WiFi and LoRa Combine to Form Long-Range Wireless Networks For IoT Use Cases
As the Internet of Things (IoT) proliferates, the technology that provides IoT-enabled devices connectivity and mobility will evolve. By combining two pre-existing unlicensed technologies, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) in collaboration with the LoRA Alliance may accelerate that evolution. In a recently published white paper cultivated with input from mobile carriers and telecom equipment developers, proponents of both technologies make the case that merging the two will optimize a variety of IoT use cases - and perhaps even create a few new ones.
If you’re a living, breathing, occasionally conscious human being, then you’re probably familiar with WiFi. It’s ability to handle high data transmission rates makes WiFi the optimal connectivity solution for streaming video and surfing the internet, albeit over shorter distances than its counterpart, and has traditionally been the preferred option for so-called “Critical IoT” use cases such as traffic control, smart grid automation and industrial applications. LoRa (short for “long range”), on the other hand, is the preferred technology for “Massive IoT” use cases that require lower bandwidth and longer-range connectivity such as temperature or vibration sensors in smart buildings and other structures. Implemented together, the paper’s authors believe the two technologies can create optimal networks for Massive IoT applications that support a high volume of connected devices.
Massive IoT applications depend upon a large number of cost and energy efficient devices on a single network while requiring relatively low throughput, all of which WiFi can provide on its own over a limited distance. By incorporating LoRA, the network can be expanded to include more devices and cover a larger physical area, such as an office park, neighborhood, or perhaps even an entire city. The paper includes a series of testimonials from WiFi providers implementing LoRa and offers a number of real use cases already in operation, including cities in Russia and Canada deploying LoRaWAN infrastructures in their citywide networks.
The paper goes on to predict potential applications of a WiFi/LoRa partnership, including asset tracking and location determination in smart buildings (such as offices or hospitals), video streaming to battery-powered devices within the network, establishing neighborhood networks to more easily deploy emergency services more quickly and efficiently, and setting up vehicle tracking and maintenance for fleets of automobiles employed in interstate or international commerce.
“Wi-Fi and LoRaWAN are two important technologies utilizing the unlicensed spectrum, and they already address a large proportion of IoT use cases,” according to Tiago Rodrigues, General Manager of the WBA. “The Deployment Synergies paper highlights the ways in which these technologies are impacting private-public business models and enabling IoT services, while also identifying ways in which the technologies complement one another and can be used to further expand the Internet of Things.”
How far can this technological symbiosis reach? Can you imagine a future with statewide or even nationwide wireless networks? The potential for Big Brother-type monitoring and surveillance would be there, of course, but there could be significant benefits as well. Police, firefighters and other first responders could locate people in need of assistance almost instantaneously from anywhere within the network. Better WiFi accessibility could provide educational and economic opportunities for communities that don’t have the same access as others do. And just imagine knowing exactly where the package you’re expecting is (down to the specific block on a street) and when it will arrive down to the minute, maybe even the second. As IoT use cases multiply, the ecosystem around them will continue to grow and expand in kind. We’ll continue to monitor these developments in this space and examine the trends that materialize over time.
The white paper, entitled Wi-Fi & LoRaWAN® Deployment Synergies: Expanding Addressable Use Cases for the Internet of Things, was co-written by members of the WBA IoT Work Group and the LoRa Alliance and contains input from a host of companies and organizations including BT, Boingo, BSG Wireless, Charter Communications, Connexin, Eleven-X, ER-Telecom, Orange, Tata Communications, Unity Media, Objenious, Semtech, Syniverse, Abeeway, Actility, BSG, Kerlink, Maxima Telecom, Microshare, Orbiwise, Senet, Siradel, Skyhook Multi-Tech, the Centre for Development of Telematics and Digital Catapult.
You can read the WBA/LoRA Alliances white paper here: https://lora-alliance.org/resource-hub/wi-fi-lorawanr-deployment-synergies