Videotron, Ericsson and ÉTS detail first projects taking place in Montréal-based Open Sky Laboratory

A variety of new wireless technology projects are now taking flight in Montréal’s Open Sky Laboratory for Smart Life.

The laboratory is jointly supported by Quebec-based regional carrier Videotron, multinational networking and telecom equipment company Ericsson, public engineering school ÉTS and Montréal’s Quartier de l’innovation (QI) neighbourhood, which hosts the initiative.

While it launched in September 2016, so far the partners note that efforts have focused on just setting up the necessary infrastructure.

Now, the partners have announced they’re readying the lab to welcome its first collaborators and will begin taking online project submissions in the fall of 2017, open to businesses, researchers and members of the public.

Meanwhile, in a press release, the partners detailed their own first projects that are currently taking place in the lab. In one such project, Videotron is testing its Wi-Fi Self-Organizing Network with partner XCellAir. The project aims to turn Wi-Fi access points into a smart network.

Ericsson and Videotron are also installing of a large number of picocells (small LTE cellular base stations) through the lab, and a smart network of Wi-Fi terminals, picocells and LoRa antennas is rolling out in the ÉTS student dorms and within the perimeter of the QI.

Ericsson has also installed and fully developed its ‘AppIoT’ accelerator, a platform that stores information in the cloud prior to analysis, supporting the creation and rapid roll-out of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.

In the press statement, the partners note that projects involving proximity sensing, smart water control and management for public toilets, and Li-Fi wireless light communication are also currently under development.

Source: Newswire