For ‘Internet of Things’ Engineers and Decision Makers.
Low power, wide-area networks (LPWAN) are not a new phenomenon however, they are becoming more popular due to the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT).
LPWAN is often used when other wireless networks aren’t a good fit—Bluetooth and BLE (and to a lesser extent, WiFi and ZigBee) are often not suited for long-range performance, and cellular M2M networks are costly, consume a lot of power, and expensive as far as hardware and services are concerned.
LPWAN technology is perfectly suited for connecting devices that need to send small amounts of data over a long range, while maintaining long battery life. Some IoT applications only need to transmit tiny amounts of information—a parking garage sensor, for example, which only transmits when a spot is open or when it is taken. The low power consumption of such a device allows that task to be carried out with minimal cost and battery draw.
Within this document, we will be looking at:
- Use cases where LPWAN technologies are best suited
- Nine fundamental LPWAN concepts
- Five main LPWAN technologies
