Overview of Common IoT Communications

Technologies
 Foreword

Communications technologies are the foundation of not only the Internet of
Things (IoT), but also a fully connected world. If the IoT is a logistics system
of information, then communications technologies are the various means
of transportation. However, regardless of the technology adopted, the
ultimate goal is to connect devices to the cloud-based applications.

Common communications technologies can be classified into two types:
wired and wireless communications technologies. In terms of their
applications and technical features, the specifications of wired and wireless
technologies vary considerably.

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 Objectives

At the end of this course, you will have knowledge of:


Common IoT wired communication technologies.

The technical standards, features, and differences between various
short-range wireless communications technologies.

The characteristics and developing trends of cellular mobile
communication technologies.

The characteristics of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) communications
technologies and distinguish between their different types.

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 Contents

1. Wired Communications Technologies

2. Wireless Communications Technologies

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Ethernet

Ethernet is the main LAN technology of TCP/IP and is named after the medium Ether, which transmits
electromagnetic waves.

A base station can use one ETH port, two FE/GE ports, or two SFP ports. ETH indicates it is a standard Ethernet,
which transmits data at the rate of 10 Mbit/s. FE is short for fast Ethernet, which provides a tenfold increased
transmission rate of 100 Mbit/s, and GE is short for Gigabit Ethernet, which provides a transmission rate of 1000
Mbit/s. SFP ports are gigabit optical ports, which transmit data over optical fibers. FE/GE enable autonegotiation of
transmission rate with the peer switch.

Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) is the core Ethernet technology. "carrier sense"
indicates the detection before transmission, "multi-access" indicates that data sent from one sender is received
by multiple receivers, and " collision detection" indicates the detection during transmission.

R-J45 connector

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Introduction and Comparison Between RS-232 and RS-485

Item RS-232 RS-485

Communicatio 1200 m theoretically; 300–500 m in
Less than 20 m
n distance reality
Transmission Unbalanced transmission mode; Balanced transmission; differential
mode single-end communications transmission
Number of A maximum of 128 transceivers on
One-to-one communications
transceivers the bus
Transmission
38.4 Kbit/s 10 Mbit/s
rate

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USB

USB, short for Universal Serial Bus, is a serial bus standard for connecting computer systems and devices. It is
also a technical specification for input and output interfaces. It is widely used with information communications
products such as personal computers and mobile devices, and its use has been extended to related fields such as
photography equipment, digital TVs (set-top boxes), and game consoles.

Before USB was developed, the scalability of computer interfaces was inadequate with limited rates due to
devices (such as the keyboard, mouse, modem, printer, and scanner) needing to be connected to different
interfaces (such as serial/parallel interfaces), making it impossible for a computer to provide sufficient interfaces
for connections. USB is designed for high speed, scalability, and ease-of-use.

The latest-generation USB is USB 4, with a transmission rate of 40 Gbit/s.

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M-Bus

M-Bus, short for Meter Bus, is a data bus designed for information transmission of
consumption measuring instruments and counters. M-Bus has been widely applied in
business and collection of data on industrial energy consumption.

The maximum transmission distance of the M-Bus is 1000 m. As the M-Bus can supply
power to onsite devices, no power cable needs to be connected. The power supply
capability of the bus is 5 A, and the current of each node needs to be less than 0.65 mA.

The M-Bus not only fulfills the need for the networking and remote reading of utility
meters but also meets the specific requirements of the remote or battery power supply
system. The bus topology of the M-Bus serial communications meets the requirements of
the utility meters for reliable and cost-effective networking. Hundreds of backup devices
can also be connected within a distance of several kilometers.

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Power Line Communication
Power application software
Databas Central Station
and network management
e server
TCP/IP
Communicatio
ns server (CS)
ETH
Switch

Tele-meter device Tele-meter device

management management
Base TCP/IP
Low voltage Base
statio
electrical station
n
power cable

PLC PLC PLC PLC

Meter reading device Meter reading device Meter reading device Meter reading device

Power line communication (PLC) refers to a mode of communication in which data and media signals
are transmitted on an electrical power cable. With PLC, high frequency signals containing
information are loaded onto the current, and the adapter receives the information over the cable,
separates the high-frequency signals from current, and then sends the signals to a computer or
telephone.
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Comparison of Wired Communications Technologies
Communicatio
Characteristics Application Scenario
n Mode
Comprehensive protocol, universal, cost- Intelligent terminal, video
ETH
effective surveillance

