\begin{figure} \centering \includegraphics<1>[scale=0.7]{./images/iot-dimension-1} \includegraphics<2>[scale=0.7]{./images/iot-dimension-2} \caption*{Source: The Internet of Things, ITU Internet Reports, 2005} \end{figure}
- Current communications brought the ABC (Always Best Connected) paradigm
- The Internet of Things (IoT) explores a new dimension in communications
\begin{block}{Internet of Things} The Internet of Things (IoT) generally refers to scenarios where network connectivity and computing capability extends to devices, sensors, and everyday items (ISOC IoT Overview, 2015). \end{block}
| Scenario | Example |
|---|---|
| Human | Wearables for health monitoring |
| Home | Heating, security automation |
| Retail | Self-checkout, inventory optimization |
| Vehicles | Condition-based maintenance |
| Cities | Traffic control, environmental monitoring |
\begin{figure} \centering \includegraphics<1>[scale=0.3]{./images/iot-e2e-chain-1.eps} \includegraphics<2>[scale=0.3]{./images/iot-e2e-chain-2.eps} \includegraphics<3>[scale=0.3]{./images/iot-e2e-chain-3.eps} \includegraphics<4>[scale=0.3]{./images/iot-e2e-chain-4.eps} \includegraphics<5>[scale=0.3]{./images/iot-e2e-chain-5.eps} \caption*{Source: Overview of the Internet of Things, ITU-T Y.2060, 2012} \end{figure}
- The largest growth is expected for devices connected to a wide-area network \begin{figure} \includegraphics[scale=0.5]{./images/ericsson-connected-devices.pdf} \caption*{Source: Ericsson mobility report, 2017} \end{figure}
\begin{figure} \centering \includegraphics[scale=0.55]{./images/smart-agri.eps} \end{figure}
- Periodic sensing of microclimates in vineyards
- Difficult physical accessibility and limited access to power sources
- Wireless communications
- Autonomy and long battery life operation
- Wide area coverage with a large number of communicating devices
- Scalable deployment
- Cost efficient devices
- Very loose bandwidth and latency constraints
- Adaptive radio and access mechanisms
Do existing wireless networking technologies satisfy these constraints?
\begin{figure} \centering \includegraphics<1>[scale=0.35]{./images/spider-graph-0.eps} \includegraphics<2>[scale=0.35]{./images/spider-graph-1.eps} \includegraphics<3>[scale=0.35]{./images/spider-graph-2.eps} \includegraphics<4>[scale=0.35]{./images/spider-graph-3.eps} \caption*{Source: Peter R. Egli, Low Power Wide Area Network, 2015} \end{figure}
\begin{block}{Low Power Wide Area Networks} Low power refers to the ability of an IoT device to function for many years on a single battery charge, while at the same time it is able to communicate from locations where shadowing and path loss would limit the usefulness of more traditional cellular technologies (3GPP Low Power Wide Area Technologies, GSMA White Paper, 2016) \end{block}
- Typical scenarios for LPWAN (Usman Raza et al., Low Power Wide Area Networks: An Overview, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 2017)
- Smart grid
- Industrial asset monitoring
- Critical infrastructure monitoring
- Agriculture
| Indicator | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Power consumption | Devices operate for 10 years on a single charge |
| Device unit cost | Below $5 per module |
| Dependability | Completely unattended and resilient operation |
| Coverage | Improved outdoor and indoor penetration coverage |
| Security | Secure connectivity and strong authentication |
| Data transfer | Supports small, intermittent blocks of data |
| Design complexity | Simplified network topology and deployment |
| Network scalability | Support of high density of devices |
Various technologies are currently being designed to meet the LPWAN requirements: LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, Sigfox, Wi-SUN, Ingenu, etc.