|
| Technology | Indoor usability | Outdoor usability | Basic aspects |
|
| 5G | Yes, perhaps with Distributed Antenna Systems (DASs) | Yes, about 10-15 miles | (i) Evolving, not yet widely deployed
(ii) Several bands, low latency, high sensor density
(iii) Cellular network architecture
(iv) Licensed spectrum, 0.01 Mbps in some implementations, battery ~10 years
(v) Broadband features available for surveillance/multimedia
(vi) Cost-effective
(vii) Expected to be available worldwide
(viii) Building penetration may need Distributed Antenna Systems (DASs) |
|
| NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) | Yes | Yes, up to about 20miles | (i) Several bands, licensed spectrum
(ii) LTE-based
(iii) 0.1-0.2 Mbps data rates, battery ~10+ years
(iv) Low cost, low modem complexity, low power, energy saving mechanisms (high battery life)
(v) Does not require a gateway: sensor data is sent directly to the destination server (other IoT systems typically have gateways that aggregate sensor data, which then communicate with the destination server)
(vi) Reasonable building penetration (improved indoor coverage)
(vii) Large number of low throughput devices (up to 150,000 devices per cell) |
|
| LTE-M (Long-Term Evolution Machine Type Communications) Rel 13 (Cat M1/Cat M) | Yes | Yes, about 10-20 miles | (i) Cellular network architecture, LTE compatible, easy to deploy, new cellular antennas not required
(ii) Uses 4G-LTE bands below 1GHz, licensed spectrum
(iii) Considered the second generation of LTE chips aimed at IoT applications
(iv) Caps maximum system bandwidth at 1.4 MHz (as opposed to Cat-0’s 20 MHz), thus is cost-effective for Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) applications such as smart metering, where only small amount of data transfer is required.
(v) 1 Mbps upload/download, battery ~10 years
(vi) Relatively low complexity and low power modem
(vii) Can be used for tracking moving objects (Location services provided through cell tower mechanisms) |
|
| LoRa | Yes | Yes (6-15 miles with LOS) | (i) Band below 1 GHz
(ii) IoT-focused from the get-go
(iii) Proprietary
(iv) Low power |
|
| Sigfox | Somewhat limited | Yes (30 miles in rural environments; 1-6 miles in city environments) | (i) Band below 1 GHz
(ii) Narrowband
(iii) Low power
(iv) Star topology |
|
| Wi-Fi | Yes, 300 feet | To some degree, requires inter-spot connectivity backbone (wired or wireless) (e.g., 802.11ah: distance range up to about 1/2 mile) | (i) Several bands
(ii) In 2018 the FCC allowed the expansion of the 6 GHz band to next-generation Wi-Fi devices with 1.2 GHz of additional spectrum spanning 5.925 to 7.125 GHz (current Wi-Fi networks operate at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz with a few vendors offering 60 GHz “WiGig”, this having a range of 30 feet -- IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay.)
(iii) High adoption; most (but not all) indoor IoT utilize Wi-Fi; good functionality
(iv) Free “air time”
(v) Subject to interference: malicious or non-malicious interference (e.g., too many hot spots) could impair the sensor from sending data either on a fine-grain or coarse-grain basis |
|
| Bluetooth | Yes, 30 feet | No (or for Personal Area only) | (i) Low bandwidth (2 Mbps)
(ii) Used in medical devices and industrial sensors Low power, good for wearables
(iii) Usable for Real time location systems with medium accuracy |
|
| Zigbee | Yes (30-300 feet) | No (or for Personal Area only) | (i) Low data rate
(ii) Industrial and some home applications (e.g., home energy monitoring, wireless light switches)
(iii) Low transmit power/Low battery consumption |
|
