| APrIGF 2025 Session Proposal Submission Form | |||||||||||||
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| Part 1 - Lead Organizer | |||||||||||||
| Contact Person | |||||||||||||
| Mr. Matthew J | |||||||||||||
| Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) * | |||||||||||||
| Distant Curve | |||||||||||||
| Designation | |||||||||||||
| Managing Director | |||||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Male | |||||||||||||
| Economy of Residence | |||||||||||||
| Australia | |||||||||||||
| Stakeholder Group | |||||||||||||
| Private Sector | |||||||||||||
| Part 2 - Session Proposal | |||||||||||||
| Session Title | |||||||||||||
| Powering Sustainable Connectivity: curveIQ's Low-Cost Solution for Remote Telecom Sites | |||||||||||||
| Thematic Track of Your Session | |||||||||||||
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| Description of Session Formats | |||||||||||||
| The Pitch (20 minutes) | |||||||||||||
| Where do you plan to organize your session? | |||||||||||||
| Onsite at the venue (with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants) | |||||||||||||
| Specific Issues for Discussion | |||||||||||||
| Remote telecommunications infrastructure in underserved areas faces critical sustainability challenges. Solar-powered sites, vital for connectivity, grapple with high failure rates and operational costs driven by battery degradation and inefficient energy management. Traditional approaches struggle with harsh environments (e.g., high heat, humidity, variable sunlight) and complex battery chemistries like Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) or Lead Acid. Key issues include: 1. Premature Battery Failure: Dominated by calendar aging accelerated by temperature extremes and suboptimal state-of-charge management, leading to frequent, costly replacements and site downtime. 2. Energy Inefficiency: Significant power wasted on unnecessary active cooling (e.g., air conditioning) and inefficient charging/float strategies, demanding larger, costlier solar arrays and batteries. 3. Operational Complexity & Cost: Maintaining cell balance in battery banks and managing sites remotely is complex, requiring skilled technicians and increasing operational expenditure (OPEX), hindering deployment in low-resource economies. This session will introduce curveIQ, an overarching control system designed to tackle these issues head-on. We will discuss its field-tested, algorithmic approach to thermal management using passive cooling, depth-of-discharge optimization using cloud forecasts, intelligent cell balancing, and efficient float strategies. We will also discuss its other capabilities, including direct innovations pertaining to telecommunications site security and redundancy. The focus is on how these innovations demonstrably extend hardware lifespan, reduce energy waste, lower OPEX, and enhance site resilience, making remote telecom deployments more viable and sustainable across diverse economic contexts. |
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| Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF | |||||||||||||
| curveIQ directly contributes to APrIGF's core theme of fostering an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient Internet across the Asia Pacific. Its relevance lies in: 1. Enabling Connectivity in Underserved Areas: By dramatically improving the reliability and reducing the lifetime cost of solar-powered telecom sites – the backbone of connectivity in remote/rural regions – curveIQ tackles a fundamental barrier to universal access. This aligns with tracks focused on Access & Inclusion and Infrastructure & Technology. 2. Promoting Sustainable Internet Infrastructure: The system optimizes energy use, minimizes electronic waste through extended hardware lifespan (particularly critical batteries), and leverages renewable energy more efficiently. This contributes directly to discussions on Environmental Sustainability and Green ICT within Internet governance. 3. Cost-Effective & Adaptable Solutions: Designed with affordability and broad applicability in mind (sub-$250 hardware cost, flexible subscription model), curveIQ offers a practical pathway for deployment in developing economies. Its integration with open-source tools (like Home Assistant via MQTT) lowers barriers and fosters local innovation, supporting Capacity Building and Community Networks themes. Expected Outcomes: Attendees will gain a clear understanding of a novel, field-proven solution addressing critical infrastructure sustainability challenges. The session will: * Highlight the impact of intelligent control systems on reducing digital divides. * Stimulate discussion on policy and investment needs to support such sustainable, low-OPEX technologies. * Spark potential collaborations for deploying curveIQ within the APAC region, fostering partnerships between innovators, operators, and communities to build more resilient and accessible networks. |
