IoT makes a lot of sense for a satellite-based network. If some amount of recorded data can be buffered on device, it can be enqueued to upload during a period of non-peak traffic, essentially using "spot bandwidth," and benefit from Starlink's extensive coverage at a much lower cost than consumer on-demand applications. Indeed, the satellite could instruct transmitters on their allocated time-slices far ahead of time, reducing round-trips and negotiation.
Now, maybe all of this is already such a trivial amount of bandwidth that it's barely a rounding error to save it - but the possibilities it opens up for telemetry in remote regions are fascinating.
It doesn't take a lot of juice to send signals straight up. Iridium has been using transceivers to do similar IoT things for decades and my old Inmarsat satphone used a fraction of a watt to get my voice up to geosynchronous orbit just so someone standing next to me on an outdoor landing could hear a message from space.
The article isn't very clear but this seems to be standard fixed IoT device using a mobile SIM card is able to communicate via Starlink's mobile support.
Not sure why this is news. Starlink is known to be rolling out mobile support to certain regions. Due to spectrum licencing this is working with local telcos not a Starlink retailed service.
Does this type of satellite link provide the operator with the ability to derive fine grained location data the way the terrestrial cell network does? If not, would using such a network provide a significant increase in end user privacy?
This isn't regular Starlink, it is Direct-to-Cell. Direct-to-Cell uses regular LTE/5G. There is no way for the phone to tell the satellite where it is.
Direct-to-Cell probably can't resolve smaller than the cell. I found mixed results if they use the 25 mi cells or if they use the whole dish, hundreds of miles.
The starlink terminal literally has GPS - so Starlink already knows the location - whether it needs to get more accurate coordinates using beamforming is a question.
Yes but its not just about the beam. Signal timing can be used for more precise location. Even with one sat receiving the signal. Because they move so fast, much faster than the user could possibly move. So it basically could triangulate with itself as the other receivers. And there's also Doppler like the other poster mentioned.
I don't know if they actually do this, I guess not. And it would not be simple to do. But I'm sure it can be done. There's enough information available.
Swarm used pretty big antennas (due to a much lower wavelength) on the ground segment. It was pretty impractical. And that frequency, starlink sats are not capable of it.
Swarm's network was very incomplete, there were hours of no coverage at all. I think that they just bought it to remove a potential competitor.
There is no mention of Swarm. I think, part of this is what came from the acquisition of Swarm Technologies. Swarm manufactures and operates ultra-small satellites for IoT devices.
I don’t see anything technical worthy in here, it feels like a promotional article, can we see some architecture, diagrams, components, some interesting stuff?
The European honey bee is not a native species in New Zealand or Australia. Well meaning naive people think hosting bees is a great idea. The reality is it robs the native insect population of a food source.
It's more complex than that. That's like saying planting a garden robs the local ecosystem. Maybe! Maybe not!
Native pollinators have different life cycles and different plants they evolved to get food from. Honeybees, likewise, will only visit some flowering plants. That may increase competition for scarce resources, or it may not.
You are correct that honeybees are non-native, and that honeybees do draw a few lbs of nectar and pollen every day from the environment (up to a 3 mile radius from their hive), but it's unclear how much of that nectar and pollen is surplus from the plants or removed such that local bees experience pressure.
Planting a garden does rob the local ecosystem. Even purely native gardens lack the diversity, in particular mycodiversity, of undisturbed areas. While long term native planting can move an area back toward endemic biodiversity, it is rarely or never achieved (I'm not aware of any well-cited claims to the contrary).
It is similarly naive to view the introduction of a species through the lens of pollen quantity being 'surplus' or 'enough'. The presence of rival pollinators affects native insects whether or not there is a shortage of food - for example by discouraging presence, by occupying nesting sites, by altering endemic predation webs, and similar.
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Now, maybe all of this is already such a trivial amount of bandwidth that it's barely a rounding error to save it - but the possibilities it opens up for telemetry in remote regions are fascinating.
Not sure why this is news. Starlink is known to be rolling out mobile support to certain regions. Due to spectrum licencing this is working with local telcos not a Starlink retailed service.
Direct-to-Cell probably can't resolve smaller than the cell. I found mixed results if they use the 25 mi cells or if they use the whole dish, hundreds of miles.
I don't know if they actually do this, I guess not. And it would not be simple to do. But I'm sure it can be done. There's enough information available.
But this is a different service.
Swarm's network was very incomplete, there were hours of no coverage at all. I think that they just bought it to remove a potential competitor.
- https://starlinkinsider.com/starlink-iot/
[1] https://www.starlink.com/business/direct-to-cell ("Empowering Mobile and IoT Connectivity" section)
Swarm has transformed to Starlink DTC.
The satellite designer is the same person.
I believe the old spectrum is used for TT&C/PNT
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The European honey bee is not a native species in New Zealand or Australia. Well meaning naive people think hosting bees is a great idea. The reality is it robs the native insect population of a food source.
Native pollinators have different life cycles and different plants they evolved to get food from. Honeybees, likewise, will only visit some flowering plants. That may increase competition for scarce resources, or it may not.
You are correct that honeybees are non-native, and that honeybees do draw a few lbs of nectar and pollen every day from the environment (up to a 3 mile radius from their hive), but it's unclear how much of that nectar and pollen is surplus from the plants or removed such that local bees experience pressure.
It is similarly naive to view the introduction of a species through the lens of pollen quantity being 'surplus' or 'enough'. The presence of rival pollinators affects native insects whether or not there is a shortage of food - for example by discouraging presence, by occupying nesting sites, by altering endemic predation webs, and similar.