Power to the People

That’s just the beginning. Using emerging software and technologies associated

with the Internet of Things, we can instill intelligence into existing infrastructure

such as a power grid by adding smart devices that can communicate with one

another. Imagine creating a new flexible and secure network quickly and

relatively inexpensively that enables more opportunities for new services, more

participants, and greater economic value.

This configuration is known as a mesh network, that is, a network that

connects computers and other devices directly to one another. They can

automatically reconfigure themselves depending upon availability of bandwidth,

storage, or other capacity and therefore resist breakage or other interruption.

Communities can use mesh networks for basic connectivity where they lack

access or affordable service. Mesh networks are alternatives to traditional top-

down models of organization, regulation, and control; they can provide greater

privacy and security because traffic doesn’t route through a central organization.

Organizations are already combining mesh networks with blockchain

technology to solve complex infrastructure problems. Filament, an American

company, is experimenting with what it calls “taps” on power poles in the

Australian outback. These devices can talk directly to each other at distances of

up to 10 miles. Because the power poles are approximately 200 feet apart, a

motion detector on a pole that’s falling will notify the next pole 200 feet away

that it’s in trouble. If for any reason the tap on that pole isn’t available, it will

communicate with the next pole, or the next pole (up to 10 miles) that will

communicate to the company through the closest Internet backhaul location

(within 120 miles).

With the tap’s twenty-year battery and Bluetooth low energy (BLE)

technology, customers can connect to the devices directly with their own phone,

tablet, or computer. The tap can contain numerous sensors to detect temperature,

humidity, light, and sound, all of which customers could use to monitor and

analyze conditions over time, maybe to develop predictive algorithms on the life

cycle or impending failure of a power pole. Customers could become weatherNodes or meter these data as an information service or license the data

set through the blockchain to another user, such as a government, broadcaster,

pole manufacturer, or environmental agency.

Filament’s business model is a service model involving three parties:

Filament, its integration customer, and the utility company. Filament owns the

hardware; its devices continually monitor the condition of the power poles and

report changes, whether they’re fallen, on fire, or compromised by dust

accumulation or brush fire smoke. Filament sells the sensor data stream to the

integrator, and this integrator sells to the utility.

The utility pays monthly for a monitoring service. The service enables the

power company to eliminate the very expensive field inspection of its

operations. Because power poles rarely fall, the power company rarely uses the

actual communication capability of the mesh network, and so Filament could

deploy the excess capacity of the taps for other uses.

“Since Filament owns the devices, we can sell extra network capacity on top

of this network that spans most of the continent,” said Eric Jennings, Filament’s

cofounder and CEO. “Filament could strike a deal with FedEx to give their

semitrucks the ability to send telemetry data to HQ in real time, over our

network in rural Australia. We add FedEx to the smart contract list, and now

they can pay each device to send data on their behalf.” FedEx drivers could use the mesh network for communications and vehicle tracking across remote areas

to indicate estimated arrival times and breakdowns. The network could alert the

nearest repair facility to dispatch the necessary parts and equipment.

Blockchain technology is critical. This Internet of Things (IoT) application

depends on a Ledger of Things. With tens of thousands of smart poles collecting

data through numerous sensors and communicating that data to another device,

computer, or person, the system needs to continually track everything—

including the ability to identify each unique pole—to ensure its reliability.

“Nothing else works without identity,” said Jennings. “The blockchain for

identity is the core for the Internet of Things. We create a unique path for each

device. That path, that identity, is then stored in the bitcoin blockchain assigned

to Filament. Just like a bitcoin, it can be sent to any address.”

The blockchain (along with smart contracts) also ensures that the devices are paid for so they

continue to work. The Internet of Things cannot function without blockchain

payment networks, where bitcoin is the universal transactional language.