One-to-one communications, cost-effective, A few instruments, industrial

RS-232
short transmission distance control

Bus topology, cost-effective, strong anti- Industrial instruments, meter

RS-485
interference capability reading

One-to-one communications, universal, fast Smart home, office, mobile

USB
transmission devices
Designed for meter reading, common
Industrial energy
M-Bus twisted-pair cables, strong anti-interference
consumption data collection
capability
For power line communication, wide Power grid transmission,
PLC
coverage, easy installation electricity meter

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 Contents

1. Wired Communications Technologies

2. Wireless Communications Technologies
 Short-Range Wireless Communications Technologies
▫ Cellular Mobile Networks

▫ LPWA Communications Technologies

▫ Comparison of Wireless Communications Technologies

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Short-Range Wireless Communications Technology:
Bluetooth

Bluetooth
Server
device

Bluetooth Bluetooth
device device

Bluetooth is a large-capacity wireless digital communications technology standard for exchanging data over short distances. The
latest Bluetooth 5.0 supports a maximum transmission rate of 3 Mbit/s and a transmission distance of about 300 meters. The
technology has been divided into two types: Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) and Bluetooth low energy (BLE). The
BR/EDR type supports only point-to-point (one-to-one) communications, whereas the BLE type supports point-to-point, broadcast
(one-to-many), mesh (many-to-many), and other modes of communications. The BLE type is mainly used in the IoT field to provide
services with higher performance that consume little power for smart home appliances.


Advantages: high rates, high security, and low power consumption


Disadvantages: The EDR type, with few network nodes, is not suitable for multi-point deployment.

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Short-Range Wireless Communications Technology:
Wi-Fi
Master
concentrator

6
Trunk and AP
hotspot

Wi-Fi 6
Device
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi enables an electronic device to connect to a wireless local device
area networkdevice device
(WLAN) using the 2.4
GHz UHF or 5 GHz SHF ISM radio frequency band. The latest Wi-Fi 6 supports a transmission rate of
9.6 Gbit/s and a latency of 20 ms.

Advantages: wide coverage, fast data transmission rate

Disadvantages: low transmission security, low stability, high power consumption, poor networking
capability

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Short-Range Wireless Communications Technology -
ZigBee
ZigBee
Low power Two batteries can support the device
consumption for 6–24 months.
Master
No patent fee is required and the
concentrator Low cost
cost is about US$2.

Server Low rate 20–250 Kbit/s

Short distance 10–100 m

Low latency 15–30 ms

The number of nodes theoretically is
ZigBee ZigBee ZigBee Large capacity
254.
device device device
High security Three security levels

Grant free 915 MHz, 868 MHz, 2.4 GHz

ZigBee Easy

ZigBee is a short-range wireless communications technology featuring low Mesh networking, ad hoc networking
device networking
power consumption.
Low The compatibility of different chips

Characteristics: short transmission distance, low complexity, self-
compatibility is low.
organization, low power consumption, and low data rate.
Difficult Difficult to maintain due to high
Widely used in industrial and smart home fields. maintenance networking flexibility

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Short-Range Wireless Communications Technology -
Z-Wave
Master
concentrator

Server

Z-Wave Z-Wave Z-Wave

device device device

Z-Wave
device

Z-Wave is an emerging RF-based wireless communications technology with a short transmission
distance and high reliability at low costs and little power consumption.

Advantages: simple structure, high reliability, low rates, low power consumption, low costs

Disadvantages: The standard is not open. The chip can only be obtained from Sigma Designs.

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Comparison of Short-Range Wireless
Communications Technologies
Bluetooth Wi-Fi ZigBee Z-Wave
2.4 GHz
Frequency 868 MHz/915 MHz 868.42 MHz (Europe)
2.4 GHz 5 GHz
band 2.4 GHz 908.42 MHz (USA)
802.11b: 11 Mbit/s
802.11g: 54 Mbit/s
868 MHz: 20 kbit/s
Transmissio 1–3 Mbit/s (24 Mbit/s 802.11n: 600 Mbit/s
915 MHz: 40 kbit/s 9.6 kbit/s or 40 kbit/s
n rate over 802.11 links)
2.4 GHz: 250 kbit/s
802.11ac: 1 Gbit/s
802.11ax: 9.6 Gbit/s
Typical 30 m (indoor) to
1–300 m 50–100 m 2.4 GHz band: 10–100 m
distance 100 m (outdoor)
Data exchange
between nearby
WLAN, high-speed
nodes such as a Home automation, Smart home
Typical Internet access at
mouse, wireless building automation, appliance, monitoring
application headset, mobile
home and other
and remote control and control
indoor areas
device, and
computer
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 Contents

1. Wired Communications Technologies

2. Wireless Communications Technologies
▫ Short-Range Wireless Communications Technologies
 Cellular Mobile Networks
▫ LPWA Communications Technologies

▫ Comparison of Wireless Communications Technologies

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Cellular Mobile Networks - 2G

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the second-generation
mobile communications technology. It is a standard developed by the European
Committee for Standardization in 1992. It incorporates digital communications
technologies and a unified network standard, which ensures the quality of
communications and enables it to develop various new services. The data rate
of GSM is 9.6 kbit/s.

