M2M Communications in the Smart Grid: Applications, Standards, Enabling Technologies, and Research Challenges

Table 1

M2M short range wireless technology (adapted from [6]).

	802.15.4 (ZigBee/6LoWPAN)	Bluetooth/Bluetooth low energy (LE)	802.11 (Wi-Fi)
Max data rate	250 kb/s	3 Mb/s (enhanced); 1 Mb/s (basic or LE)	22 Mb/s (802.11 g); 144 Mb/2 (802.11 n)
Indoor range	10 m–20 m	1 m, 10 m and 100 m classes, 5–15 m (LE)	45 m
Power	Low	Medium low (LE)	High
Battery life	Years	Days years (LE)	Hours
Frequency band	2.4 GHz; 868 MHz and 915 MHz	2.4 GHz	2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, and 5 GHz
Channel access	CSMA/CA (non-beacon based) or superframe structure (beacon based, non-contention)	Frequency hopping or CSMA/CA	CSMA/CA
Applications	Smart appliances	Voice	Networking between WAN and customer premises (M2M area networks)
	Smart meters	Smart meters
	Lighting control	Data transfer	Digital audio/voice
	Home security	Game control
	Office automation	Health monitoring (LE)
		Computer peripheral (LE)