IoT means Low Power Radio
Laptop computer 15W average, always on WiFi: 54Mbps +, streaming data Last mile: 10Mbps +
Presence sensor 15μW average (6 orders less!)
75mW transmission power 3ms transmission time @125kbps 1 message every 75 seconds
12 years on a CR2450 coin cell battery Forever on a 3x7cm photovoltaic @50lx (dim room)
Low Power Radio Protocols
Range between 10m and 100m (typical)
IEEE 802.15 (open / multi – vendor): Bluetooth Low Energy ZigBee 6LoWPAN
Other (closed / single – vendor) ANT / ANT+ Z-Wave EnOcean (ISO/IEC 14543-3-10)
Proprietary Hundreds / thousands of things
Radio Estate Properties
2.4GHz (globally unified but crowded) Bluetooth LE ZigBee 6LoWPAN ANT / ANT+
Sub–GHz: 868/902/915MHz (regional, low duty cycle) ZigBee 6LoWPAN Z-Wave EnOcean
433 MHz (globally unified) Proprietary (eg weather stations)
Bluetooth Low Energy
Bluetooth SIG: http://bluetooth.org
Bluetooth 1/2/3 = streaming media (audio etc.)
Bluetooth LE = sensors and actors („things”)
Bluetooth 4 = Bluetooth 3 & BLE (dual mode) Smartphones Not supported on Android today
Only via proprietary (but open) stacks (Broadcom) Expected at GoogleIO 2013
Strict transport / open application layer
Star network topology No mesh / repeaters Energy efficient receivers
ZigBee
ZigBee Alliance: http://zigbee.org
Strict 802.15.4 MAC layer (868/915MHz / 2.4GHz) Common transport layer for proprietary applications
Application – layer open standards emerging ZLL (ZigBee Light Link) ZHA (ZigBee Home Automation) ZSE (ZigBee Smart Energy)
Ad-hoc mesh network topology Coordinators, repeaters, end nodes Destination – based routing (self healing)
Z-Wave
Z-Wave Alliance: http://z-wave.com
Controlled by Sigma Designs Requires membership, NDA
Physical layer varies by region (frequencies / radio bands)
Strict Application – layer protocol Command Classes guarantee interoperability Wide selection of compatible products
Source – based routing mesh Not self – healing Controllers, slaves
EnOcean
EnOcean Alliance http://enocean-alliance.org
Controlled by EnOcean GmbH (the company) Spin-off of Siemens AG
Designed for energy harvesting Mechanical, photovoltaic, thermoelectric True wireless: very popular for sensors
Physical layer varies by region (frequencies)
Application layer is optional Equipment Profiles
Star network topology Up to 2 repeaters between nodes
6LoWPAN
6LoWPAN IETF group RFC 4944
IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks MAC layer based on 802.15.4 (same as ZigBee)
Varies by region (frequencies)
Fragmentation, header compression Transport layer: UDP or TCP Vendor – specific „mesh under”
NXP (Jennic), TI, ZMDI
Standard addressing (IPv6) and security (IPsec, IKE)
No application layer standards yet
Potential to „rule them all” Including BLE, ZigBee (IP),
Z-Wave, PowerLine Communications
The question
Which one to choose?
The answer
It depends…
Reach: Bluetooth LE
Features: ZigBee
Compatibility: Z-Wave
Efficiency: EnOcean
Security: 6LoWPAN
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