Smart city is the full application of new generation information technology in various industries in cities, achieving deep integration of informatization, industrialization and urbanization, and alleviating the shortage of medical, educational, transportation resources and environmental problems caused by excessive population concentration. It is reported that the urbanization rate in China was 60.6% in 2019. As the most populous country, China's urbanization process is inevitable in order to narrow the wealth gap in society.
 
With the continuous development of society, the process of global urbanization is advancing with an unstoppable trend. By 2050, nearly 70% of the world's population will live in cities. The problem of 'urban diseases' is becoming increasingly severe. To solve the problems of urban development, achieve sustainable urban development, and build smart cities has become an irreversible historical trend in today's world urban development. So, do you know what a smart city is? What role do smart instruments play in it? Let's first learn about smart cities here!
 
What is a smart city?
 
Smart city is a smarter way to change the way governments, businesses, and people interact with each other by utilizing new generation information technologies centered around the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and other technologies. By sensing, transmitting, integrating, and analyzing key information of the core system of urban operation, we can quickly and intelligently respond to various needs including urban services, environmental protection, and public safety, improve urban operation efficiency, and create a better urban life for people.
 
In recent years, the Chinese government has successively launched and promoted pilot projects for smart cities, releasing policy dividends related to smart cities and attracting a large amount of social capital to accelerate investment. According to IDC's "Global Half Year Smart City Expenditure Guide", the investment scale related to smart city technology in China in 2018 was 20.053 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 15.91%; The investment in smart city technology in China is expected to reach 22.879 billion US dollars in 2019, an increase of 14.09% compared to 20.053 billion US dollars in 2018.
 
In addition, the editor learned that according to the plan from 2016 to 2020, China aims to cultivate 100 new smart cities. The construction of smart cities mainly includes the following aspects:
 
Firstly, there is the perception terminal layer, which obtains comprehensive urban system data through deep perception; Next is the communication network layer, which is the infrastructure of the communication network. Including fixed broadband, mobile networks, Internet of Things, private networks, etc., as pipelines for information and data transmission; Furthermore, there is the service platform layer, which is the data platform infrastructure used to store, exchange, and analyze data information, transforming it into knowledge through highly shared and intelligent analysis; Finally, there is the urban application layer, which integrates knowledge and information technology into various industries to form wisdom.
 
So, do you know what role smart instruments play in the construction of smart cities?
 
Building a smart city cannot do without intelligent instruments and meters
 
Building a smart city cannot do without intelligent instruments and meters. In the previous text, we learned that building a smart city requires four levels, and instruments and meters are needed in each of these levels. Below, I will list some of them for you to understand.
  
One is the perception terminal layer. To perceive the city, intelligent sensors in instruments and meters are indispensable. As the heart of the Internet of Things, sensors play an important bridging role in the construction of smart cities. It can convert the received information into electrical signals or other required forms of information output according to certain rules to meet the requirements of information processing, storage, display, recording, transmission, and control.
 
The second is the communication network layer. In the construction of communication networks, electronic measuring instruments and meters are indispensable. Communication testing instruments are dedicated to testing communication lines and parameters during communication processes, while signal analysis instruments are used to observe, analyze, and record changes in various electrical signals, such as various oscilloscopes (including analog oscilloscopes and digital oscilloscopes), waveform analyzers, distortion analyzers, harmonic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and logic analyzers.