Module 4
Module 4
Module 4
Figure 4.1 The operational part of IEEE 8025.4's protocol stack in comparison to the OSI
stack
The direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) modulation technique is used in IEEE 802.15.4
for communication purposes, enabling a wider bandwidth of operation with enhanced
security by the modulating pseudo-random noise signal. This standard exhibits high
tolerance to noise and interference and offers better measures for improving link
reliability. Typically, the low-speed versions of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard use binary
phase shift keying (BPSK), whereas the versions with high data rate implement offset
quadrature phase shift keying (O-QPSK) for encoding the message to be
communicated. Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) is
the channel access method used for maintaining the sequence of transmitted signals
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and preventing deadlocks due to multiple sources trying to access the same channel.
Temporal multiplexing enables access to the same channel by multiple users or nodes
at different times in a maximally interference-free manner.
The IEEE 802.15.4 standard [2] utilizes infrequently occurring and very short
packet transmissions with a low duty cycle (typically, < 1%) to minimize the power
consumption. The minimum power level defined is —3 dBm or 0.5 mW for the radios
utilizing this standard. The transmission, for most cases, is line of sight (LOS),
with the standard transmission range varying between 10 m to 75 m. The best-case
transmission range achieved outdoors can be up to 1000 m.
This standard typically defines two networking topologies: 1) Star and 2) mesh.
There are seven variants identified with in IEEE 802.15.4—A, B. C, D, E, F, and G.
Variants A/B are the base versions, C is assigned for China, and D for Japan. Variants E,
F, and G are assigned respectively for industrial applications, active RFID (radio
frequency identification) uses, and smart utility systems.
The IEEE 802.15.4 standard supports two types of devices: 1) reduced function
device (RFD) and 2) full function devices (FFD). FFDs can talk to all types of devices
and support full protocol stacks. However, these devices are costly and energy -
consuming due to increased requirements for support of full stacks. In contrast, RFDs
can only talk to an FFD and have lower power consumption requirements due to
minimal CPU/RAM requirements. Figure 7.2 shows the device types and network
types supported by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
Figure 4.2 The various device and network types supported in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard
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The IEEE 802.15.4 standard supports two network types: 1) Beacon -enabled
networks and 2) non-beacon-enabled networks. The periodic transmission of beacon
messages characterizes beacon-enabled networks. Here, the data frames sent via
slotted CSMA/CA with a superframe structure managed by a personal area network
(PAN) coordinator. These beacons are used for synchronization and association of
other nodes with the coordinator. The scope of operation of this network type spans
the whole network.
In contrast, for non-beacon-enabled networks, unslotted CSMA/CA (contention-
based) is used for transmission of data frames, and beacons are used only for link
layer discovery. This network typically requires both source and destination IDs of the
communicating nodes. As the IEEE 802.15.4 is primarily a mesh protocol, all protocol
addressing must adhere to mesh configurations such that there is a decentralized
communication amongst nodes.
Figure 4.3 shows the frame types associated with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
Beacon frames are used for signaling and synchronization; data transmission is
done through the data frames; and message reception is confirmed using th e
acknowledgment frames. MAC and command frames are used for association
requests/responses, dissociation requests, data requests, beacon requests, coordinator
realignment, and orphan notifications.
Figure 4.3 Various frame types supported in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard
7.3 Zigbee
The Zigbee radio communication is designed for enabling wireless personal area
networks (WPANs). It uses the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for defining its physical and
medium access control (layers 1 and 2 of the OSI stack). Zigbee finds common usage
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in sensor and control networks [4]. It was designed for low-powered mesh networks at
low cost, which can be broadly implemented for controlling and monitoring
applications, typically in the range of 10-100 meters [3]. The PHY and MAC layers in
this communication are designed to handle multiple low data rate operating devices.
The frequencies of 2.4 GHz, 902-928 MHz or 868 MHz are commonly associated with
Zigbee WPAN operations. The Zigbee commonly uses 250 kbps data rate which is
optimal for both periodic and intermittent full-duplex data transmission between two
Zigbee entities.
