On the afternoon of August 21, 2017, a group of people including Wu Jianxiong and Zhu Zongyao, general manager and deputy general manager of Shenergy Group respectively, and Zang Liang and Chen Ziyi, general manager and deputy general manager of Shanghai Gas (Group) Co., Ltd. respectively visited Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (“SIMIT”) and Key Lab of Wireless Sensor Network and Communication (“Key Lab”). This visit was chiefly aimed at inspecting the development of the horizontal project “Research on Application of NB-IoT in Smart Gas — Smart Meter Reading Practice and Verification”, and was also intended to learn about SIMIT’s main IOT (Internet of Things) technologies and applications for both military and civilian uses. The two sides exchange views on application requirements, key technologies and testing methods of long-distance gas meter reading system. Xie Xiaoming, deputy director of SIMIT, Zhang Xinyi, deputy head of Wireless Sensor Network Department of SIMIT, and Yang Yang, director of Key Lab of Wireless Sensor Network and Communication, attended the exchange meeting and arranged for technical personnel to conduct explanation and demonstration on the spot.

With the development of smart city and NB-IoT (Narrow Band-Internet of Things) technologies, Shenergy Group and Shanghai Gas Group had the foresight to predict the huge market prospect of application of NB-IoT technology in long-distance gas meter reading and took the lead in doing joint research with SIMIT in an attempt to make breakthrough in NB-IoT module development, meter integration, and development and application testing of industry testing platform and boost their technical strength and competitiveness on remote meter reading application.

At the exchange meeting, Zhang Xinyi, deputy head of Wireless Sensor Network Department of SIMIT briefed the visitors on major technical breakthroughs on special IOT applications in recent years as well as various kinds of sensors, transmission equipment, information processing equipment and application platforms applied in national forest fire prevention. Yang Yang, director of Key Lab, reported on general information about “South-to-North Water Diversion Project” including sensors, monitoring equipment and other key technologies used in that project, basic situation of “Fuzhou Internet of Things Open Lab”, and future planning on testing and certification of key NB-IoT technologies. Wang Haowen, deputy head of Testing Service Department of Key Lab of Wireless Sensor Network and Communication, detailed the progress on research and development of the project of “Research on Application of NB-IoT in Smart Gas — Smart Gas Meter Reading Practice and Verification”, including research results on independently developed NB-IoT based smart gas terminal module and NB-IoT third-party industry testing platform for gas industry.

In the lab, the project team demonstrated the whole process of the proprietary NB module transmitting gas meter readings to proprietary cloud server through NB-IoT networks of two telecom operators including China Telecom and China Unicom for visiting leaders of Shenergy Group and Shanghai Gas Group. The project team also used the independently developed NB-IoT gas industry testing platform to test power consumption and other non-signaling indicators of NB module.

Both sides agreed that the research and development of the project met project schedule and both sides would strengthen cooperation to accelerate the implementation and development of NB-IoT based smart gas project in Shanghai. The successful operation of this joint research project will push the cooperation among Shenergy Group, Shanghai Gas Group and SIMIT to a new high.