In today's fast-paced world, the concept of Industry 4.0 has firmly established itself among us, accompanied by its trendy terms and technologies, including Cloud Computing, Business Intelligence (BI), IoT, Machine Learning, Generative AI, and the anticipated support of a 5G network for all these technologies.
While it is true that 5G offers impressive capabilities such as higher data transfer speeds, reduced latency, increased device connectivity, and enhanced reliability, it also faces challenges like slow development, limited coverage, high expenses, and concerns regarding security and privacy. These issues are exacerbated by the scarcity of 5G devices in the market and their high prices compared with other technologies like 4G.
This does not imply that 5G is an inferior technology; rather, its effectiveness depends directly on the specific application. The same holds true for other networking technologies like 4G, Wi-Fi, mesh networks, and LoRaWAN, each possessing unique features and constraints. Therefore, it's crucial to conduct a thorough analysis of the particular use case and select the most suitable technology or a combination of technologies that meet the specific requirements.
One of these technologies is LoRa, a proprietary wireless networking solution developed by Cycleo and acquired by Semtech in 2012.
LoRaWAN is a communication protocol for networks (operating at Layers 2 and 3 of the OSI model) that functions on the physical layer of LoRa. As an open protocol, it permits various manufacturers to create devices, which helps to lower costs.
The benefits of utilizing LoRaWAN include the ability to communicate over long distances (2km in urban areas and 15 km in rural areas) , low energy consumption that allows devices to function for years on a single battery, affordable devices, scalability for thousands of devices through one or multiple gateways (2,000 nodes per gateway), a rapid learning curve, and robust security from the nodes to the application server (it uses AES-128 Encryption).
LoRaWAN has emerged as a key standard for self-managing IoT networks. In Europe, both public and private networks have been set up for diverse applications, such as facility management, Smart Cities, utility services, and agriculture. Due to its appealing attributes, many manufacturers, installers, integrators, and end-users have chosen this technology to implement their IoT projects.
Here are the comparative different network technologies evaluating distinct aspects of each one of them:
|
Feature |
LoRaWAN |
5G |
4G LTE |
Wi-Fi |
Mesh Network |
|
Coverage |
Several kilometers (rural or urban) |
Depends on frequency (high density, short range in mmWave) |
Moderate coverage in urban and rural areas |
Tens of meters (local, limited) |
Scalable, up to several kilometers through interconnected nodes |
|
Speed |
Low (0.3 kbps to 50 kbps) |
Very high (up to 10 Gbps) |
High (up to 1 Gbps) |
Moderate to high (up to 9.6 Gbps with Wi-Fi 6) |
Moderate, depending on the number of hops in the network |
|
Power Consumption |
Very low (ideal for IoT devices) |
Higher consumption (especially in mmWave) |
Moderate |
High, especially in constant connections |
Low to moderate, depending on node configuration |
|
Device Capacity |
Highly scalable (thousands of devices) |
Very high (millions of devices per km²) |
High, but less than 5G |
Limited, best in local environments |
Scalable, allows many nodes to connect in a decentralized manner |
|
Latency |
High (seconds) |
Very low (milliseconds, ideal for real-time) |
Moderate |
Low to moderate, depending on congestion |
Variable, depending on the number of nodes and routes |
|
Cost |
Low (affordable devices and infrastructure) |
High (especially in early stages) |
Moderate (available infrastructure) |
Low in local environments |
Low to moderate (affordable Mesh devices) |
|
Security |
High (encryption in both network and application) |
High (significant improvements in encryption and authentication) |
Adequate, less robust than 5G |
High (depending on configuration, WPA3) |
High, communication is distributed and can be encrypted |
|
Use Cases |
Low-power IoT (smart meters, monitoring) |
Smart cities, connected cars, 4K video |
Mobile telephony, data transmission |
Local networks (homes, offices) |
IoT, home automation, sensors, environments without traditional coverage |
|
Scalability |
High (thousands of nodes in a single Gateway) |
Very high (millions of devices per km²) |
High (especially in urban areas) |
Limited (local environments) |
Very high, grows organically with additional nodes |
|
Geographical Coverage |
Ideal for rural areas or long distances |
Urban and suburban, limited in rural areas |
Good performance in urban and rural areas |
Local (homes, offices) |
Suitable for areas without fixed infrastructure, adaptable |
|
Number of Devices in the Market |
High |
Moderate |
High |
High |
Moderate |
|
Device Price |
Affordable Price |
Higher Price |
High Price |
Low Price |
Moderate Price |
Figure: Bandwidth vs. Range
From this chart we can deduce that LoRaWAN is a technology designed to communicate devices that need little bandwidth and are at a great distance from each other.
