Low Power Wide Area Network

Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN or LPN, German : Low energy wide area network ) describes a class of network protocols for connecting low energy devices such as battery-operated sensors to a network server . The protocol is designed in such a way that a long range and low energy consumption of the end devices can be achieved with low operating costs.

The network consists of end devices (also called nodes, motes) and gateways (also called base stations ), which forward data between the end devices and network servers. The network devices control the end devices and evaluate the received data.

The physical connection between end devices and gateways can take place via license-free frequencies of the radio spectrum ( ISM band , white space) or cellular frequencies , the connection between gateways and network servers via IP connections.

Technologies

The following standards have been published, which understand themselves as LPWANs:

• LoRaWAN , based on LoRa modulation from the LoRa Alliance.
• Symphony Link, based on LoRa modulation.
• LTE-M, based on LTE Advanced from 3GPP.
• NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT), from 3GPP.
• Weightless-N, the Weightless Special Interest Group (Weightless SIG) open standard for ultranarrow tape technology.
• Weightless-P, Weightless SIG open standard for better performance.
• Weightless-W, open standard from Weightless SIG in White Space .
• Wi-Fi HaLow , open standard of the WiFi Alliance (IEEE 802.11ah)
• Mioty, a standard from the Fraunhofer Institute

The following technologies, which have not been published as standards, are offered by LPWAN operators as public networks:

• WavIoT NarrowBand Fidelity (WavIoT NB-Fi), operated by WavIoT.
• SigFox, based on Ultra-Narrow-Band Modulation from SigFox .
• Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA), is sold by Ingenu in the 2.4 GHz frequency range.

distribution

At the beginning of 2016, individual countries around the world were already fully covered by the Sigfox network. In Germany, Sigfox network coverage reached around 60 percent in March 2018; Network coverage is expected to be around 85% by the end of 2018. Among other things, the Telxius transmitter masts are to be used for this purpose. Internationally, Sigfox is represented in 45 countries and is to be expanded to 60 countries by 2018.

Almost all of Switzerland (as of October 1, 2017) is covered by an LPN from Swisscom . Swisscom's LPN uses LoRaWAN technology . In Russia, 30 million people have access to a LoRaWAN network.

At the beginning of 2016 there was no greater coverage by LPWANs in Germany. Individual cities are partially covered by the community-driven network “The Things Network”. Mobile operators report on field trials in the field of LPWAN. In October 2016, Telekom implemented a commercial parking lot management system based on NB-IoT in Bonn. The sensors are intended to guide drivers to free parking spaces with the help of an app. Telekom has been offering NB-IoT commercially in Germany since the second quarter of 2017. In January 2019, Telefonica Deutschland started the live operation of Narrowband IoT and LTE-M in Germany.

See also

• LoRaWAN
• Internet of things
• Sensor network
• Sigfox

Web links

• Classification of LPWA, especially LoRaWAN and NB-IoT
• Summary and Evaluation of the LPWAN Market
• The worldwide network coverage of Sigfox
• Operator of an open, community-driven LoRaWAN network

Individual evidence

1. ↑ M2M / IoT market: competition for cellular networks . Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 4, 2016. 
2. ↑ The Languages ​​of Things .
3. ^ On LPWAN and cellular convergence .
4. ^ Symphony Link .
5. ↑ On the road to LTE-M .
6. ↑ NarrowBand IOT .
7. ↑ Weightless-N .
8. ↑ Weightless-P .
9. ↑ Weightless-W .
10. ↑ MIOTY - The Wireless IoT Platform
11. ↑ WAVIoT LPWAN Technology .
12. ↑ How RPMA Works .
13. ^ Sigfox Network Operator .
14. ↑ IoT provider Sigfox increases network coverage in Germany to 80 percent . In: Telematics Market . ( telematik-markt.de [accessed on May 17, 2018]).
15. ↑ Logistra editorial team: Digitization: 80 percent network coverage in the Internet of Things. Retrieved August 29, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Sigfox Expands its global network to 45 countries. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 18, 2018 ; accessed on May 17, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ↑ http://lpn.swisscom.ch/d/unsere-cover/
18. ↑ LoRa®-enabled IoT Network in Russia .
19. ↑ Smart City Stuttgart is coming . Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 4, 2016. 
20. ↑ Hamburg's public LoRaWAN network is productive! .
21. ↑ Smart parking in Lenzburg .
22. ↑ First commercial network in Europe is ready for communication with sensors .
23. ↑ Vodafone and Huawei successfully test the Internet of Things .
24. ↑ Pilot projects of the network operators. March 9, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017 . 
25. ↑ Wolfgang Korne: Telefónica: Narrowband-IoT and LTE-M started in the live network. teltarif.de Onlineverlag GmbH, January 31, 2019, accessed on February 1, 2019 .