The Role of the Communication Protocols in the IoT: Pitfalls and Advantages

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The Role of the Communication

Protocols in the IoT: Pitfalls and

Advantages

Fabio Gatti – Nov 7th, 2017


From 1984 we transfom

the electronic industry

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companies

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Urban Technologies,

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Internet 1.0: Some pills of history1969: Linking the first computer using Arpanet network

1991: CERN discloses the launch of WWW

1996: the quantity of hosts go beyond 10M units


Towards the Internet of Things

1999: the researcher Kevin Ashton used this new term in order to describe a system connected to the Internet through a distribuitedsensor network


IOT: a System viewHere are the main building blocks you can find in a (simplified) IOT system:

IOT Device (constrained / full cap)

Gateway

Cloud

Application services (Analytics / DS)

Remote access through Smart Devices

Constrained

Full capability


Many distributed sensors communicating with many protocolsMultiprotocol gw connected through fiber to the InternetMany services accessible through mobile APPs

Many technologies and protocols working together

An application, Home automation


Distributed sensor in the production line communicating throughdifferent protocols

Multiprotocol gw connected through fiber to IntranetKPI available in real time

(Ass

emb

ly li

ne

SGW

co

rp-

Shen

zhen

CH

N)

An application, Industrial IOT



Many wireless sensors distributed all over the urban areaFull-mesh multiprotocol networkMany services gathering real time information

An application, Smart City



In the typical IOT system thereare many protocols workingtogether…

… they play the role of a glue keeping all the

subsystems together

The role of the protocols


Reference architecture

Sourc

e:

Azure

-M

icro

soft

Let’s have a look to the communication protocols !


The short range protocols

Some devices connect to the cloud using a local gateway


Network Operator

Cloud

Network Operator

Cloud

Network Operator

Cloud

The Long range protocols

Some devices connect to the cloud using a network operator…


data and monitoring

data and monitoring

According to the project spec, you can solve your use case in many ways.

One use-case, different solutions


bluetooth

802.15.4

WI-FI

range

throughput

Sigfox

Lorawan

NB-IOT

4G

10m 100m 1-10Km

Telecomm protocols: throughput vs. range


Protocolli Long Range

Cellular

LTE

NB-IOT

LPWAN

Sigfox

Lorawan

…

Long range protocols


3GPP standard for low data rate/low energy devices

Peak Data rate DL up to 180kbps (typ value: some tens of Kbps

in UL/DL)

Battery duration > 10 y in case of a typical usage of max 200

byte/day (feature PSM/eDRX in rel. 13)

Max latency < 10 sec

Number of devices: 50K ue/ eNodeB Sector

maximum channel loss (MCL): 164dB

OTDOA positioning (rel. 14): typical error 50m

NB-IOT: main features


According to the network operator,

there are 3 different deployment

solution:

Stand Alone

Guard band

In band

The impact of NB-IOT deployment on LTE network is neglegible

NB-IOT: frequency range


They use unlicensed spectrum band

They usually access the network in random way (Aloha style)

Low power and energy consumption

Constrains in rf power and duty cycle (air time)

Sourc

e:

Keysig

ht

LPWAN solutions


RF spectrum: a crowded garden

Many protocols share the same frequency band

Noise and interference can be present (better if you can have

a site survey)

Sourc

e:

Keysig

ht


LPWAN: an example

World-wide network (but some country are not covered yet !)

Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) transmtter, B: 100Hz

Tx data rate: 100bps

Constrains: 140 messagges/day (6 mess/hour), max lenght

12 byte

Typical mode: uplink mode

Downlink is possible with active polling (4 mess/day)

GPS-free Location service: variable precision, from 500m up

to some tens of km

Sourc

e:

Sig

fox


Coverage: LoraAlliance and local operator+ operatori locali

It is possible to have a gateway architecture

Proprietary chirp modulation by Semtech

Tunable transmission parameter (tradeoff between number of

messages / link budget)

Bi-directional link

GPS-free Location service: variable precision, from 500m up

to some tens of Kms

(Typic

allo

calcovera

ge)

LPWAN: an example


Telecom protocols: the whole picture


A project tip: beware proprietaty protocolsUsing proprietary protocols sets

some constrains on a secondsource solution.

Designing according to the standards gives you some choicefor the inter-operability

Use standard protocols in your project!


How to simplify project development

Simulator

Project specification

Interface def

Device development

Cloud development

Gateway development

App development

Integration phase

Sys Test

Test

Test

Test

Test

Release

GO/ NO_GO decision with the customer

By using standard protocols and well-defined interface you can share the whole system in blocks and go for a parallel development

Partnership with an

external supplier

prototype


Summing up

In order to choose the comm protocols fit for your project, have a look at:Application type (how many data, how often)Coverage (local or wide area)Energy consumption (battery or PSU)Costs (subscription fee, mess fee, certification fee)Your device must fulfill standard regulation (constrain on rf power and

air time)

There are many solutions but the best one depends

on the project (and Customer) req

Conclusions


Let’s play !

Let’s put everything together and let’s see how a smart city uses all theseprotocols with an Open Source simulator:

Cupcarbon U-One


The Role of the Communication Protocols in the IoT: Pitfalls and Advantages

Engineering