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A network can be significantly extended in the Zigbee mesh and tree topologies by using
multiple routers where the root of the topology is the coordinator. These configurations
allow any Zigbee device or node to communicate with any other adjacent node. In
case of the failure of one or more nodes, the information is automatically
forwarded to other devices through other functional devices. In a Zigbee cluster tree
network, a coordinator is placed in the leaf node position of the cluster, wh ich is, in turn,
connected to a parent coordinator who initiates the entire network.
A typical Zigbee network structure can consist of three different device types,
namely the Zigbee coordinator, router, and end device, as shown in Figure 7.4. Every
Zigbee network has a minimum of one coordinator device type who acts as the root;
it also functions as the network bridge. The coordinator performs data handling and
storing operations. The Zigbee routers play the role of intermediate nodes that connect
two or more Zigbee devices, which may be of the same or different types. Finally, the
end devices have restricted functionality; communication is limited to the parent nodes.
This reduced functionality enables them to have a lower power consumption requirement,
allowing them to operate for an extended duration. There are provisions to operate
Zigbee in different modes to save power and prolong the deployed network lifetime.
The PHY and MAC layers of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard are used to build the
protocol for Zigbee architecture; the protocol is then accentuated by network and
application layers designed especially for Zigbee. Figure 7.5 shows the Zigbee protocol
stack. The various layer of the Zigbee stack are as follows.
Figure 7.5 The Zigbee protocol stack in comparison to the OSI stack
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Physical Layer: This layer is tasked with transmitting and receiving signals, and
performing modulation and demodulation operations on them, respectively. The
Zigbee physical layer consists of 3 bands made up of 27 channels: the 2.4 GHz
band has 16 channels at 250 kbps the 868.3 MHz has one channel at 20 kbps; and
the 902-928 MHz has ten channels at 40 kbps.
MAC Layer: This layer ensures channel access and reliability of data
transmission. CSMA-CA is used for channel access and intra -channel
interference avoidance. This layer handles communication synchronization
using beacon frames.
Network Layer: This layer handles operations such as setting up the network,
connecting and disconnecting the devices, configuring the devices, and routing.
Application Support Sub-Layer: This layer handles the interfacing services,
control services, bridge between network and other layers, and enables the
necessary services to interface with the lower layers for Zigbee device object
(ZDO) and Zigbee application objects (ZAO). This layer is primarily tasked with
data management services and is responsible for service-based device matching.
Application Framework: Two types of data services are provided by the
application framework: provision of a key-value pair and generation of generic
messages. A key-value pair is used for getting attributes within the application
objects, whereas a generic message is a developer-defined structure.
Zigbee handles two-way data transfer using two operational modes: 1) Non -
beacon mode and 2) beacon mode. As the coordinators and routers monitor the active
state of the received data continuously in the non-beacon mode, it is more power-
intensive. In this mode, there is no provision for the routers and coordinators to sleep.
In contrast, a beacon mode allows the coordinators and routers to launch into a very
low-power sleep state in the absence of data communication from end devices. The
Zigbee coordinator is designed to periodically wake up and transmit beacons to the
available routers in the network. These beacon networks are used when there is a need
for lower duty cycles and more extended battery power consumption.
4.4 Thread
Thread is built upon the IEEE 802.15.4 radio standard; it is used for extremely low
power consumption and low latency deployments [5]. Unlike Zigbee, Thread can
extend direct Internet connectivity to the devices it is connected with. Thread removes
the need for a mobile phone or a proprietary gateway to be in the range of devices
for accessing the Internet. It is specially designed for IoT with the need for interoperability,
security, power, and architecture addressed in a single radio platform. Figure 4.6 shows
the comparison of the Thread stack against the standard ISO-OSI stack. Thread is built
on open standards to achieve a low-power wireless mesh networking protocol with
universal Internet Protocol (IP) support. The standard is easy to set up and simple to use; it
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can reliably connect thousands of devices to the Internet or a cloud with no single point of
failure.
Figure 4.6 The functional protocol stack of Thread in comparison to the OSI stack
It has the distinctive feature of self-healing and reconfiguration in the event of the addition or
removal of a device. Figure 4.7 shows the Thread network architecture.
Thread enables IoT interoperability by utilizing a certification application that validates a
device's conformance to the specification as well as its interoperability against multiple
certified stacks. This feature ensures the resilience of connectivity, even with diverse
networks, in turn enabling its users to have consistent operational experience.