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to GSM
mobile phone users. It is a data transmission technology of the second-
generation mobile communications and an extension of GSM. GPRS provides
data rates of 56–114 kbit/s.

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Cellular Mobile Networks - 3G

3G is the third generation mobile communications technology. It supports high-
speed data transmission and can transmit voice and data simultaneously with a
rate of several-hundred kbit/s. 3G is a mobile communication system that
integrates wireless communications and multimedia communications such as
the Internet. Currently, 3G has three standards: CDMA2000, WCDMA, and TD-
SCDMA. The latest WCDMA technology HSPA+ supports a downlink rate of up to
42 Mbit/s.

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Cellular Mobile Networks - 4G

4G is the fourth-generation mobile communications technology. It includes two
modes: LTE TDD and LTE FDD.

Integrating 3G and WLAN, 4G can transmit data, high-quality audio, video, and
images at a high speed. The download rate of 4G can exceed 100 Mbit/s, which
is 25 times the speed of ADSL (4 Mbit/s), meeting almost all users'
requirements on wireless services. In addition, 4G can be deployed in areas
where the digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable television modem are not
covered, and then expanded to the entire region. 4G has shown notable
advantages.

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LTE UE Categories

The LTE UE category indicates the UE access capability level, in other words, the transmission rate
level supported by a UE. For example, LTE category 4 indicates that the LTE network access
capability level of the UE is 4.
Level Downlink Rate DL-MIMO Uplink Rate (Mbit/s)
(Mbit/s)
1 10 1 5
2 50 2 25
3 100 2 50
4 150 2 50
5 300 4 75
6 300 2 or 4 50
7 300 2 or 4 150
8 1200 8 600
9 450 2 or 4 50
10 450 2 or 4 100

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LTE UE Category 1

UE category 1 supports a downlink rate of up to 10 Mbit/s, enabling IoT
devices with lower power consumption and costs to connect to LTE
networks. LTE operators around the world deploy LTE networks based on
3GPP Release 8 or later. As such, operators can simply reconfigure
parameters to permit the access of UE category 1 without needing to
upgrade the networks.

Although higher rates are supported for UE category 4 or later, the costs
are relatively high for the IoT industry. Therefore, using UE category 1 is
most cost-effective.

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Cellular Mobile Networks - 5G

The fifth-generation mobile communications network, 5G's theoretical maximum transmission rate
can reach 10 Gbit/s, which is 100-fold improvement over 4G. With 5G, a 1 GB movie can be
downloaded in eight seconds.

ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) defined three major 5G application scenarios in June 2015:
enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), and ultra-
reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), as well as eight capability specifications, including the
throughput, latency, connection density, and spectral efficiency.

On June 6, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued 5G
commercial licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Broadcast &
Television, and announced the start of 5G commercialization on October 31, 2019.

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Comparison of Cellular Mobile Network Technologies

2G 3G 4G 5G
Authorized
Authorized frequency
frequency Authorized frequency Authorized
Frequency band
band band frequency band:
band (mainly 900 MHz and
(mainly 900 (1800–2600 MHz) C-band, mmWave
1800 MHz)
MHz)
Downlink 10 Gbit/s
GSM: 9.6 TD-SCDMA: 2.8 Mbit/s Category 6/7: 300
(Balong 5000 chips
Transmissio kbit/s CDMA2000: 3.1 Mbit/s
support a downlink
n rate GPRS: 56–114 Mbit/s Category 9/10: 450 rate of 4.6 Gbit/s
kbit/s WCDMA: 14.4 Mbit/s Mbit/s and an uplink rate
of 2.5 Gbit/s)

POS and AR, VR, assisted

Vending machines,
Typical smart Mobile terminals, driving, automated
smart home
application wearable
appliances
video surveillance driving, and
devices telemedicine

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 Contents

1. Wired Communications Technologies

2. Wireless Communications Technologies
▫ Short-Range Wireless Communications Technologies

▫ Cellular Mobile Networks

 LPWA Communications Technologies
▫ Comparison of Wireless Communications Technologies

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LPWA - SigFox

The SigFox network uses Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) technology. Its transmission power
consumption is low and the data connection is stable. Its radio link uses the unlicensed
ISM radio frequency band. Frequency usage varies according to national laws and
regulations. The 868 MHz frequency band is widely used in Europe, and the 915 MHz
frequency band is used in the United States.

