Author: iot101 Comic King Original from IoT Think Tank
Public Account ID: iot101
Last week, we talked about the growth journey of the NB-IoT baby. In fact, in the LPWAN field, there are many babies that have already gone out to make money (but it’s all done privately by some companies).
For example, LoRa, which has been commercially available since 2013, France’s Sigfox, and ZETA developed by domestic Zongxing Technology, etc. (Don’t ask me why LoRa is a girl, today she is the heroine).
What? You still don’t know what Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) is?
The emergence of LPWAN has extended communication distances and greatly expanded the demand for network connections. Coupled with the concept of connecting everything in the IoT era, as long as we make some small adjustments to various infrastructures in the city, they can all start talking (after being silent for many years).
Moreover, LPWAN is much cheaper and easier than the 2G/3G/4G babies!!! A battery can last for several years!!!
Urban infrastructure all wants to connect to the internet, and the following scenarios arise:
Building:I am a building, and there is a huge demand for networking for water meters, electric meters, and switches inside.
Residential Building:Everything for the people, of course, the household meters should be connected first!
Trash Can:I want to go online! The last comic said that if I don’t connect to the internet, it will be harmful to the environment!
Manhole Cover:I am the underground wanderer spreading all over the city, let me connect to the internet, the benefits are huge.
Underground Water Valve:Hehe, in some cities, this baby has been connected for a long time.
Tree:Is there a share for those who see it?
LPWAN babies are primarily connected to urban infrastructure “things,” such as electric and water meters, trash cans, etc. Therefore, LPWAN babies also have a high-cold title called:IoT Dedicated Network.
Authoritative institutions predict: By 2020, there will be billions of IoT devices connected, and LPWAN technology is one of the most far-reaching trends in IoT.
Now, let’s take a look at what LPWAN babies can specifically do?
Underground Water Pipe: (Holding the little hand of the LPWAN baby)
“Quick! Tell the headquarters!! I have a leak!!!”
Trash Can: (Shyly)
“Please tell the street cat that I have fresh leftovers to eat~ there are fish bones that it loves.”
The Just Cabinet: “Quick, tell the male owner! Quick, tell the male owner! Quick, tell the male owner!!”
Of course, this is purely humorous. (Covering face)
Due to LPWAN’s three major characteristics of “long-distance communication,” “low-speed data transmission,” and “low power consumption,” it is very suitable for IoT applications that require long-distance transmission, very little communication data, and long battery life.
LPWAN babies are most suitable for two types of IoT applications:
One type is location-fixed and relatively concentrated scenarios, such as smart water meters inside buildings, warehouse management, or other equipment data collection systems.
Although GG babies can be applied in these fields, their signal penetration is very weak! They lose signal just by entering an elevator.
The other type is long-distance applications that require battery power, such as smart parking, asset tracking, and geological hydrological monitoring, etc. GG babies can be used in this part, but they really consume too much! (High power consumption) The people say they can’t afford to raise them~
Getting to the point, last week’s comic talked about the growth journey of the LPWAN family’s big cute baby, the NB-IoT baby. Today we will talk about the second cute baby in their family: the LoRa baby!
LoRa = Long Range, is an LPWAN technology released by Semech..
Don’t underestimate her as the second child in the family, she has actually been commercially available long before the big cute NB-IoT baby, and her supporters have formed the LoRa Alliance to support her growth.
There isn’t much information about the LoRa baby online, and the content is also technical, which is related to her origins.
At first, she was just a private small wireless technology without the technical foundation for large-scale promotion; she was still a little baby, but her international alliance dad loves her very much~
The international LoRa Alliance launched the standard technology for wireless connection based on the LoRa protocol – LoRaWAN. The introduction of this standard technology has promoted the large-scale networking of LoRa technology. Currently, several companies in China are also promoting the development of LoRaWAN technology.
Under the cultivation of her dad, LoRa has finally grown into a tall and graceful… big baby (??), and many companies and governments are optimistic about her.
LoRa International Alliance Dad: The child has finally grown up!
However,compared to the big cute NB-IoT baby, the LoRa baby is more suitable for working in some enterprise private networks. Especially in China, she cannot run around like the NB-IoT baby.
NB-IoT baby: Going out to play?
LoRa baby: No…
So the question arises: as fellow members of the LPWAN family, where do LoRa baby and big cute differ?
This leads us to the difference between LoRa and NB-IoT—
First, let’s popularize that the GG babies running outside all have their own fixed dedicated runways:Authorized Runways.
GG babies can run smoothly on this runway without interference from other communication babies, ensuring that the data in hand is quickly sent to the designated location.
However, if unauthorized external communication babies intrude into GG babies’ dedicated runways, it will disrupt GG babies’ order, leading to the following consequences—
Fallen GG babies: (Angrily) Who are you?!! I dropped my data on the ground!!
So other communication babies can’t mess around, or they will be taken away by the police in serious cases! So they can only run in the free frequency bands outside.
And NB-IoT babies are born with a golden spoon, having the attribute of an authorized runway from birth, being treasures in the hands of the government, operators, and equipment vendors.
Obsessed parents: Wow! This child looks so good from such a young age, who does it take after!
So, NB-IoT babies can have their own dedicated authorized runway just like GG babies.
4G baby: What did this guy eat to grow so tall?
3G baby: I don’t know…
2G baby: (already confused)
However,after LoRa baby entered China, it did not receive enough attention from operators; such an origin destined LoRa baby does not have its own dedicated runway and can only operate in free runways..
However, the LoRa baby has been in the field for many years. Although her background is not as strong as that of the NB-IoT rich second generation baby, she has her own unique skills:
She has high sensitivity, strong anti-interference ability, and is small and flexible, making her more suitable for working in specific enterprise private networks.
As a small wireless technology, LoRa possesses low power consumption, wide transmission distance, strong signal penetration, and high sensitivity, which have significant technical advantages compared to traditional small wireless technologies like ZigBee and 2.4G. Therefore, for some specific projects and enterprise private network needs, the LoRa private protocol is more flexible and cost-effective than LoRaWAN. However, the lack of a unified standard greatly limits the large-scale application of the technology. For customers, the lack of standardization can also cause many troubles, such as uneven communication quality of products, etc., which increases the difficulty of large-scale promotion of the technology.
If we make an analogy, then the NB-IoT baby is like the smartphone we use now, while the LoRa baby is like the walkie-talkie in a specific environment.
Of course, it cannot be denied that the emergence of NB-IoT has attracted a lot of public attention, and the once-glamorous LoRa baby has been neglected by many people, and many do not even recognize her.
LoRaWAN has a unified standard, making the application and promotion of technology more convenient. However, currently, operators are more inclined to use NB-IoT technology, and how far LoRaWAN can advance still has great uncertainty.
LoRa baby: I’m just lonely~
(However, many domestic manufacturers are still very accustomed to using the LoRa baby.)
Although the NB-IoT baby is the domestic darling, its emergence does not mean that the LoRa baby will be neglected.
She can just hand over her long-distance errands to the big cute to do and focus on the information transmission work of some enterprise and community internal dedicated networks, assisting the big cute in building a better smart city~
So, please take care of the LoRa baby~
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