Empowering low-power wireless devices with IP connectivity enables Thread to
seamlessly accommodate itself with larger IP-based networks and be a robust option for
most IoT applications such as smart homes/buildings, connected vehicles, and others. This
feature of Thread devices removes the need for Internet-enabled proprietary gateways and
cross-stack translators for connection between other technologies. The additional benefits
of this feature include better resilience to single point of failures, highly economical
deployments, less complex infrastructure, and enhanced IoT end-to-end device security on
the Internet.
Thread devices can use common infrastructure similar to Wi-Fi networks and can
connect directly to smartphones or computers if they are on the same IP network,
without any additional setup for Thread.
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Figure 4.7 Outline of the Thread network architecture (from end devices to the cloud)
4.5 ISA100.11A
The ISA100.11A is a very low power communication standard and has been developed and
managed by ISA (International Society of Automation) [7]. Similar to the previous
protocols, it uses the IEEE 802.15.4 standard as a base for building its protocol. The
standard was mainly proposed for industrial plant automation systems. The
ISA100.11A is characterized by an IoT compliant protocol stack, which can also be
integrated with wired networks using Ethernet, support for open access protocols and
device-level interoperability; it boasts of a 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption
Standard) encryption securing all communications. The security in ISA100.11A is in
two layers: Transport layer and data link layer. ISA100.11A provides extensive support
for IPv6 and UDP and uses TDMA (time-division multiple access)-based resource
sharing with CSMA-CA. Both IPv6 and UDP as well as star topologies are
supported by this standard. The utilization of IPv6 provides certain distinct benefits
to ISA100.11A, such as increased address sizes, enhanced IPSec-based security measures,
savings in network bandwidth by virtue of multicasting and auto address configuration.
An ISA100.11A wireless network utilizes the 2.4 GHz frequency band for
communication, similar to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. To avoid interference over wireless
channels in the same band, it uses frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) over a total
of 16 channels. A definitive feature of this protocol is channel blacklisting, which blacklists
the channels already in use by other protocols. This enables the protocol to perform
even better by further achieving immunity from interference. Figure 4.8
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Figure 4.9 The ISA100.11A protocol stack in comparison to the OSI stack
Physical Layer: It is built upon the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard. The physical
layer communicates on the 2.4 GHz frequency band using a DSSS (direct
sequence spread spectrum) modulation.
Data Link Layer: It handles the creation, maintenance, and forwarding
packet functionalities in addition to typical MAC functionalities. Additionally,
it is responsible for operations dealing with the structure of the data packet,
formation of the frame, detecting the error, and bus arbitration. A data link
control (DLC) layer in ISA100.11A, which uses a graph -based routing, is
responsible for specific distinctive functions such as adaptive channel hopping,
detection and recovery of message loss, and clock synchronization.
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4.5 WirelessHART
WirelessHART can be considered as the wireless evolution of the highway addressable
remote transducer (HART) protocol [7]. It is a license-free protocol, which was
developed for networking smart field devices in industrial environments. The lack
of wires makes the adaptability of this protocol significantly advantageous over
its predecessor, HART, in industrial settings. By virtue of its highly encrypted
communication, wireless HART is very secure and has several advantages over
traditional communication protocols. Similar to Zigbee, wirelessHART uses the IEEE
802.15.4 standard for its protocols designing.
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The HART encompasses the most number of field devices incorporated in any field
network. WirelessHART makes device placements more accessible and cheaper, such as
the top of a reaction tank, inside a pipe, or widely separated warehouses. The wired and
unwired versions differ mainly in the network, data link, and physical layer. The wired
HART lacks a network layer. HART ensures congestion control in the 2.4 Ghz ISM band
by eliminating channel 26 because of its restricted usage in certain areas. The use of
interference-prone channels is avoided by using channel switching after every
transmission. The transmissions are synchronized using 10 ms time-slots. During each
time-slot, all available channels can be utilized by the various nodes in the network,
allowing for the simultaneous propagation of 15 packets through the network, which also
minimizes the risk of collisions between channels.
