Talks about difference and determination of using LoRa or IoT-NB...
NB-IoT vs LoRa
Technology Which could take gold?
NB-IoT
?
A White Paper by Hardy Hardy Schmidbauer Schmidbauer prepared for for the LoRa Alliance LoRa Alliance™
September 2016
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CONTENTS
Spectrum, Quality o Service and Cost
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Battery Lietime and Downlink Latency
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Network Coverage and imeline or Deployment
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Devicee Cost, Network Cost and Hybrid Models Devic
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Application Examples: LoRa™ or NB-Io Which Fits Best?
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a.
Electric Metering
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b.
Precision Farming
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c.
Manufacturing Automation
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d.
Intelligent Inte lligent Building
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e.
Retail Point of Sale erminals (POS)
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f.
Pallet Pal let rack racking ing for Logistics Logistics
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Summary
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INTRODUCTION
Tere are many actors to consider or Internet o Tings (Io) applications, applicatio ns, including node cost, network cost, battery lietime, data rate (throughput), latency, mobility, range, coverage, and deploymentt model. No single deploymen single technology will be able to solve all actors simultaneously. simultaneously. NB-Io and LoRa® L oRa® technology each have different different technical and commercial qualifications that will serve different applications just as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (BLE) do. Tis paper will outline those technical differences between NB-Io and LoRa and review which technology is likely to fit the demands or different Io applications.
Figure 1 – Io Application Considerations
LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
2 SPECTRUM, QUALITY OF SERVICE AND COST
LoRa is utilized in unlicensed spectrum below 1GHz, which come at no cost to the applications applica tions that use it. NB-Io and cellular communication use licensed bands that t hat are also less than 1GHz. Te sub-GHz requency bands between 500MHz and 1GHz are optimal or long range communication and the physical size and efficiency o antennas. LoRaWAN™ uses ree unlicensed spectrum and is an asynchronous protocol, which is optimal or battery lietime and cost. LoRa and the LoRaWAN protocol have unique eatures and were designed to handle intererence, overlapping networks, and scalable capacity or very high volumes; however, however, they cannot offer the same quality o service (QoS) (Q oS) as a time slotted cellular protocol. Licensed band spectrum auctions o the sub-GHz spectrum are typically greater than 500 million dollars per MHz. While the cellular and NB-Io time slotted synchronous protocol is optimal rom a QoS perspective, it does not offer comparable comparable battery lietime to LoRa, which will be discussed urther in Section 3. Due to the QoS and the high spectrum spectr um cost, higher value applications applications that need guaranteed guaranteed QoS preer preer the cellular options, options, while the low cost, high volume solutions preer preer LoRa (Figure 2).
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Figure 2 – Io Pricing vs Quality of Service (QoS)
© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
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LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
3 BATTERY LIFETIME AND DOWNLINK LATENCY
Cellular communication systems are designed or optimal spectrum spectr um utilization, which compromises the end-node in terms o cost and battery lietime. In contrast, in a LoRaWAN network, the end-nodes are optimized or cost and battery lietime at the expense o the spectrum utilization. Tere are two important aspects to consider or battery lietime: both the enddevice current consumption (peak and average) and the contribution o protocol. protocol. LoRaWAN is an asynchronous, ALOHA-based protocol, which means an enddevice can sleep or as little or as long as the applicatio application n desires. In a cellular-based synchronous synchro nous protocol, the end-device must check-in with the t he network periodically periodica lly.. For example, an average cell phone today has to synchro synchronize nize with the network every 1.5 seconds even while out o use. In NB-Io, synchronization happens less ofen but still regularly, which still consumes additional energy rom the battery. While the modulation used in cellular networks is the most efficient to utilize the spectrum, it is not efficient rom an end-device perspective. Cellular modulation (OFDM or FDMA) requires a linear transmitte transmitterr to create the modulation, and a linear transmitter requires orders orders o magnitude more peak p eak current than non-linear modulations, such as LoRa. Tese higher peak p eak currents drain the battery aster and require expensive batteries to support them. Te synchronous nature o a cellular network does create some advantages or applications that require short downlink latency. NB-Io can also offer aster data rates to support applications that want high amounts o data throughput. LoRaWAN supports class B, which was designed to reduce the downlink communication latency by having the end-device wake up at programmable intervals to check or downlink messages.
