Smart Light Poles Illuminate Future Cities

Source: People’s daily

In recent years, smart light poles have gradually appeared on the streets of many cities. Different from the traditional street lamp, the smart lamp pole integrates the hardware such as surveillance camera, 5G micro-base station and security alarm. Through information perception and big data interaction technology, it can realize functions such as intelligent lighting, intelligent traffic and information release. With batch after batch of smart light poles put into use everywhere, the smart city has a new scene.

People in many places have noticed that some street lamps have grown cameras, display screens and solar panels at some point. Besides providing lighting, they also have wireless Internet, broadcasting, charging and parking fees. This kind of multifunctional intelligent light pole is widely used in urban construction. The arrival of 5G era makes the significance of intelligent light pole more prominent.5G base stations are required to use high frequency communication and support large capacity and high speed, making it necessary for a large number of small base stations to complete denser network coverage in the 5G era. As a homogeneous urban infrastructure, light poles are favored.

"Multi-purpose" smart light pole not only saves energy, but also reduces the occupation of urban land and promotes the efficient use of resources. At the same time, in some cities, smart street light poles also have weather stations, air quality monitoring and other functions, giving consideration to environmental protection needs. The picture of intelligent life is unfolding. If the smart speaker is becoming an entrance to the smart life of the family, the smart light pole may become an important entrance and node of the new generation of urban information infrastructure.

The integration and utilization of various resources on the smart light pole enriches people's imagination of the future smart city. From mobile payments to e-government, from smart homes to smart light poles, smart cities are opening their doors. In some visions, the new city will integrate the Internet of things, the Internet, artificial intelligence and other technologies into an organism where information flows in real time. The lights in the home are automatically switched on and off according to sleep conditions, the driverless car can automatically plan the route, and health indicators are directly connected to the hospital...The linkage operation of all links enables the city to better realize "on demand", which greatly improves the efficiency of urban operation and the convenience of life.

Smart cities not only integrate technology, but also embody value. New urban construction improves the relationship between people and cities by improving hardware facilities. For example, the smart street lamp can automatically adjust the brightness according to the traffic flow, and can also have functions such as fault alarm and remote meter reading, which can greatly save power resources and reduce maintenance costs. Intelligent transportation can help people quickly grasp the vehicle and road conditions, optimize travel plans, and reduce the waste of public resources. Sustainable development is the direction of urban construction. It is an important "wisdom" of urban construction to promote green urban development through scientific and technological means so as to enhance residents' happiness.

At present, urban governance is upgrading from "hardware" to "software". One of the reasons why smart infrastructure such as smart light poles can be popularized is that fine management is becoming a universal requirement of urban governance. By improving the "city brain", accumulating the underlying data and optimizing the management algorithm, we can greatly improve the efficiency of urban governance. Of course, it is also important to note that the smart light poles and other infrastructure projects will have to rely on smart connectivity and urban renewal. Considering both commercial benefits and public finances, these projects are bound to face many challenges. Starting from a small smart light pole and making full use of the technological dividend of The Times, we can surely collect the great wisdom of urban construction and light up the future life.