A network manager supervises each node in the network and guides them on when and
where to send packets. This network manager allows for collision-free and timely delivery
of packets between a source and the destination. It updates information regarding
neighbors, signal strength, and information needing a delivery receipt. This network
manager also decides which nodes transmit, which nodes listen, and the frequency to
be utilized in each time-slot. It also handles code-based network security and prevents
unauthorized nodes from joining the network.
Figure 7.11 shows the comparison of the wirelessHART protocol stack against the
standard ISO-OSI stack. The various layers of the wirelessHART stack are outlined as
follows:
Figure 4.11 The WirelessHART protocol stack in comparison to the OSI stack
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Physical Layer: The IEEE 802.15.4 standard specification is used for designing
the physical layer of this protocol. Its operation is limited to the use of the 2.4
GHz frequency band. The channel reliability is significantly increased by utilizing
only 15 channels of the 2.4 GHz band.
Data Link Layer: The data link layer avoids collisions by the use of TDMA. The
communication is also made deterministic by the use of superframes.
Network and Transport Layers: The network and the transport layer
work in tandem to address issues of network traffic, security, session
initiation/termination, and routing. WirelessHART is primarily a mesh-based
network, where each node can accept data from other nodes in range and
forward them to the next node. All the devices in its network have an updated
network graph, which defines the routing paths to be taken. Functionally, the OSI
stack's network, transport, and session layers constitute the WirelessHART's network
layer.
4.7 RFID
RFID stands for radio frequency identification. This technology uses tags and readers
for communication. RFID tags have data encoded onto them digitally [8]. The RFID
readers can read the values encoded in these tags without physically touching them.
RFIDs are functionally similar to barcodes as the data read from tags are stored in
a database. However, RFID does not have to rely on line of sight operation, unlike
barcodes.
The automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology can be
considered as the precursor of RFID. Similar to AIDC techniques, RFID systems are
capable of automatically categorizing objects. Categorization tasks such as identifying
tags, reading data, and feeding the read data directly into computer systems through
radio waves outline the operation of RFID systems. Typically, RFID systems are made up
of three components: 1) RFID tag or smart label, 2) RFID reader, and 3) an antenna. Figure
4.12 shows the various RFID components.
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4.8 NFC
Near field communication (NFC) was jointly developed by Philips and Sony as a
short-range wireless connectivity standard, enabling peer-to-peer (P2P) data exchange
network. Communication between NFC devices is achieved by the principle of
magnetic induction, whenever the devices are brought close to one another [9]. NFC
can also be used with other wireless technologies such as Wi -Fi after establishing and
configuring the P2P network. The communication between compatible devices requires
a pair of transmitting and receiving devices. The typical NFC operating frequency
for data is 13.56 MHz, which supports data rates of 106, 212, or 424 kbps. NFC devices
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can be grouped into two types: 1) passive NFC and 2) active NFC. Figure 7.13 shows the
various NFC types, components, and its usage.
A small electric current is emitted by the NFC reader, which creates a magnetic field
that acts as a bridge in the physical space between two NFC devices. The generated
EM (electromagnetic) field is converted back into electrical impulses through another
coil on the client device. Data such as identifiers, messages, currency, status, and
others can be transmitted using NFCs. NFC communication and pairing are speedy
due to the use of inductive coupling and the absence of manual pair ing.
Passive NFC devices do not need a power source for communicating with the NFC
reader. Tags and other small transmitters can act as passive NFC devices. However,
passive devices cannot process information; they simply store information, which is
read by an NFC reader. In contrast, active NFC devices can communicate with active
as well as passive NFC devices. Active devices are capable of reading as well as
writing data to other NFC terminals or devices. Some of the most commonly used
NFC platforms are smartphones, public transport card readers, and commercial touch
payment terminals.
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active NFC device connects to a passive device to read information from it. Finally,
the card emulation mode enables an NFC device (generally, smartphones) to act as a
contactless credit card and make payments using just a simple tap on an NFC reader .
