• wireless connectivity
• wired connectivity.
In the majority of the use cases of the platform, wireless communication
is needed. Two types of wireless technologies are
supported: wireless LAN and mobile telephone networks.
The existence of a wireless LAN in the farm permits constant
connectivity for a large number of simultaneous users. The connection
speed can be very satisfactory, as it depends on the speed of
the DSL line. The cost of this option is relatively low, but the need
for maintenance and possible range issues in farms that cover a vast
area constitute drawbacks.
Nevertheless, assuming that all farms are equipped with a
wireless hotspot would not be a sensible and realistic hypothesis.
Network communication could thus be alternatively achieved
through the mobile telephony network. Each user (veterinarian/
farmer) must have an appropriate connection with a mobile
network operator. Both GPRS (2.5G) and UMTS (3G) technologies
are supported. GPRS offers rather low connection speed
(56–114 kbps), whereas UMTS allows connecting at until 3.6 Mbps,
with the latter being a quite expensive service though. For both of
these technologies, the dependence on the mobile network operator
signal strength is obvious.
Despite the existence of different alternatives for wireless communication,
the temporary lack of availability of all of these wireless
alternatives (due to many possible reasons, e.g.weak mobile signal,
problematic or non-existent Wi-Fi, etc.) during the deployment of a
certain application by a farmer or veterinarian in the farm is always
a possibility. For this, the system may function in “off line mode”.
In this way, any modifications destined for the local database, are
temporarily stored in the mobile device, and at a later stage, when
the user has network access, for example through a wired connection
to his personal computer, he can update the database with the
changes accruing from the previous application deployment