LoRa

LoRa (short for long range) is a spread spectrum modulation technique derived
from chirp spread spectrum (CSS) technology. Semtech’s LoRa devices and wireless
radio frequency technology is a long range, low power wireless platform that has become
the de facto technology for Internet of Things (IoT) networks worldwide. LoRa devices
and the open LoRaWAN® protocol enable smart IoT applications that solve some of the
biggest challenges facing our planet: energy management, natural resource reduction,
pollution control, infrastructure efficiency, disaster prevention, and more. Semtech’s
LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol have amassed several hundred known uses
cases for smart cities, smart homes and buildings, smart agriculture, smart metering,
smart supply chain and logistics, and more. With over 167 million devices connected to
networks in 99 countries and growing, LoRa devices are creating a Smarter Planet.

A Semtech innovation, LoRa devices offer compelling features for IoT

applications including long range, low power consumption and secure data transmission.
The technology can be utilized by public, private or hybrid networks and provides greater
range than Cellular networks. LoRa Technology can easily plug into existing
infrastructure and enables low-cost battery-operated IoT applications. Semtech's
LoRa chipsets are incorporated into devices manufactured by a large ecosystem of IoT
solution providers, and connected to LoRaWAN-based networks around the globe.
Simply stated, LoRa connects devices (or all things) to the Cloud.

The LoRaWAN open specification is a low power, wide area networking

(LPWAN) protocol based on LoRa Technology. Designed to wirelessly connect battery
operated things to the Internet in regional, national or global networks, the LoRaWAN
protocol leverages the unlicensed radio spectrum in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical
(ISM) band. The specification defines the device-to-infrastructure of LoRa physical layer
parameters and the LoRaWAN protocol, and provides seamless interoperability between
devices. While Semtech provides the LoRa radio chips, the LoRa Alliance®, a non-profit
association and the fastest growing technology alliance, drives the standardization and
global harmonization of the LoRaWAN protocol.

Key Features of LoRa Technology

Long Range: Connects devices up to 30 miles apart in rural areas and penetrates dense
urban or deep indoor environments
Low Power: Requires minimal energy, with prolonged battery lifetime of up to 10 years,
minimizing battery replacement costs
Secure: Features end-to-end AES128 encryption, mutual authentication, integrity
protection, and confidentiality
Standardized: Offers device interoperability and global availability of LoRaWAN
networks for speedy deployment of IoT applications anywhere
Geolocation: Enables GPS-free tracking applications, offering unique low power
benefits untouched by other technologies
Mobile: Maintains communication with devices in motion without strain on power
consumption
High Capacity: Supports millions of messages per base station, meeting the needs of
public network operators serving large markets
Low Cost: Reduces infrastructure investment, battery replacement expense, and
ultimately operating expenses

LoRaWAN Architecture

LoRaWAN is a media access control (MAC) protocol for wide area networks. It is
designed to allow low-powered devices to communicate with Internet-connected
applications over long range wireless connections. LoRaWAN can be mapped to the
second and third layer of the OSI model. It is implemented on top of LoRa or FSK
modulation in industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands. The LoRaWAN
protocols are defined by the LoRa Alliance and formalized in the LoRaWAN
Specification which can be downloaded on the LoRa Alliance website.

 End Device, Node, Mote - an object with an embedded low-power

communication device.
 Gateway - antennas that receive broadcasts from End Devices and send data back
to End Devices.
 Network Server - servers that route messages from End Devices to the right
Application, and back.
 Application - a piece of software, running on a server.
ZigBee Wireless Technology
In this present communication world there are numerous high data rate
communication standards that are available, but none of these meet the sensors’ and
control devices’ communication standards. These high-data rate communication
standards require low-latency and low-energy consumption even at lower bandwidths.
The available proprietary wireless systems’ Zigbee technology is low-cost and low-power
consumption and its excellent and superb characteristics makes this communication best
suited for several embedded applications, industrial control, and home automation, and so
on.

Zigbee communication is specially built for control and sensor networks on IEEE
802.15.4 standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), and it is the product
from Zigbee alliance. This communication standard defines physical and Media Access
Control (MAC) layers to handle many devices at low-data rates. These Zigbee’s WPANs
operate at 868 MHz, 902-928MHz and 2.4 GHz frequencies. The date rate of 250 kbps is
best suited for periodic as well as intermediate two way transmission of data between
sensors and controllers.

