Page 32 - ITU Journal Future and evolving technologies Volume 2 (2021), Issue 5 – Internet of Everything

ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, Volume 2 (2021), Issue 5

agement (PSM) and extended Discontinuous Reception Wi‑Fi: Wi‑Fi is Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
(eDRX) like power‑saving mechanisms, a long battery life technology that belongs to the IEEE 802.11 standard se‑
of approximately 10 years for Cat‑M1 devices is achieved ries. It operates within 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz ISM spectrum
while using a 5 Watt‑Hour battery system. bands. This technology provides high throughput connec‑
Narrowband‑Internet of Things (NB‑IoT): 3GPP Release‑ tivity between devices located nearby. Low‑power Wi‑Fi,
13 speci ication introduced the cellular LPWAN technol‑ which is also called IEEE 802.11ah is intended to serve
ogy NB‑IoT, also known as LTE Cat‑NB1. Allowing a small a massive number of nodes distributed in a larger cover‑
fraction of network resources, NB‑IoT can coexist with age area while consuming less power. The new standard
legacy GSM, GPRS and LTE technologies. Cat‑NB1 sup‑ targets approximately 100’s of milliwatts of energy con‑
ports a minimum system bandwidth of 180 kHz which al‑ sumption for end devices and a data rate up to 347 Mbps
lows a GSM operator to replace one GSM carrier of 200 which would enable it to be used in different IoE appli‑
kHz. The maximum data rates are 66 kbps and 16.9 cations such as parking metering, autonomous lightning,
kbps for multi‑tone and single‑tone uplink transmission smart security etc.
respectively. In the case of a downlink transmission, the Some of the important features of IoE enabling technolo‑
maximum data rates are 32 kbps and 34 kbps for in‑band gies are summarized in Table 2 [5, 45].
scenarios and standalone deployment respectively. NB‑
IoT is seen as a promising technology to meet the huge 4. IOE APPLICATIONS AND ENABLING
traf ic arising from various IoE applications making it an TECHNOLOGIES
essential block for the 5G radio network.
Extended Coverage GSM for the Internet of Things (EC‑ The communication range of Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth is much
GSM‑IoT): EC‑GSM‑IoT is based on enhanced General smaller than other IoE technologies and therefore limit‑
Packet Radio Services (eGPRS), introduced by 3GPP stan‑ ing the possible IoE use cases. Some potential IoE ap‑
dardization in its Release‑13 speci ication. Extended plications of Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi can be found in [46,
coverage and long employment duration are achieved 47]. Personal activity, local object tracking, hospital as‑
through the upgradation of GSM networks. Utilizing set tracking and point of sale could be some of the pos‑
eDRX, an ef icient battery lifetime of 10 years can be sible application scenarios of Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth. Some of
achieved. 20 dB coverage extension is achieved with EC‑ the conceivable applications for ZigBee are waste man‑
GSM‑IoT compared to legacy GPRS networks. EC‑GSM‑ agement systems, warehouse logistics, home automation
IoT can utilize two different modulation techniques: Eight [4, 48]. Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth/ZigBee are suitable candidates
Phase Shift Keying (8PSK) and Gaussian Minimum Shift for short‑range high throughput applications while Wi‑
Keying (GMSK). EC‑GSM‑IoT would enable the existing Fi/Bluetooth can be also used for applications that re‑
GSM networks to support massive IoE application deploy‑ quire low latency and high reliability.
ment. The well‑established global ecosystem is a distinct advan‑
tage for cellular‑based IoE enabling technologies. NB‑
3.3 Short range technologies IoT, eMTC, EC‑GSM‑IoT are more likely to lead the high
throughput/low latency applications market. They would
Bluetooth: Bluetooth was designed for short‑range ad‑ also be able to scale up/scale down the network capac‑
hoc communication between devices operating in the 2.4 ity according to market demands. However, spectrum
GHz ISM bands and can support data rates in low Mbps. sharing for IoE applications in the cellular domain is a
Bluetooth 4.0 improves power consumption and the re‑ challenging issue as it can hamper the existing applica‑
cent amendment to the standard uses 40 channels with tions. Resource optimization will be challenging too since
a width of 2 MHz channel spacing. The technology uses the IoE application requirements might vary from the re‑
GFSK for modulation, and FHSS to combat interference quirements of existing cellular channels. Smart surveil‑
and multipath fading. Increased interest in developing lance/smart automatic driving/smart transportation [5],
the architecture for mesh networking can overcome the connected car/ leet management/remote health moni‑
major drawback of Bluetooth which is a one‑to‑one com‑ toring/smart metering [4] etc. are some of the potential
munication between only two devices at a time. IoE applications of cellular‑based LPWAN technologies.
IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee: IEEE 802.15.4 is the de facto Non‑cellular‑based LPWAN technologies are more appro‑
standard for Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks priate for IoE applications requiring low data rates with a
(LR‑WPAN). Network operation is performed in either long communication range, where reliability and mobility
868 MHZ or 914 MHz or 2.4 GHz band. Direct Se‑ are not among the core priorities. Sigfox outdoor local‑
quence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) is used as the modula‑ ization system [49] and LoRa sailing monitoring system
tion scheme in IEEE 802.15.4. The maximum supported are studied in [50]. While SigFox provides a larger range,
data rate is 250 kbps. A network layer on top of IEEE LoRa provides more lexibility in terms of data rate as re‑
802.15.4 physical and data link layer by ZigBee. ZigBee portedindifferentpapers. Also, LoRahas500msone‑hop
uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoid‑ latency while Sigfox has 2s latency [51]. A DASH7 power
ance (CSMA/CA) for channel access and can support star, metering system is analyzed in [52]. Smart cities, smart
mesh, cluster tree topologies. buildings, smart grids, and oil and gas pipelines are some

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