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| Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right) | |||||||||||||
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| Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) - (Required) | |||||||||||||
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| Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session. | |||||||||||||
| Matthew owns Distant Curve and developed the technology. | |||||||||||||
| Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2025. | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2025? | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Upon evaluation by the Program Committee, your session proposal may only be selected under the condition that you will accept the suggestion of merging with another proposal with similar topics. Please state your preference below: | |||||||||||||
| Yes, I am willing to work with another session proposer on a suggested merger. | |||||||||||||
| Brief Summary of Your Session | |||||||||||||
| CurveIQ is a smart, autonomous system that keeps solar-powered sites running in the world’s toughest remote places. Built by Distant Curve, an Australian telecom firm, it manages off-grid power for networks in Northern Territory deserts where sites are 4–5 days’ drive plus hours of hiking away. Heat tops 40–50°C; one unplanned visit costs $10,000. Without power, there is no internet, no customers, no business. CurveIQ uses nine low-cost ESP32 devices linked by Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to watch batteries, panels, temperature, security, and gear. It supervises ordinary equipment, not replaces it—if CurveIQ fails, the site keeps running in basic mode. Total build cost: a fraction of the $50,000++ for industrial SCADA. Batteries normally die in 2–3 years in heat. CurveIQ makes them last 8+ years. It counts every amp-hour, charges gently, avoids daily full cycles on lithium cells, and tapers voltage to 3.41 V at the end. A proprietary algorithm predicts failure months ahead, turning emergencies into planned swaps. One 2016 deployment hit 99.999% uptime over 8 years across seven microwave towers. The system reads weather forecasts via Home Assistant. Before cloudy days, it tops up batteries and sheds non-essential loads, stretching 7-day autonomy to 14–20 days. At night it runs fans when outside air is cooler, cutting average battery temperature and doubling life per the Arrhenius rule. Security uses mm-wave radar to spot humans, not kangaroos. Cameras activate only on alert, saving power and satellite data. Voice warnings announce “Person detected at site 888”; SMS/push alerts reach operators anywhere. All control traffic is encrypted, VPN-protected, and separated from customer data. In crises—say lightning kills charge controllers—CurveIQ instantly calculates runtime, drops cameras and fans, powers radios only when needed, flips on backup 5.8 GHz links, and auto-restarts gear via relays. Sub-nodes run independently if the main brain is offline. Open-source at its core (ESPHome, Home Assistant), CurveIQ accepts community upgrades and future AI without new hardware. Distant Curve shares BLE libraries and Victron VE.Direct control on GitHub while keeping battery algorithms proprietary. Beyond telecom, it powers remote clinics, science stations, disaster Wi-Fi, farms, and wildlife monitors—any solar site where distance and heat make visits costly. Partnered with APNIC Foundation, it advances digital inclusion for 100,000+ people across Asia-Pacific. CurveIQ turns impossible remote ops into reliable, affordable reality. One prevented emergency pays for dozens of units. It is resilient, upgradable, and built for the real world. |
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| Substantive Summary of the Key Issues Raised and the Discussion | |||||||||||||
| In my 20-minute session, I introduced CurveIQ, an autonomous off-grid power management system developed by Distant Curve in partnership with the APNIC Foundation. I began by outlining the extreme operational challenges in Northern Australia: solar-only sites 4–5 days’ drive plus hours of hiking from base, in 40–50°C heat, where one unplanned visit costs $10,000. Power failure means no communications, lost customers, and business collapse—comparable to managing a Mars rover with full situational awareness and zero-intervention autonomy. This problem spans the Asia-Pacific, from remote communities to island nations. I explained CurveIQ as a supervisory edge-computing network of nine ESP32 devices using Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi, built on open-source ESPHome and Home Assistant. It enhances commodity equipment without being a single point of failure. I highlighted our GitHub contributions (github.com/EasilyBoredEngineer), including