Zigbee is low-cost and low-powered mesh network widely deployed for

controlling and monitoring applications where it covers 10-100 meters within the range.
This communication system is less expensive and simpler than the other proprietary
short-range wireless sensor networks as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Zigbee supports different network configurations for master to master or master to

slave communications. And also, it can be operated in different modes as a result the
battery power is conserved. Zigbee networks are extendable with the use of routers and
allow many nodes to interconnect with each other for building a wider area network.

Zigbee Architecture
Zigbee system structure consists of three different types of devices such as Zigbee
coordinator, Router and End device. Every Zigbee network must consist of at least one
coordinator which acts as a root and bridge of the network. The coordinator is responsible
for handling and storing the information while performing receiving and transmitting data
operations. Zigbee routers act as intermediary devices that permit data to pass to and fro
through them to other devices. End devices have limited functionality to communicate
with the parent nodes such that the battery power is saved as shown in the figure. The
number of routers, coordinators and end devices depends on the type of network such as
star, tree and mesh networks.

Zigbee protocol architecture consists of a stack of various layers where IEEE

802.15.4 is defined by physical and MAC layers while this protocol is completed by
accumulating Zigbee’s own network and application layers.
Physical Layer: This layer does modulation and demodulation operations up on
transmitting and receiving signals respectively. This layer’s frequency, date rate and
number of channels are given below.

MAC Layer: This layer is responsible for reliable transmission of data by accessing
different networks with the carrier sense multiple access collision avoidance (CSMA).
This also transmits the beacon frames for synchronizing communication.

Network Layer: This layer takes care of all network related operations such as network
setup, end device connection and disconnection to network, routing, device
configurations, etc.

Application Support Sub-Layer: This layer enables the services necessary for Zigbee
device object and application objects to interface with the network layers for data
managing services. This layer is responsible for matching two devices according to their
services and needs.

Application Framework: It provides two types of data services as key value pair and
generic message services. Generic message is a developer defined structure, whereas the
key value pair is used for getting attributes within the application objects. ZDO provides
an interface between application objects and APS layer in Zigbee devices. It is
responsible for detecting, initiating and binding other devices to the network.
Zigbee Operating Modes and Its Topologies
Zigbee two way data is transferred in two modes: Non-beacon mode and Beacon
mode. In a beacon mode, the coordinators and routers continuously monitor active state
of incoming data hence more power is consumed. In this mode, the routers and
coordinators do not sleep because at any time any node can wake up and communicate.
However, it requires more power supply and its overall power consumption is low
because most of the devices are in an inactive state for over long periods in the network.

In a beacon mode, when there is no data communication from end devices, then
the routers and coordinators enter into sleep state. Periodically this coordinator wakes up
and transmits the beacons to the routers in the network. These beacon networks are work
for time slots which means, they operate when the communication needed results in
lower duty cycles and longer battery usage. These beacon and non-beacon modes of
Zigbee can manage periodic (sensors data), intermittent (Light switches) and repetitive
data types.

Zigbee Topologies
Zigbee supports several network topologies; however, the most commonly used
configurations are star, mesh and cluster tree topologies. Any topology consists of one or
more coordinator. In a star topology, the network consists of one coordinator which is
responsible for initiating and managing the devices over the network. All other devices
are called end devices that directly communicate with coordinator. This is used in
industries where all the end point devices are needed to communicate with the central
controller, and this topology is simple and easy to deploy.

In mesh and tree topologies, the Zigbee network is extended with several routers
where coordinator is responsible for staring them. These structures allow any device to
communicate with any other adjacent node for providing redundancy to the data. If any
node fails, the information is routed automatically to other device by these topologies. As
the redundancy is the main factor in industries, hence mesh topology is mostly used. In a
cluster-tree network, each cluster consists of a coordinator with leaf nodes, and these
coordinators are connected to parent coordinator which initiates the entire network.

Due to the advantages of Zigbee technology like low cost and low power
operating modes and its topologies, this short range communication technology is best
suited for several applications compared to other proprietary communications, such as
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. some of these comparisons such as range of Zigbee, standards, etc.,
are given below.

Applications of Zigbee Technology

Industrial Automation: In manufacturing and production industries, a communication
link continually monitors various parameters and critical equipments. Hence Zigbee
considerably reduce this communication cost as well as optimizes the control process for
greater reliability.
Home Automation: Zigbee is perfectly suited for controlling home appliances
remotely as a lighting system control, appliance control, heating and cooling system
control, safety equipment operations and control, surveillance, and so on.