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© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
For applications applications with very requent communication communication and a very low latency l atency requirement or large amounts o data, NB-Io will be the best option. However, or applications applications that need very long battery lietime and optimized cost, but do not need to communicate as ofen, LoRa is a better option. “We will deploy multiple solutions to serve as many Io applications as possible” said Bertrand Waels, head o Alternative echnologies at Orange. “We see strong value proposition in LoRa or certain applications that other technologies options can’t address.”
Figure 3– Performance and Cost radeoffs
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LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
4 NETWORK COVERAGE AND TIMELINE FOR DEPLOYMENT
Te essential requirement or any volume end-node deployment is network availability. One o the advocated advantages o NB-Io is that existing inrastructure can be upgraded to deliver the service; however however,, this upgrade is limited to certain 4G/L 4G/LE E base stations and is expensive. While this strategy is viable or a dense city city environment environment that has has or will have 4G/LE 4G/LE coverage—which coverage—which is NB-Io’s projected target area—It is not ideal or rural or suburban regions that do not or will not have 4G coverage. Te NB-Io specification was released in June 2016 with end-device silicon predicted to be available in the first hal o 2017. Once they are commercially available, it will take additional time to establish an ecosystem and move the products to mass production, in addition to having NB-Io network coverage roll-out. Depending application or opportunity, this turnaround time may be too long. LoRa components and the LoRaWAN ecosystem are mature and production-ready now, while nationwide deployments are still in the rollout phase. One significant attribute o the LoRaWAN ecosystem is the components’ operability in the private or enterprise model as well as the public network model. Many large enterprises are planning a hybrid model that deploys a network in their acility and utilizes the public network or coverage outside o their acility. NB-Io deployments are restricted to a cellular base station public model mo del only. only.
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© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
5 DEVICE COST, NETWORK COST AND HYBRID MODELS
For the end-device, the LoRaWAN protocol is more simple compared to NB-Io and can be easily implemented with low cost, widely available microcontrollers. Te modulation o NB-Io and the protocol is more complex, which increases the silicon area and cost o the solution. NB-Io, as well as 3GPP, has an issue with IP royalties. oday, a typical royalty or a cellular phone is five dollars, which is too expensive or Io; however, lowering the royalty could cause price erosion in the cellular market royalties.. Te 3GPP community will need to come up with a solution to address royalties the high royalties or Io while maintainin maintainingg that source o revenue or cellular communication. Highly integrated, low cost LoRa modules are already available, and new, more integrated options will be release soon. Tere are no royalty issues to create margin stacking in the LoRa LoR a Alliance community so modules under our dollars are much more easible in the LoRaWAN ecosystem. Certified LoRaWAN modules today are in the $7-10 range but are expected to reach the $4-5 as integration and volumes mature within the ecosystem. Alternatively, today cellular LE modules struggle to get below $20. For Io and LPWAN, different deployment models will be used to lower the CapEx and OpEx costs o deployment compared compared to traditional t raditional deployment models solely based on towers. LoRaWAN deployments will cost much less, utilizing a mix o traditional towers, industrial gateways and in-home pico gateways. Te price o tower top gateway is in the range o $1000, industrial gateways are less than $500 and low cost pico cell gateways are in the range o $100. For NB-Io, upgrades to existing 4G LE base stations can cost as much as $15,000 each.
© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
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LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
6 APPLICATION EXAMPLES
NB-Io or LoRa™– WHICH FIS BES? Te application requirements, technical differences, deployment models, device costs, and deployment deployment timeline will dictate which technology is used or each specific vertical. As previously stated, not one technology technology will serve all al l the different Io applications equally. Below, different application use case requirements are discussed with a summary summar y o which technology fits the requirements.
a Electric Metering In the electric metering market, utility companies typically require high data rates, requent communication, and low latency. Since electric meters have a power source available, they do not require ultra-low power and long battery lietime. Utility companies need real-time monitoring o the grid so they can make immediate decisions based on load, outages and other interruptions. Electric meters could be implemented with LoRaWAN as class C in order to have low latency, but due to the desired higher data rates and requent communication, NB-Io is a better fit or the application. Electric meters are also in stationary locations lo cations in mostly densely populated areas so it is easy or cellular companies to provide or guarantee coverage with NB-Io.
