Whitepapers

www.lora-alliance.org A DIGITAL REVOLUTION FOR OIL & GAS FROM SCADA TO INDUSTRIAL IOT Network deployments consist of LoRaWAN end-point devices ornodes, often battery powered for many years, connected wirelessly to gateways that in turn connect to a network server, securely routing data to a digital twin, analytics application or business system. Many thousands of LoRaWAN end-point devices can connect to a gateway that may be located either outdoors on towers or masts, or indoors in buildings providing wide area coverage within a facility in difficult to reach places and even within a vehicle connecting systems, assets and cargo while on the move. The network server can be centrally located in the cloud or on-prem, either as a public or private network and as a single or multi-tenant deployment. The network server authenticates and provides unique keys for end-point devices enabling AES128 encryption at both the network and application layers; manages network communica- tion for best performance and device density;enables seamless mobility, and removes device message dupli- cation received by multiple gateways, which can improve network performance and device battery life. The agility of the open LoRaWAN standard enables the network server to be distributed to the network edge, controlling several gateways in a macro-diversity confi- guration, or residing in the gateway for local decision making, reducing cloud compute and storage costs while improving network resilience and privacy. Edge-compute and core-network virtualization filters out unnecessary and costly communication between gateways and a central network server, and is well suited to deployments where data is being consumed by often isolated on-prem SCADA & Process Control Networks (PCN) without Internet connectivity for security reasons. The vast LoRaWAN ecosystem offers bridge products for many legacy technologies such as RS485 serial, Modbus TCP or 0-10v/ 4-20mA analog interfaces, making it easier to connect existing equipment to the overall IoT infrastructure. O&G companies share many requirements found in other industrial segments, including ingress protection (IP), a wide operating temperature range, and often operate in hazar- dous areas requiring U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC) Class & Division certified equipment. Cost pressures and security concerns heightened as a result of economics and risk aversion , all of which can be accommodated deploying standardized and certified equipment. Three types of certifications are frequently involved in LoRaWAN deployments. The first is country-specific RF regulatory approvals. All U.S. wireless equipment must be FCC (Federal Communications Commission) certified, for example, to ensure compliance with RF emissions and electromagnetic interference guidelines. Other countries have similar certifications. The European Union (EU) provi- des the CE Radio Equipment Directive (RED) certification, which ensures health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold through the EU. The second type of certification involves LoRaWAN spe- cification compliance and is critical to the open standards environment and interoperability. The LoRa Alliance's LoRaWAN CertificationCM Program assures end users that their application-specific end devices will operate on any LoRaWAN network. The program includes a suite of regional tests for operations in various geographic regions. Achieving this certification is important, because many rollouts include several LoRaWAN suppliers, and all must work together for customer success. Look for the LoRaWAN CertifiedCM mark on equipment for assurance it has gone through the proper processes. Beyond those two certifications, the O&G sector often operates within hazardous areas. Receiving certifications for products to safely operate in these areas is important to be a supplier to the energy sector. Most of the world operates according to ATEX/IECEx using their Zone ratings. North America operates on the Class & Division rating prescribed by UL per the NEC articles 500-503. UL ratings are either Class I, II or III, Division 1 or 2, and Groups ranging A through G. Class I is gases, II is dusts, and III is fibers. Division 1 is for ignitable concentrations of the specified Class of product that exist under normal opera- ting conditions. Division 2 involves ignitable concentrations UNIQUE CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS COMMON WITHIN OIL & GAS SEGMENTS

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