Connect Devices through Low Power WAN Technology

A wireless wide area network called a low-power WAN (LPWAN) connects low-bandwidth, battery-operated devices over large distances at low bit rates.

LPWANs function more cheaply and efficiently than conventional mobile networks since they were designed for machine-to-machine (M2M) and internet of things (IoT) networks. Additionally, they can accommodate more linked devices over a bigger region.

LPWANs support uplink rates of up to 200 Kbps and packet sizes ranging from 10 to 1,000 bytes. Depending on the technology, the long range of an LPWAN ranges from 2 km to 1,000 km.

Similar to Wi-Fi, the majority of LPWANs use a star topology where each endpoint connects directly to shared central access points.

Why is LPWAN technology necessary?

The business case for IoT solutions is strengthened by LPWA Network (LPWAN) technologies, which provide a low-cost, low-power wireless option with global reach and robust built-in security.

Low Power Wide Area technology, as the name suggests, offers low power consumption, long-range wireless connectivity and was developed primarily for M2M and IoT devices.

The Problem

IoT connectivity that is dependable and scalable is essential for IoT to succeed.

Variety of LPWANs

The term "LPWAN" refers to a collection of numerous low-power, wide area network technologies that come in a variety of formats. LPWANs have options for proprietary or open standards as well as licensed or unlicensed frequencies.

One of the most frequently used LPWANs at the moment is the proprietary, unlicensed Sigfox. Only one operator is permitted per nation using the ultra-narrowband technology, which operates via a public network in the 868 MHz or 902 MHz frequencies. Its packet size is restricted to 150 messages of 12 bytes each day, and it can only send messages over distances of 30 to 50 km in rural areas, 3 to 10 km in urban areas, and up to 1,000 km in line-of-site applications. Downlink packets are smaller and are restricted to four 8-byte messages per day. It can also be susceptible to interference when sending data back to endpoints.

Ingenu Inc.'s Random Phase Multiple Access, or RPMA, is a proprietary LPWAN. Despite having a smaller range than Sigfox (up to 50 km line of sight and 5–10 km nonline of sight), it provides superior bidirectional communication. Though it is susceptible to interference from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and physical structures because it operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency. Additionally, it often uses more power than other LPWAN solutions.

The LoRa Alliance has specified and is supporting an unlicensed LoRa technology that uses many sub-gigahertz frequencies to communicate, which reduces the likelihood of interference. With LoRa, a variation on chirp spread spectrum (CSS) modulation, users can specify packet size. While the underlying transceiver chip needed to implement LoRa is open source, Semtech Corporation, the creator of the technology, is the only source for it. The MAC layer protocol known as LoRaWAN controls communication between LPWAN devices and gateways.

Three LPWAN standards have been created by Weightless SIG: Weightless-N, a unidirectional standard, Weightless-P, a bidirectional standard, and Weightless-W, a bidirectional standard that uses unused TV spectrum. Due to the decreased battery life of Weightless-W, Weightless-N and Weightless-P are frequently preferred solutions. Using 12.5 kHz narrowband technology, Weightless-N and Weightless-P operate in the unlicensed sub-1 GHz spectrum while also supporting licensed spectrum operation.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards LTE-M and narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) both use licensed spectrum to operate. They behave similarly to other standards, but because they use the cellular infrastructure that already exists, service providers may easily add cellular IoT connectivity to their service offerings.

NB-IoT, sometimes referred to as CAT-NB1, uses the LTE and GSM networks that are already in place. Utilizing just 200 kHz of available bandwidth, it provides uplink and downlink rates of about 200 Kbps.

LTE-M, sometimes referred to as CAT-M1, provides more bandwidth than NB-IoT and more bandwidth than any other LPWAN technology.

In order to dominate both markets, some vendors, like Orange and SK Telecom, are implementing both licensed and unlicensed technology.

Additional LPWAN technologies are:

• GreenWaves Technologies' GreenOFDM
• Haystack Technologies Inc.'s DASH7
• Link Labs Inc.'s Symphony Link
• Actility ThingPark Wireless
• From a number of firms, including Telensa, Nwave, and Sigfox, comes ultra-narrow band
• WAVIoT

Applications for LPWAN

LPWANs enable a number of M2M and IoT applications, many of which were previously hampered by budgets and power constraints, with lower power requirements, longer ranges, and lower costs than standard mobile networks.

The individual application, including the desired speed, data volumes, and coverage region, will choose which LPWAN to use. Applications needing occasional uplink message delivery of smaller messages are best suited for LPWANs. The majority of LPWAN solutions can also downlink data.

Smart cities, smart metering, smart lighting, asset monitoring and tracking, precision agriculture, livestock monitoring, energy management, manufacturing, and industrial IoT deployments are just a few of the applications that frequently use LPWANs.

LPWAN security

The level of security offered by various LPWAN technology varies. The majority incorporate advanced standard encryption (AES), identity protection, network authentication, message secrecy, and key provisioning.

Future plans for LPWAN

The LPWAN environment is in constant flux because it is a relatively young technology and is still in its infancy. Given the abundance of participants on the market and the lack of knowledge regarding the rate of market expansion, it is difficult to predict who the winner(s) will be. Each LPWAN variant's long-term performance is also unknown because several are still in the early stages of rollout and large-scale real-world testing has not yet been finished.

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