Several of Semtech’s customers have integrated LoRa technology with cloud-based platforms developed by Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud to deploy IoT monitoring applications for Chinese residents in quarantine.
 
This provides healthcare workers with data and insight into community health, allowing more optimised workflows for the distribution of efficient healthcare services during the Covid-19 outbreak.
 
With the Covid-19 outbreak in China and worldwide, the task of monitoring and managing quarantined and isolated personnel remains a critical challenge. Health services employees, including disease control and prevention teams, are increasingly leveraging smarter applications based on IoT to provide efficient, high quality care to their communities.
 
Traditional quarantine methods, including camera usage, door sealing and locking, are limited in effectiveness and typically unable to monitor the status of building exits and entrances effectively. Additionally, these methods require frequent manual inspection, which increases labour costs and exposes maintenance workers to contact with isolated persons.
 
LoRa-based services can bring real-time insight into quarantined buildings and replace manual processes.
 
CIAAIoT and EasyLinkin integrated LoRa-based magnetic door sensors with Alibaba Cloud’s cloud-based application development platform and services to create a smart doorkeeper for efficient building monitoring.
 
IOCA, RisingHF, Winext Technology and LoRa-based device manufacturers collaborated with Tencent Cloud to leverage its LoRa-based door sensors in cloud-based door seal monitoring. These products have successfully been deployed into the residential communities of China’s Hubei province, as well as Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou.
 
Both Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud’s cloud-based monitoring is comprised of a LoRa-based gateway and connected door sensor, and immediately begins the transmission of accurate door use data upon deployment.
 
These LoRa-based applications offer the following features:

• Simple and easy installation, connecting instantly to a network.
• LoRaWan-based connectivity with long-range transmission and deep signal penetration.
• Low power consumption.
• Consistent and reliable round-the-clock remote operation, management and maintenance.
• Real-time reporting of building access changes, reducing the need for manual inspection and increasing management efficiency.
• Simple integration with temperature and humidity sensors, smoke and fire alarms, as well as other smart building applications.

Data collected from the LoRa-based sensors are viewable on Alibaba’s or Tencent’s cloud-based platforms for trend analysis and insight into quarantine effectiveness, as well as enabling the optimisation of personnel management.

In addition to quarantine monitoring, Alibaba and Tencent services offer the capabilities to deploy in shopping mall security, hospital patient care, child safety protection, and other scenarios to monitor the status of door and window use in real time.

“Smarter technologies and IoT applications play an important role in providing high quality health services during Covid-19,” said Mike Wong, vice president of China sales for Semtech. “Semtech’s LoRa devices and LoRaWan protocol provide an easy to use and deploy solution to quickly connect systems and provide optimised, effective healthcare in communities.”