Over the next few years, so-called low power wide area (LPWA) networks could play an important role in connecting a range of devices that need to be low mobility, low power and low cost.
The following characteristics make LPWA particularly attractive for these devices and applications
- Low power consumption that enables devices to last up to 10 years on a single charge
- Optimised data transfer that supports small, intermittent blocks of data
- Low device unit cost that can be sub-$5 per module
- Few base stations required to provide coverage
- Easy installation of the network
- Dedicated network authentication
- Optimised for low throughput, long or short distance
- Sufficient indoor penetration and coverage
The ability of LPWA networks to provide low cost, long battery life and wide area network coverage could mean such networks potentially support up to 7.4 billion connections by 2020, according to Machina Research. LPWA networks could make it feasible for connectivity to be used in many more devices and scenarios, including security alarms, car park spaces, agricultural applications, such as monitoring the wetness and temperature of soil, as well as smart metering, consumer electronics and intelligent buildings.
NB-IoT is the Best Solutions for LPWA because of the following advantages:
- Improved Indoor Coverage
- Low power consumption
- Massive connections
- +20dB better than GSM
- 10Yrs battery life
- 50K connections per cell
Four use case categories for NB-IOT: IOT Appliance, Personal, Public and Industry:
IOT Appliance
Management becomes more efficient through improvements in big data analysis. IOT appliance mainly comprises of LPWA applications that aims to provide intelligence for the user through sensors and devices that are found in the local area.
IOT Personal
IOT personal largely features LPWA applications that create a personal area network for the purposes of information exchange for the user. Like wearables, smart bicycle and kids monitoring use cases.
IoT Public
IOT public focuses on LPWA applications that serve the general public. Like smart metering, alarms & event detectors and smart garbage bins.
IOT Industry
IOT Industry mainly delivers low power wide area applications that help to improve general enterprise and industrial efficiency, like logistics tracking, asset tracking and smart agriculture.
