Longwave wireless communication acts as a foundation for a Low power Wide Area Network. Mostly low energy is consumed in these types of networks. The reason is that most sensors are used for extracting data. These data are used for transmitting in long-range capabilities. The data are transmitted and received for controlling end gate devices. With the highly established infrastructure of base stations, just by using a SIM card, communication with the cloud is possible.
The only thing required is a network established between the service provider and the user. This can help in sending and receiving data. Data transmission was always the main focus of cellular wireless technologies. There are several examples like LTA Advanced has a transmission rate of 3.9 Gbps downlink and 1.5 Gbps uplink.
Most IoT devices transmit high data which leads to high power consumption and that becomes a little problematic for sharing in long ranges. The main focus of the transmission is low size data as power consumption becomes less.
LTE-M
The third generation partnership launched LTE-M. It is much more efficient as the bandwidth of its transmission is 700 MHz to 900 MHz. The uplink is around 1Mbps as well as the downlink. The low power consumption leads to saving of battery life and works for around 10 to 20 years. LTE makes transmission safe and highly robust.
The disadvantage of LTE is that it’s very expensive and requires high maintenance. The current SIM card system of LTE is very complicated. This problem can be solved easily in the future by using embedded SIM cards so that no other parts are damaged.
SigFox
SigFox can operate in high ranges and also consumes very little power which makes it highly efficient. It supports BPSK modulation and ultra narrowband technology. The SigFox technology transfers data to the SigFox cloud and then it is operated to control several devices. The data is processed in the SigFox cloud server and the required output is given.
The company still works on a large scale and deploy its operation in various regions across the globe. The only disadvantage is that is it not advised to use for international projects. No SIM card is needed for SigFox but the cost of it completely depends on the number of data transferred.
LoRa
LoRa performs very similar to SigFox as it also works on high ranges and takes less power consumption. It works on a frequency of 800 MHz and also covers a distance around 1.5 KM. LoRa also uses chip spread spectrum technology to manage bandwidth and bit rate.
To use LoRa service, an annual sum of amount is paid. No SIM card is needed in this network. No other fee except the annual fee is required to be paid. The business of LoRa is expanding day by day and more companies are getting interested to use their services. The infrastructure is getting expanded with the popularity of this network. Private networks based on LoRa can also be used for personal use and more expansion.
Which is better?
The cost of SigFox and LoRa is manageable because LoRa supports prepaid options and SigFox offers payment according to data use. In case of LTE, the cost is very high.
The infrastructure of LTE is better in comparison to SigFox and LoRa. But, both of them work in higher ranges which is the main benefit of these two services.
The competition is mostly in between SigFox and LoRa as they are having same benefits. They are neck to neck each other. The annual plan of LoRa is still a better option as it is a one time payment with unlimited service. Also, the ability to make private networks is a big advantage of LoRa which is also in high demand
