmental conditions.

Power consumption

The Mesh Gateway has low power consumption which is supplied by its built-in solar panel to provide its daily energy needs. The power consumption is calculated to be 3997Ws.

Power supply

Due to the reduced power consumption compared to a Border Gateway, it requires a smaller solar cell size of 50 X 25 compared to the Border Gateway.

Connecting to Border Gateways

Mesh Gateways automatically register with the Silvanet Cloud during the deployment process.