What is Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Technology: A Beginner Guide

Introduction

LPWAN technology was first developed in the 90s to solve problems with existing wireless technologies such as GSM and CDMA. Compared to these technologies, LPWAN offers an extended range of coverage, lower power consumption for battery-operated devices, and lower production costs for manufacturers.

This article will cover the basics of LPWAN technology, what it is, and how it works, including its benefits and disadvantages.

What is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)?

Low power wide area networks (LPWAN) are a type of wireless network designed for long-range communication in a quiet bandwidth environment.

LPWANs can collect data from sensors or meters in remote areas where traditional cellular networks are not available or cost-prohibitive, such as water meters.

The main aim of LPWANs is to optimize two critical IoT factors:

Low power: IoT sensors and devices must transfer data regularly, but they may not always be widely obtainable. As a result, the battery life of these devices must be extended as much as possible.
Wide area coverage: For IoT devices to be helpful, they must be able to maintain a network connection wherever they are required. This covers possibly isolated industrial or agricultural areas.

Types of LPWANs

LPWANs have options for proprietary or open standards and licensed or unlicensed frequencies.

Sigfox

Today, one of the most widely deployed LPWANs is the proprietary, unlicensed Sigfox. The ultra-narrowband technology operates over a public network in the 868 MHz or 902 MHz bands and is limited to a single operator per country.

LoRaWAN

The LoRa Alliance-specified and backed unlicensed LoRa transmits at several sub-gigahertz frequencies, making it less susceptible to interference. Moreover, A LoRaWAN network server enhances internet bandwidth and power consumption by employing adaptive data rate (ADR), which enables a dynamic tradeoff between communication range and message duration for each endpoint separately.

RPMA

Random phase multiple access, RPMA, is an Ingenu Inc. proprietary LPWAN. Despite its shorter range, it provides better bidirectional communication than Sigfox.

NB-IOT

NB-IoT is a wireless broadband technology for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It operates in the license-free sub 1 GHz spectrum with a bandwidth of 200 kHz and has a latency of 10 ms or less.

LTE-M

LTE-M is an evolution of LTE for low power, low data rate machine-to-machine communications in license-free spectrum bands. It provides high throughput with ultra-low latency and long battery life,

Advantages of LPWAN

LPWAN networks can provide more reliable connectivity to devices that are located in remote areas with little to no infrastructure
LPWAN networks can be cheaper than other forms of wireless communication because they require less power and infrastructure.
It can connect machines and sensors, which increases efficiency and productivity.
Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) has a Data rate of 624kbps for uplink and 156kbps for downlink.
It provides a low-power solution for IoT devices that need to be connected.

Disadvantages of LPWAN

LPWAN only supports low data rates, so it cannot be used for high data rate applications.
It has a high latency between end nodes. As a result, LPWAN is not suitable for low latency applications.

FAQs

Q: What is the difference between LoRaWAN and LPWAN?

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) are ideal for industrial applications that require devices to send data packets over long distances on a single battery for many years. The LoRaWAN open standard, on the other hand, is a reliable and widely used LPWAN protocol.

Q: What is the LPWAN range?

LPWANs can support packet sizes ranging from 10 to 1,000 bytes and uplink speeds up to 200 Kbps. The long-range of an LPWAN differs based on the devices, from 2 km to 1,000 km.

Q: How many devices can be linked to LoRa?

The network can support approximately 100,000 devices and one million emails if it contains ten gateways.

Conclusion

The Low Power Wide Area Network has emerged to take over from the current wireless networks. The LPWAN technology is set to significantly impact many industries, especially those with remote sensors, such as electric utility companies, transportation systems, and logistics providers. Lastly, The LPWAN technology will also change how we live daily – we will see more smart homes and smart cities.

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