4.9 DASH7
The DASH7 protocol is based on an active RFID standard [10]. It operates in the 433
MHz frequency band and is being rapidly accepted in agriculture, vehicles, mobiles,
and other consumer electronics-related applications. The messages in DASH7 are
modulated using FSK (frequency shift keying) modulation before transmission over the
433 MHz frequency band. A very crucial aspect of DASH7 is its capability to use its 433.92
MHz operational band to enable communications with NFC devices. Recall, as the NFCs
operate in the 13.56 MHz band, they can communicate with DASH7 radios by
temporarily modifying/altering their antenna to access the higher-order harmonics of
the DASH7 band (433.92/13.56 = 32 or 25). Figure 7.14 shows the DASH7 network
architecture.
Compared to the IEEE 802.15.4 and its dependent technologies, the DASH7
protocol has a fully defined and complete OSI stack. This enables the DASH7 stack to be
made adaptable to the physical layers of technologies such as Sigfox or LoRa. The
DASH7 stack includes support for cheap processing systems by virtue of its integrated file
system. Figure 7.15 shows the protocol stack of DASH 7 in comparison to the ISOOSI
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stack. DASH7 gateways can query devices in proximity to it without waiting for pre-
defined time-slots to listen to end-device beacons.
Figure 4.15 The DASH7 protocol stack in comparison to the OSI stack
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4.10 Z-Wave
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Z-wave devices are mostly configured to connect to home -based routers and
access points. These routers and access points are responsible for forwarding Z -
wave messages to a central hub. Z-wave devices can also be configured to connect to
the central hub directly if they are in range. Z-wave routing within the home follows
a source-routed mesh network topology. When the Z-wave devices are not in range,
messages are routed through different nodes to bypass obstructions created by household
appliances or layouts. This process of avoiding radio dead-spots is done using a message
called healing. Healing messages are a characteristic of Z-wave.
A central network controller device sets up and manages a Z-wave network (Figure
7.16), where each logical Z-wave network has one home (network) ID and multiple
node IDs for the devices in it. Each network ID is 4 bytes long, whereas the node
ID length is 1 byte. Z-Wave nodes with different home IDs cannot communicate
with one another. The central hub is designed to be connected to the Internet, but
their quantities are limited to one hub per home. Each home can have multiple
devices, which can talk to the hub using Z-Wave. However, the devices themselves
cannot connect to the Internet. The Z-wave can support 232 devices in a single
home deployment (a single hub). This technology has been designed to be backward
compatible. As Z-wave uses a source-routed static network, mobile devices are
excluded from the network; only static devices are considered.
4.11 Weightless
Weightless is yet another emerging open standard for enabling networked
communication in IoT; it is especially useful for low-power wide area networks [12]. It
was designed for useful for low-power, low-throughput, and moderate to high latency
applications supporting either or both public and private networks. The operating
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frequency of Weightless is restricted to sub-GHz bands, which are also exempted from the
requirements of licensing such as 138 MHz, 433 MHz, 470 MHz, 780 MHz, 868 MHz,
915 MHz, and 923 MHz. Initially, three standards were released for Weightless: Weightless
P, Weightless N, and Weightless W. Weightless P is the only currently accepted and
used standard as it has features for bi-directional communication over both licensed as
well as unlicensed ISM bands. Weightless N was designed as an LWPAN uplink-only
technology, whereas Weightless W was designed to make use of the TV whitespace
frequencies for communication.
As Weightless P was the most commonly adopted and accepted standard among
the three Weightless standards, it came to be referred to merely as Weightless.
Weightless provides a true bi-directional and reliable means of communication,
where each message transaction is validated using an acknowledgment message.
As it was designed initially for dense deployments of low -complexity IoT end
devices, its payload size was limited to less than 48 bytes. Weightless networks can
be optimized to attain ultra-low-power consumption status compared to cellular
networks. However, this is at the cost of network latency and throughput with data
rates in the range of 0.625 kbps to 100 kbps. Weightless has been identified with three
architectural components: end devices, base stations, and base station network (Figure
7.18). The end devices (ED) form the leaf nodes in the Weightless network. These
devices are typically low complexity and low cost. The duty cycle of EDs is also low, with
a nominal transmiting power of 14 dBm (which can be increased up to 30 dBm).