NB-IoT
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© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
b Precision Farming For agriculture, very low cost sensors with a long battery lietime are desired. Te use o moisture, temperature, and alkalinity sensors can significantly improve the yield and reduce water consumption or one o the largest global markets. Te sensors need to update their inormation a ew times per p er hour as the conditio conditions ns do not change radically. LoRa and LoRaWAN are ideal or these requirements. In addition, many arms do not have cellular coverage today and even more do not have 4G/LE coverage so NB-Io is not a viable option or or the oreseeable oreseeable uture.
Manuacturing c Automation Real time monito monitoring ring o actory actor y machinery can preven preventt maintenance-related maintenance-related line down and can allow or remote control to improve efficiency. Tere are many different types o sensors or requirements in actory automation. Some applications need requent communication communication and a guaranteed QoS so NB-Io is a better b etter fit than LoRa. Others need low cost sensors with long battery lietime to track equipment, monitor status, and conditions which is a better fit or or LoRa. Due to the wide variety o o requirements or this segment both NB-Io and LoRa will be utilized.
NB-IoT
© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
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LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
d Intelligent Building Monitoring temperature/humidity, temp erature/humidity, security secur ity,, moisture, occup occupancy, ancy, HVAC, HVAC, water flow fl ow,, and electric plugs can provide building property managers with alerts and alarms direct to their mobile device to preven preventt damage and respond to requests instantly without having manually monitor monitor in the building. Te usage and cleaning o buildings can also be done more efficiently. Te requirement or these sensors is low cost with a good battery lietime. Tey do not require requent communication communication or a guaranteed quality o service. Pico cell gateways, which can be placed in basements bas ements or underground parking garages to ensure coverage through 100 percent o the property,, are also desired so LoRa property LoR a is a better fit or this vertical.
Point int o Sale S ale ermina erminals ls e Retail Po (POS) Point o sale (POS) systems must have Point have a need or guaranteed quality o service (QoS) since they handle requent requent communication. communication. Tese systems are also powered p owered so there is no constraint on battery lietime. Tere is also a strong desire to minimize l atency and turn-around time because long latency times can limit the number o transactions a store can make. Due to the QoS and requent communication, NB-Io is a better fit or this applicatio application. n. NB-IoT
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© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
Pallet rack racking ing f Pallet or Logistics Te key attributes to unlocking high volume in this market are cost and battery lietime. Being able to track pallets to determine the t he location or condition o goods is highly desirable. Pallet tracking is a good goo d example o a hybrid deployment solution. solution. Logistics companies can have their own solution so they have a guaranteed g uaranteed coverage coverage in their acilities. Low cost gateways can be easily deployed to cover sorting acilities and also deployed on vehicles as mobile gateways. A LoRaWAN public network can be leveraged when outside the acilities or when goods arrive at customer locations. 4G/LE or NB-Io might not be available or all logistic locations, which are typically in rural locations. LoRa also has the unique technical properties, which make the communication more reliable when moving at high speeds than the narrow band signals. Due to the low cost, long battery lietime, and capability to have a private solution to guarantee network coverage in all sorting acilities LoRa is a better technology choice.
© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
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LoRa Alliance™ White Paper
7 SUMMARY
Tere will be no undisputed champion o Io. Each application vertical will have its specific requirements and considerations which will lead to different technology. Tis paper has described the different technical and commercial tradeoffs or NBIo and LoRa and both will have their place in the Io market. LoRa will serve the lower cost high volume application application segments, NB-Io will serve ser ve the higher value applications applicatio ns that are willing to pay or a higher quality o service ser vice where offered.
More inormation can be ound at www.lora-alliance.org
Tis white paper is sponsored by the LoRa ® Alliance Members. Te LoRa ,® LoRaWAN™ LoRaWAN™ and LoRa Alliance™ Alliance™ name name and associated associated logos are tradema trademarks rks of Semtech Corporation or its subsidiaries. White paper designed by Semtech Corporation Corporation..
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© LoRa Alliance™ 2016
LoRa Alliance™
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