Blog Title: Assessing Providers of Low-Power Wide Area Network Technology
Companies are taking note of how Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) can provide long-distance communications for certain use cases. While its slow data transfer rates and high latency aren’t going to be driving any high intensity video streaming or other bandwidth-hungry situations, it can provide inexpensive, low power, long-distance communication.
According to Chris Grundemann and Logan Andrew Green’s recent report “GigaOm Radar for LPWAN Technology Providers (Unlicensed Spectrum) v1.0,” this growing communications technology is suitable for use cases with the following characteristics:
- Requirement for long-distance transmission—10 km/6 miles or more wireless connectivity from sensor to gateway
- Low power consumption, with battery life lasting up to 10 years
- Terrain and building penetration to circumvent line-of-sight issues
- Low operational costs (device management or connection subscription cost)
- Low data transfer rate of roughly 20kbps
These use cases could include large-scale IoT deployments within heavy industry, manufacturing, government, and retail. The LPWAN technology providers evaluated in this Radar report are currently filling a gap in the IoT market. They are certainly poised to benefit from the anticipated rapid adoption of LPWAN solutions.
Depending on the use case you’re looking to fulfill, you can select from four basic deployment models from these LPWAN providers:
- Physical Appliance: This option would require a network server on-premises to receive sensor data from gateways.
- Virtual Appliance: Network servers could also be deployed as virtual appliances, running either on-premises or in the cloud.
- Network Stack as a Service: With this option, the LPWAN provider fully manages your network stack and provides you with the service. You only need devices and gateways to satisfy your requirements.
- Network as a Service: This option is provided by mobile network operators, with the provider operating the network stack and gateways. You would only need to connect to the LPWAN provider.
Figure 1. LPWAN Connectivity
The LPWAN providers evaluated in this report are well-positioned from both a business and technical perspective, as they can function as a single point of contact for building IoT solutions. Instead of cobbling together other solutions to satisfy connectivity protocols, these providers can set up your organization with a packaged IoT solution, reducing time to market and virtually eliminating any compatibility issues.
The unlicensed spectrum aspect is also significant. The LPWAN technology providers evaluated in this Radar report use at least one protocol in the unlicensed electromagnetic spectrum bands. There’s no need to buy FCC licenses for specific frequency bands, which also lowers costs.
Learn More: Gigaom Enterprise Radar for LPWAN
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