Figure 4.18 Typical components of the Weightless standard and its protocols
The base stations (BS) act as the central coordinating node in each cell. A star topology
is deployed to connect the EDs to the BS. The transmit powers of a typical BS lie in the
range of 27 dBm to 30 dBm. Finally, the base station network (BSN) is respons ible
for connecting all the BS of a single network. This enables the BSN to manage the
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allocation and scheduling of radio resources across the network. Additional tasks of
the BSN include addressing authentication, roaming, and scheduling responsibilities.
4.12 Sigfox
Sigfox is a low-power connectivity solution, which was developed for various
businesses such as building automation and security, smart metering, agriculture,
and others. It uses ultra-narrowband technology (192 kHz wide) for accessing and
communicating through the radio spectrum [13]. The typical data rates achieved in
Sigfox is in the range 100-600 bits per second. A binary phase shift keying (BPSK) is
used for encoding the message transmission by changing the phase of the carrier waves,
where each message is 100 Hz wide. Sigfox in Europe utilizes the 868 and 868.2 MHz
spectrum, whereas it uses 902 and 928 MHz elsewhere. As the Sigfox receiver has to
access only a very tiny part of the spectrum for receiving messages, the effects of noise are
significantly reduced. It can even communicate in the presence of jamming signals,
making this standard quite resilient.
Figure 7.19 shows the network architecture of Sigfox. Sigfox has an exciting
message forwarding principle called random access, which ensures the high quality of
services in this standard. Each Sigfox device emits a message at an arbitrary frequency;
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Figure 7.20 shows the comparison of the Sigfox stack with the standard ISO-OSI stack.
The Sigfox communication is bi-directional and asynchronous with a significant difference
between the uplink and downlink speeds. As the devices are less complex than the base
stations, the uplink budget (device to base station) is high compared to the downlink
budget (base station to device). It is mainly due to this reason that the Sigfox was
designed to have small message lengths ranging from 0 to 12 bytes. This 12-byte
payload supports the simultaneous transfer of sensor data, the status of an
event/alerts, GPS coordinates, and even application data. Sigfox boasts of excellent
security features with support for authentication, integrity, and anti -replay on messages
transmitted through the network. AES is supported by this standard.
All these collective features of Sigfox enables it to be a low-power and resilient standard.
However, due to the low data rates and asynchronous links, it is better utilized
in applications requiring infrequent communication with small bursts of data. The
Sigfox architecture and range supports wide and dense deployments depending on
topologies and is better suited for indoor use; however, mobility is not an aspect
associated with it.
Figure 4.20 The Sigfox protocol stack in comparison to the OSI stack
4.13 LoRa
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It is a spread spectrum technology with a broader band (usually 125 kHz or more). LoRa
achieves high receiver sensitivity by utilizing frequency-modulated chirp coding gain.
LoRa devices provide excellent support for mobility, which makes them very useful
for applications such as asset tracking and asset management. In comparison with
similar technologies such as NB-IoT, LoRa devices have significantly higher battery
lives, but these devices have low data rates (27 to 50 kbps) and longer latency times.
Figure 4.22 shows the LoRa protocol stack.
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LoRa devices make use of a network referred to as LoRaWAN, which enables the routing
of messages between end nodes and the destination via a LoRaWAN gateway. Unlike
Sigfox, LoRaWAN has a broader spectrum resulting in interference, which is solved
using coding gains of the chirp signals. Additionally, unlike Sigfox, the LoRaWAN
end nodes and the base stations are quite inexpensive. The LoRaWAN protocol is
designed for WAN communications and is an architecture that makes use of LoRa,
whereas LoRa is used as an enabling technology for a wide area network. Messages
transmitted over LoRaWAN is received by all base stations in proximity to the device,
which induces message redundancy in the network. However, this enhances the
resilience of the network by ensuring more messages are successfully delivered between
entities in the network.
A LoRa network follows the star topology and is made up of four crucial
entities: end points/nodes, gateways, network server, and a remote computer
(Figure 4.21). The end nodes deal with all the sensing and control solutions. The
gateways forward messages from end nodes to a backhaul network. The LoRa
network can comprise both or either of wired and wireless technologies. The gateways
themselves are connected to the network server utilizing IP-based connections (either
private or public). The LoRa network server is responsible for scheduling message
acknowledgments, modifying data rates, and removing message redundancies.
