Pictures of the Future      Fall 2005

Networks for Living

Societies function because their members organize themselves and form networks. That’s true of dolphins hunting for food, ants building a nest, bushmen in the wilderness and stockbrokers at the stock exchange

Bushmen in the African savanna, stockbrokers in New York, ant colonies and dolphins have more features in common than most people realize. All of these communities function because they communicate, organize themselves and form networks. That’s the only way social beings can master the challenges posed by their environments. This ageold recipe for success is also being used by modern technology. Thanks to sensors and actuators, as well as software that gives inert objects a measure of intelligence and identity, technical systems are becoming increasingly autonomous. They can also form networks with one another at a higher level with the help of communications technology. In combination, they can then operate faster and more efficiently, flexibly and cost-effectively than their isolated counterparts.

This principle of "added value through intelligent networking" is one of the major trends of the 21st Century. It applies to building technology, industrial automation, merchandise monitoring in logistics, traffic telematics, networking in the health care sector and energy technology. And, of course, the success of the Internet and worldwide radio networks is also due to intelligent networking. In all of these areas, Siemens stands out when it comes to expert solutions. It not only has comprehensive know-how regarding sensors, actuators and the necessary embedded software and communication technologies; even more important, experts at Siemens are also familiar with the needs of their customers in all of these areas.

A Siemens-wide Trend. The trend toward intelligent networking is therefore a common feature of all Siemens Groups, and it makes synergies possible. In turn, the development of sensors, software platforms and communication technologies benefits many Groups (see Pictures of the Future, Fall 2004). For example, self-organizing sensor networks can help to extinguish fires in buildings, produce avalanche warnings or boost the efficiency of offshore wind parks (see  Offshore Wind Parks). "The comprehensive distribution of information and the networking of the world is becoming more of a reality every day," says Prof. Friedemann Mattern of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. "Over the long term, an Internet of inanimate objects is being created. Its operations will seem like invisible magic to us." ( Internet of Things ) In the traffic sector in particular, intelligent networking results in value added, because people’s mobility is continually increasing. In Europe alone, the volume of passenger traffic has increased by more than 18 % since the early 1990s, according to EU statistics. So it’s no wonder that the market for telematics systems is set to grow by leaps and bounds in the future. According to a Frost & Sullivan study, it will increase from its present level of around 3.7 billion € in Europe to 5.8 billion € in 2010 (see  Facts and Forecasts). The global market for traffic telematics is worth about 25 billion €, with growth rates between 6 and 7 % per year. A Siemens solution for the problems of traffic congestion, accidents, environmental pollution and delays in public transportation systems is currently being implemented in the Ruhr region, Europe’s largest conurbation.

At the heart of this solution, known as Ruhrpilot (see  Ruhrpilot: The Road to Telematic Travel), is a central computer that is networked with several thousand sensors. These high-tech measuring stations, which are distributed throughout the region, continuously monitor traffic density, direction and speed and transmit their data to the central computer. There, a comprehensive image of the current traffic situation is compiled for all road users, who can access this information by means of the Internet, mobile phone or vehicle navigation system to plan their travel routes. With the help of simulation calculations, Ruhrpilot can even forecast traffic congestion up to an hour ahead of time. "Thanks to our simulation calculations, we can reduce congestion, bottlenecks and accidents by up to 20 % and CO₂ emissions by as much as 10 %," says Hans-Joachim Schade from Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services. What’s more, the system can determine optimal travel routes via every means of transportation. If drivers can’t reach their destinations by car, they are directed to a parking lot where they can transfer to a bus or a train.

Siemens is also using networked systems in buildings, such as "T-Com Haus" in Berlin. Here, a conventional prefabricated house has been converted into a smart high-tech home (see  T Com House ). In this smart home, the first of its kind in the world, almost all of the technical devices are networked and can communicate with one another—from home automation to security systems. Networked technology also ensures safety in amusement parks (see  Amusement Parks: Wow, I Gotta Ride That) and traffic tunnels, where its use is especially important because accidents inside tunnels can have disastrous consequences. In order to make such accidents things of the past, an intelligent video monitoring system from Siemens has been in operation for a year now in the Giswil Tunnel in Switzerland (see Improving Tunnel Vision). The system can autonomously locate stalled vehicles, congestion and fires. If cameras discover a fire, for example, they transmit this information to other control systems and automatically sound an alarm. That makes the Giswil Tunnel, which is about two kilometers long, the safest and most modern tunnel in Europe.

Networking can significantly lower costs and make processes more effective. Chinese power plant operator Guohua Electric Power Corporation (GEPC) has been enjoying these benefits ever since January 2005, when Siemens installed a cockpit portal in its Beijing headquarters. No comparable system is available in China at this time. The cockpit portal enables GEPC to continuously monitor the situation in its power plants and react much faster than before to tricky situations such as power outages. "The cockpit portal gives us detailed data for the in-depth analyses and high-quality comprehensive images we need for fast management decisions," says Guohua CIO Li Wei. "That’s vital for success in China’s energy market." The control instruments in the power plants are completely networked with the cockpit portal. That allows the system to collect all of the crucial information it needs from the control technology, such as data on fuel management, maintenance and processes. The system graphically processes the data flow on large monitors and automatically informs the user if discrepancies occur in any area. That’s a precious advantage in energy-hungry China. "A sudden shutdown, for example after a fault, can be an expensive proposition for the operator," says Andreas Schimanski from Siemens Power Generation. "That’s why availability conditions of power stations are extremely important." If these conditions cannot be met, the cockpit portal sounds a warning. "That enables the operators to react much faster to discrepancies, for example by redistributing the load at an early stage. This can save them as much as half a million euros a day," he says.