Benefits of LPWAN
– Long range – from 10 to 15 km
– Low power consumption in sensors
– Relatively high range even in the city
– It’s easy to build networks and add new objects
– Easy to use – can be done without permits and pay for radio frequency spectrum
Drawbacks of LPWAN
– Low speed – only necessary data can be transferred
– High delay between data transfer sessions
– There is no single standard for creating compatible solutions from different manufacturers
There are two main options for implementing the LPWAN network:
• licensed frequency range (increased power, relatively high speed, no interference);
• unlicensed frequency range (low power, low speed, limited transmission cycle, possible interference from other participants).
3 main technologies of construction of LPWAN-networks:
• NB-IoT – evolution of cellular communication;
• UNB (unlicensed LPWAN) – SigFox in the world;
• LoRa is a broadband unlicensed LPWAN.
NB-IoT
NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) is a cellular communication standard for low-volume telemetry devices: medical sensors, resource meters, smart home devices, etc.
NB-IoT is one of three IoT standards developed for cellular networks:
– eMTC (improved machine-type communication) – has the highest capacity and is deployed on LTE (4G) hardware;
– NB-IoT – can be deployed both on LTE cellular network hardware and separately, including on top of GSM;
– EC-GSM-IoT – provides the least bandwidth and deploys over GSM networks.
– Advantages of NB-IoT
– Flexible power management of devices (up to 10 years in a network with a capacity of 5 W*h)
– High network bandwidth (hundreds of thousands of connections to the base station)
– Low cost of devices
LoRaWAN
LoRaWAN is an open communication protocol that defines the system architecture. It was designed to link low-cost devices that can run on batteries (batteries).
According to IoT Analytics, it was the most widely used low-power global network (LPWAN) technology in the second half of 2020.
The LoRa technology is primarily required for machine-to-machine interaction, and can service up to 1 million devices in a single network, giving them a 10-year autonomy from a single AA battery (a regular palm battery).
For the review to be objective, disadvantages and limitations must be addressed.
The most important limitation for organizations wishing to implement IoT is the cost and time of project implementation. Another factor was the limited expertise of the staff.
Technological shortcomings include the following:
– power supply (either have low speed and frequency of data, or need to arrange power supply);
– dimensions (not all sensors can be miniature);
– equipment calibration (reliability of readings);
– dependence on the data network;
– lack of common protocols and standards for transmitted data, which may make it difficult to process, integrate, and analyze data even on a single production scale (in February 2022, the new ISO/IEC 30162:2022 standard was released, but the transition to uniform rules will still be difficult);
– vulnerability to external attacks and subsequent data leaks or intruders gaining access to hardware management.
5G
You’ve probably heard of the 5G. That this is a breakthrough in communications, and no new flagship can be a breakthrough without the 5G. After all, without it it is impossible to look at the smartphone new series at 4 or 8K. Therefore, you need to buy smartphones only with this module and pay 100—150$ more than the version with the 4G module.
However, very few know that the standard itself was not designed for video in YouTube or TikTok, but for the scale development and implementation of digital services. Its «chip» is flexible combination of ultralow latency (URLLC), high speed (eMBB) and reliability of the communication channel (mMTC), depending on what is needed by a particular subscriber.
Basically, it’s a connection for the IoT. It may not be entirely suitable for an industrial IoT, but for a smart city, healthcare, and industrial enterprises in the city it is the ideal option.
So, what is the difference between 5G and 4G/LTE?
– Eight times better energy efficiency
– 10—100 times the speed
– 100 times more subscribers per base station
All those who are engaged in digitalization in production, and even just implementing ACS TP, know that the main problem is to organize data transmission to or from sensors. The solution of this issue in accordance with all the rules of the company is sometimes several times more expensive than «iron» and software.
Additionally, I hope that with the development of 5G technology, this problem will become less and less relevant.
In addition, the development of this technology will also help the implementation of more advanced IT systems, especially MES, APS, EAM, BIM. More about them – in the next chapter. All these systems need information from sensors without human intervention.
However, there is an unpleasant moment for many. All this will require other competencies from the employees. This means that the «optimization» of the organizational structure and the increase of social tension will begin.
6G
China and the US are already developing standards for 6th generation networks. However, why?
To ensure further growth of smart device deployment! 5G still has limited capacity.
Some sources suggest peak speeds of up to 1 Tbit/s. Average speed of several hundred Mbit/s. The average signal latency is 1 ms, which is useful for applications that require minimal latency, such as autopilots and virtual reality. The number of active devices that can connect to 6G per unit time will also be several times higher than 5G.
«The 6G Era will offer new possibilities for creating brain-computer interfaces», says Dr Mahyar Shirvanimogaddam of Sydney University. An example of such development is the electronic chip for paralyzed and people with CNS disorders, which is created by Elon Musk’s startup.
In this case, the 6G has one great advantage – it is possible to upgrade the existing 5G towers for its implementation, while the 5G had to build new base stations.
It is now believed that 6G may be introduced in the early 2030s.
Neural networks, machine and deep learning (ML & DL), speech and text recognition systems
So, we’re getting to the future – neural networks, artificial intelligence, machine revolutions and other horror stories.
Neural networks are perhaps the most interesting technology. With the support of the Internet of Things, 5G