Finally, the remote computers have control over the end nodes and act as data sinks for
data originating from these nodes.
4.14 NB-IoT
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Figure 4.24 The NB-IoT protocol stack with respect to its entities
NB-IoT was developed for non-IP based applications requiring quite small
volumes of daily data transactions, typically in the range of a few tens to a hundred
bytes of data per device daily. Unlike technologies such as Sigfox and LoRa, the use of
OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing's) faster modulation rates ensures
higher data handling capacities for NB-IoT.
4.15 Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or WiFi is technically referred to by its standard, IEEE 802.11, and is a wireless
technology for wireless local area networking of nodes and devices built upon similar
standards (Figure 4.25). Wi-Fi utilizes the 2.4 GHz ultra high frequency (UHF) band or
the 5.8 GHz super high frequency (SHF) ISM radio bands for communication [16].
For operation, these bands in Wi-Fi are subdivided into multiple channels. The
communication over each of these channels is achieved by multiple devices
simultaneously using time-sharing based TDMA multiplexing. It uses CSMA /CA for
channel access.
Various versions of IEEE 802.11 have been popularly adapted, such as a/b/g/n. The
IEEE 802.11a achieves a data rate of 54 Mbps and works on the 5 GHz band using OFDM
for communication. IEEE 802.11b achieves a data rate of 11 Mbps and operates on the 2.4
GHz band. Similarly, IEEE 802.11g also works on the 2.4 GHz band but achieves higher
data rates of 54 Mbps using OFDM. Finally, the newest version, IEEE 802.11n, can
transmit data at a rate of 140 Mbps on the 5 GHz band.
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Introduction to Internet of Things
4.16 Bluetooth
Bluetooth is defined by the IEEE 802.15.1 standard and is a short -range wireless
communication technology operating at low power to enable communication among
two or more Bluetooth-enabled devices. It was initially developed as a cable
replacement technology for data communication between two or more mobile devices
such as smartphones and laptops. This standard allows the transmission of data as
well as voice-over short distances. Bluetooth functions on the 2.4 GHz ISM band
and has a range of approximately 10 m. The transmission of data is done through
frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), which also reduces the interference
caused by other devices functioning in the 2.4 GHz band. The data is divided into
packets before transmitting them by Bluetooth. The packets are transmitted over the
79 designated channels, each 1MHz wide in the 2.4 GHz band. Adaptive frequency
hopping (AFH) enables this standard to perform 800 hops per second over these
channels. Initial versions of this standard followed Gaussian frequency shift keying
(GFSK) modulation, which was known as the basic rate (BR) mode, and was capable
of data rates of up to 1 Mbps. However, with the development of newer variants,
modulation schemes such as 7r/4 DQPSK (differential quadrature phase shift keying)
and 8-DPSK (differential phase shift keying) were adopted, which enabled data rates
of 2 Mbps and 3 Mbps respectively.
B l u e t o o t h c o n n e c t i o n s a r e e n c r yp t e d a n d p r e v e n t e a v e s d r o p p i n g o f
communications between devices. The inclusion of service-level security adds an
additional layer of security by restricting the usage and device features and activities.
The Bluetooth standard consists of four parts: 1) core protocols, 2) cable
replacement protocols, 3) telephony control protocols, and 4) adopted protocols. Figure
7.28 shows the Bluetooth protocol stack. Link Manager Protocol (LMP), Logical Link Control
and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP), Host Controller Interface (HCI), Radio Frequency
Communications (RFCOMM), and Service Discovery Protocol (SDP) are some of the well-
known protocols associated with Bluetooth. These protocols can be enumerated as follows:
(ii) Host Controller Interface: It enables access to hardware status and control
registers and connects the controller with the link manager. The automatic
discovery of Bluetooth devices in its proximity is one of the essential tasks of HCI.
(iii) L2CAP: It multiplexes logical connections between two devices. It is also tasked
with data segmentation, flow control, and data integrity checks.
(iv) Service Discovery Protocol: It is tasked with the discovery of services provided
by other Bluetooth devices.
(v) Radio Frequency Communications: It is a cable replacement protocol, which
generates a virtual stream of serial data. This protocol supports many telephony
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Internet of Things 21CS735
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