The network adopts ultra narrow-band modulation technology. A single base station can
transmit network messages over a distance of over 1000 km. Each base station supports
a maximum of one million IoT devices.

SigFox is preferred for IoT connections as it uses free frequency bands, devices that
consume little power, and a simplified network architecture.

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LPWA - LoRa

The Long Range (LoRa) is a physical-layer-based technology that implements
data communications over networks. It is maintained and managed by the LoRa
Alliance. The technology supports bidirectional data transmission and complies
with a series of open source standards. The specific solution for network
implementation is called LoRaWAN, which is developed by Semtech and
supported by IBM. The application of LoRa includes automatic meter reading,
smart home appliance, building automation, wireless warning and security
systems, industrial monitoring and control, and remote irrigation systems.

LoRa uses unlicensed spectrum.

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LPWA - NB-IoT

NB-IoT is a cellular based narrowband IoT. It is built on a cellular network and
requires a bandwidth of only 180 kHz. It can be directly deployed on legacy
GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks to reduce deployment costs and implement
smooth upgrades.

NB-IoT is an emerging technology widely used for LPWA IoT markets. It features
enhanced coverage and wide connections with low rates, costs, power
consumption, and the optimal architecture.

According to 3GPP Release 14, NB-IoT supports base station positioning and
mobility scenarios with a speed less than 80 km/h.

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LPWA - eMTC

eMTC is a wireless IoT solution proposed by Ericsson. The solution designs the
soft features of the wireless IoT network based on LTE access technology. It is
mainly used in IoT scenarios that require low rates, deep coverage, low power
consumption, and a considerable number of connections.

eMTC features a higher rate (up to 1 Mbit/s) and power consumption and
smaller coverage and capacity than NB-IoT. eMTC also supports voice
communications.

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Comparison of LPWA Technologies

SigFox LoRa NB-IoT eMTC

Mainly sub-GHz
Frequency Sub-GHz unlicensed Sub-GHz unlicensed Sub-GHz licensed
licensed frequency
band frequency band frequency band
band
frequency band

Transmissi
100 bit/s 0.3–5 kbit/s < 250 kbit/s < 1 Mbit/s
on rate

Typical
1–50 km 1–20 km 1–20 km 2 km
distance

Smart home
Water meter, parking,
appliances, smart Smart agriculture,
pet tracking, garbage Shared bicycle, pet
Typical electricity meter, intelligent building,
disposal, smoke collar, POS, and
application mobile healthcare, and logistics
alarm, and retail smart elevator
remote monitoring, tracking
devices
and retail

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 Contents

1. Wired Communications Technologies

2. Wireless Communications Technologies
▫ Short-Range Wireless Communications Technologies

▫ Cellular Mobile Networks

▫ LPWA Communications Technologies

 Comparison of Wireless Communications Technologies

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Comparison of Wireless Communications
Technologies
Data Rates

10 Mbit/s
Video
High-rate and surveillance
High-rate and long-range: IoV
short-range: 4G/5G Smart healthcare
Wi-Fi/
1 Mbit/s Bluetooth
Smart wearables
Intelligent
Medium-rate logistics
and long- Elevator guard
range: Vehicle
200 kbit/s 3G, LTE UE management
category 1
Small-
packet and Small-packet and ultra-long- Smart meter
Low-rate and
short-range: range: reading
long-range:
Z-Wave/ LPWA Environmental
2G
ZigBee (NB-IoT, eMTC, LoRa, SigFox) monitoring
100 bit/s

10 m 1 km 10 km Coverage

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 Quiz

1. (Single-Choice) Which of the following communications technologies is a

wired communications technology?

A. 5G

B. NB-IoT

C. PLC

D. ZigBee
2. (True or False) All NB-IoT networks are deployed on sub-GHz licensed
bands.

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 Summary


This document described common IoT communications
technologies, which are divided into wired and wireless ones.
Wireless communications technologies are further classified into
three types: short-range wireless, cellular mobile, and LPWA
communications technologies. This document also provided the
characteristics and application scenarios of these communications
technologies in various aspects.

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Thank you. Bring digital to every person, home, and
organization for a fully connected,
intelligent world.

Copyright © 2020 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

The information in this document may contain predictive

statements including, without limitation, statements regarding
the future financial and operating results, future product
portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors
that
could cause actual results and developments to differ materially

from those expressed or implied in the predictive statements.

Therefore, such information is provided for reference purpose
only and constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance. Huawei

may change the information at any time without notice.