BLE libraries and full Victron VE.Direct control, while retaining proprietary battery health algorithms. Focusing on battery science, I shared how CurveIQ extends AGM life to 8 years in 45°C conditions using precision shunts, 16-bit ADCs, Coulomb counting, Peukert’s equation, and predictive state-of-health modeling—demonstrating 99.9% SoC accuracy after 360 partial cycles. For LFP, we avoid daily full charges, tapering voltage to 3.41V to reduce SEI growth, yielding 20–50% lifespan gains. A “thermal diode” with six sensors and PID fans cools batteries at night, doubling life per Arrhenius. I demonstrated real-world intelligence: weather API integration pre-charges before cloud events and sheds loads, extending 7-day autonomy to 14–20 days. Security uses mm-wave radar to trigger cameras and voice alerts only on human detection, saving power and bandwidth. In failures like lightning strikes, CurveIQ auto-sheds loads, activates backup links, and restarts gear via relays—sub-nodes run independently for defense-in-depth resilience. Results from a 2016 central Australia deployment: 99.999% uptime over 8 years across seven towers, construction in hours, OTA updates, and cost under $500 versus tens of thousands for SCADA. I emphasized broader applications—clinics, research, disaster relief, agriculture—and alignment with APNIC’s 2025–2028 goals for 100,000+ connected, 1 million digitally included, and policy impact in 10+ economies. I closed with a call to explore our open-source code, demo videos, and contact us for tailored deployments. |
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| Conclusions and Suggestions of Way Forward | |||||||||||||
| These are suggestions regarding the way forward. 1. Launch ten APNIC or externally funded mentoring programmes in 2026 across Pacific islands, rural Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, targeting community Wi-Fi, tele-medicine fridges, and disaster hubs. Define KPIs: uptime ≥99.99 %, battery interval ≥7 years, zero unplanned visits. 2. Publish public GitHub roadmap: Q1 2026—ML anomaly detection for battery degradation; Q3 2026—regional satellite solar yield forecasting. Establish CurveIQ Special Interest Group under Home Assistant. 3. Partner with Ausaid? APNIC? IEEE? off-grid solar reference design. Secure CE, FCC, RCM certification for node kits to simplify NGO/government procurement. 4. Roll out tiered offerings: Community Edition (Not for Prodit), Enterprise Kit with proprietary algorithms and 3-year support, Managed Service with 24/7 NOC monitoring. Target R&D break-even in 18 months via mining, utilities, defence. 5. Develop 2-day APNIC Academy-certified train-the-trainer course; deliver to 200 regional technicians by 2027, building self-sustaining installer ecosystem. 6. Present case studies at APRICOT 2026 and PACNOG 34 to embed CurveIQ compliance in universal service obligations, unlocking subsidies for rural roll-outs. 7. Track sustainability metrics—CO₂ avoided via fewer replacements and flights—and publish annual reports targeting 100 tonnes CO₂e saved per 100 sites by 2028. By executing this roadmap, CurveIQ will become the de facto standard for remote infrastructure, making reliable connectivity practical, affordable, and sustainable where it was previously impossible—while fostering an open, evolving ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders long-term. |
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| Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||||||
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| Gender Balance in Moderators/Speakers (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||||||
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| How were gender perspectives, equality, inclusion or empowerment discussed? Please provide details and context. | |||||||||||||
| Context within the session: These points were woven into Slides 3 (APNIC partnership), 12 (beyond telecom), and 13 (call to action). The presenter framed CurveIQ not just as telecom infrastructure, but as enabling technology for social transformation—a narrative that inherently supports gender equality through universal access, though without gender-disaggregated examples or explicit policy language. Conclusion: While not a focal point, gender equality and women’s empowerment were implicitly supported through CurveIQ’s role in delivering resilient, inclusive digital infrastructure to marginalized regions. Future presentations could strengthen this by citing gender-specific use cases (e.g., women-led health cooperatives using CurveIQ-powered telehealth) or partnering with UN Women or GSMA to measure female / diverse beneficiary impact. |
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| Consent | |||||||||||||
 I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2025. |
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