LoRaWAN Architecture:
- End Nodes (UE Devices):
- These are sensors and actuators that collect data (such as temperature and humidity) or perform actions (such as turning lights on/off).
- They operate on batteries and use LoRa modulation to transmit data over long distances with low energy consumption.
- Gateways:
- They function as intermediaries between the end devices and the network server, transmitting signals from the devices over the internet.
- They can be public or private and are responsible for receiving messages from multiple devices across a large area.
- Network Server:
- Manages the communication between user devices and gateways, ensuring security, message deduplication, and bandwidth management.
- Ensures the proper transmission of data and monitors the status of connected devices.
- Application Server:
- Processes and stores data from the network server, managing the applications that use this data.
- It can be an internal application or a cloud solution that allows end users to interact with the collected information.
Examples of LoRa and LoRaWAN Use Cases: LoRa and LoRaWAN have multiple use cases across various sectors, including Smart Cities (optimization of public lighting and waste management); precision agriculture (sensors that monitor crops and track livestock); public utilities (remote meter reading and infrastructure monitoring). They are also used in logistics for tracking goods and environmental conditions, as well as in healthcare for patient monitoring and safety in nursing homes. In the industry, they allow for machinery status tracking and quality control. Additionally, they are useful in transportation for traffic monitoring and smart parking, and in environmental protection through air quality measurement and flood detection. Their ability to operate over long distances with low energy consumption makes them an ideal choice for IoT projects.
At TXM Global, an IT services company, we are dedicated to navigating the constantly evolving landscape of innovation and cutting-edge technologies. Our goal is to deliver turnkey solutions that give our clients a competitive edge in the market. Our range of services includes the design and implementation of various network solutions such as private 4G LTE, VoLTE, 5G, LoRa, and Wi-Fi mesh networks. Our Internet of Things (IoT) offerings—comprising sensors, actuators, smart cameras, and more—operate seamlessly within these frameworks, all underpinned by our robust data collection systems and advanced capabilities in Business Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Generative AI.
As noted in the introduction, a single network technology may not be suitable for every customer use case, particularly in challenging physical environments such as underground mines, where signal propagation and interference differ significantly from those in offices or open areas. Therefore, it is essential to select an appropriate network technology, or mesh of technologies tailored to each specific use case.
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Everybody in the telecommunications industry is talking about #5G one way or another, it promises to pave a new super-highway to first give relieve to all craving consumers demanding more bandwidth to satisfy their multimedia communications and social networking needs, but also to serve as a super-fast road for higher purposes in many fields like medical, industrial, metering, transportation and media applications such as augmented reality to inspect physical infrastructure on a building, remote surgery, asset tracking, traffic safety and control plus many machine-to-machine communications for industrial applications, it will also serve to avoid cable and network installations in buildings resulting in substantial cost reductions.
All telecommunications technology companies and equipment manufacturers as Ericsson and Nokia are working hard to take their slice of the cake that is scheduled to start operating between 2019 and 2020 at major markets including at least three Asian countries.
The promises:
- High data rates (in the order of gigabits per second),
- Low latency (milliseconds),
- High reliability,
- Support for many devices in small areas, and
- Low energy consumption.
According to IoT technology, it is expected that millions of devices (things) will be connected to the internet requiring not only bandwidth but capacity to allocate such a big number of end-points; a lot of these things will be performing machine-to-machine transactions, sending data and informing about events through a wireless network with enhanced coverage; a low power consumption and latency will be a must.
One of the challenges is to have small area cells and indoor coverage, because many IoT devices may end up placed indoors, on top of that studies show that the wireless data transmission indoors its continuously increasing, people are no longer switching to Wi-Fi and local wired networks when entering premises, so just imagine when they have 10X speed on their mobile devices.
Ericsson is already promoting a good solution that promises to be simple to deploy in ceilings of premises called “5G Radio Dot”.
One challenge I’ll mention (but I'll deep-dive into in another post), it's the use of the frequency spectrum, regulating bodies will need to find a good way to share it in the most effective way among all services.
One important thing to consider is that terminals and phones need to be ready to support 5G, it has been announced that main smart-phone manufacturers like ZTE, HTC, Sony, and LG will launch their first models on 2019, these phone manufacturers have made agreements to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem to be part of their terminals (this modem will be included in laptops and tablets as well).
Of course, it won’t be enough to buy next year one of these terminals to enjoy the 5G benefits, it will be until your carrier has finished the technology deployment, but we are getting closer to it.
Carriers are selecting their providers and launching the deployment projects; in North America Verizon and in Europe Deutsche Telekom have already awarded the contract to Ericsson.
So, in few months we should expect to see major improvements in data communications and the realization of projects related to emerging technologies such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block Chain, IoT, etc. Making use of the 5G network. A full technological revolution.
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