LPWANTechnologien

LPWAN technologies, or Low-Power Wide-Area Networks, are a class of wireless communication protocols designed for the Internet of Things (IoT). They deliver long-range connectivity and low power consumption at the expense of relatively low data rates, enabling battery-powered devices to operate for years without frequent maintenance and to cover large geographic areas.

The best-known LPWAN technologies include LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and cellular variants such as NB-IoT and LTE-M (Cat M1). LoRaWAN uses a star-of-stars topology with gateways aggregating messages from end devices over unlicensed spectrum, offering multi-kilometer range in rural areas and kilometers in urban settings. Sigfox operates its own low-bandwidth network using ultra-narrowband modulation. NB-IoT and LTE-M run on licensed cellular networks and are standardized by 3GPP, with NB-IoT optimized for very small payloads and LTE-M supporting higher data rates and mobility.

Applications span smart metering, environmental monitoring, agriculture, asset tracking, and smart cities, where infrequent, small data packets and long deployment lifetimes are preferred. Network operators or service providers often determine coverage depending on technology: LoRaWAN and Sigfox rely on deployed gateways or operator networks, while NB-IoT and LTE-M depend on cellular infrastructure.

Standardization and ecosystem: LoRaWAN is stewarded by the LoRa Alliance; NB-IoT and LTE-M are defined within 3GPP specifications and deployed by many mobile operators. The LPWAN landscape continues to evolve with advances in spectral efficiency, roaming, and interoperability, as well as hybrid architectures that combine multiple LPWANs with traditional cellular or Wi-Fi networks.