Smart Metering: Zigbee remote operations in smart metering include energy

consumption response, pricing support, security over power theft, etc.

Smart Grid monitoring: Zigbee operations in this smart grid involve remote
temperature monitoring, fault locating, reactive power management, and so on.

Z-Wave Technology

Z-Wave technology is the new wireless communication protocol for home automation
devices. Used in a variety of smart home applications like lighting, security,
entertainment and others, it’s one of the upcoming new communication standards in the
world of Internet-of-Things (IoT). It’s currently being used by more than 300 plus
manufacturers and thousands of devices, making it one of the most popular
communication protocol after ZigBee

Unlike the Zigbee protocol that works at 2.4GHz wireless frequency, Z-Wave operates at
in 900 Mhz frequency bands. Due to band constraints in different geographies, Z-Wave is
a region specific protocol, which means it has different legally permissible frequencies in
different regions.

However, since it operates in the low-frequency region, Z-Wave offers superior

performance. The longer wavelength and lower frequency of the Z-Wave allow it to
 easily penetrate objects and walls, thereby establishing a more reliable and faster
communication topology between the connected Z-Wave devices.
The Z-Wave uses a source-routed mesh network which consist of the one primary
node – often referred to as the controller or hub in Home Automation, and many other
secondary nodes referred to as sensors. In all the Z-Wave networks, the primary
controllers are identified by network IDs and the secondary nodes or Z-Wave devices are
identified by Node IDs. The primary controller assign Network IDs to all the devices
configured within its established network. Thus all the devices within a Z-Wave network
have the same Network ID because of which they are interoperable. Devices with
different Network IDs cannot communicate with each other.
Because of the mesh network topology that it uses, the primary controller can send
messages to the target Z-Wave device located at distant places by routing the signal
through the intermediate devices finding out the shortest possible path. This process of
signal transfer is commonly referred to as signal hopping. In case, if the devices within
the path are busy, it will route signals through other available paths.

Z-Wave Features

 Z-Wave uses much lower transmission power as compared to Wi-Fi ensuring 3-5 years of
battery life to its users.
 Z-Wave operates within the 900 MHz frequency band causing less interference and
higher penetration.
 Allows interoperability between version through 6 layers of backward compatibility.
 Z-Wave devices can communicate within the range of 120 feet to 40 metres.
 Z-Wave offers data rates of 100 kbps and higher security through AES128 encryption.
 Works across range of household products like lightings, thermostats, security sensors,
locks etc.
 Working on a different frequency, it will not interfere with Wi-Fi or any other household
signals within the home.
 A given Z-Wave network can control up to 232 devices configured within that network.

Applications of Z-Wave Technology

 The widely used application of Z-Wave technology as on date is for Home Automation
systems.
 Z-Wave can also be used for efficient energy management systems, security power theft
etc.
 The facility of interoperability among devices working on Z-Wave help you to club
applications like lighting automation, smart security automation, entertainment
automation etc.
 Also used in industrial automation for smooth functioning of interdependent processes.
 Widely used in smart home security systems.

SigFox
SigFox is a cellular style, long range, low power, low data rate form of wireless
communications that has been developed to provide wireless connectivity for devices like
remote sensors, actuators and other M2M and IoT devices.

The SigFox wireless interface has been developed to enable any communications
that take place to consume a minimum amount of power. In this way the remote devices
can run on battery power for very extended periods without the need for any battery
changes or maintenance.
In addition to this, M2M and IoT communications will communications over
extended distances and the SigFox system has been designed to enable the transmissions
to cover long distances, enabling a limited number of base stations to be used.
Using a cellular style approach, the remote SigFox nodes are able to communicate
with base stations which have Internet connectivity, thereby enabling remote control and
data collection from anywhere with Internet connectivity.
In this way, SigFox is able to provide a low data rate connection to anywhere that
is covered by a network at very low cost for many M2M and IoT applications.

SigFox M2M application areas

The SigFox network and technology is aimed at the low cost machine to machine
application areas where wide area coverage is required. There are a number of
applications that need this form of low cost wireless communications technology. Areas
where the SigFox network may be used include:

 Home and consumer goods

 Energy related communications - in particular smart metering
 Healthcare - in particular the mHealth applications that are starting to be developed
 Transportation - this can include the automotive management
 Remote monitoring and control
 Retail including point of sale, shelf updating, etc
 Security