LowPowerWideAreaNetworks

Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) are a family of wireless communication technologies designed to connect battery-powered devices over large geographic areas with minimal energy use and modest data rates. LPWAN aims to enable scalable, inexpensive connectivity for millions of embedded sensors and actuators that transmit infrequently.

Key characteristics include long-range communication (often kilometers), low data rates (from a few tens of bits per second up to a few tens of kilobits per second), and multi-year battery life achieved through low duty cycles and efficient modulation. They typically operate in unlicensed or licensed spectrum and support large numbers of devices per gateway. Most LPWANs use a star or star-of-stars topology where devices communicate with base stations rather than forming mesh networks.

Network architecture involves end devices connecting to gateways or base stations, which relay data to network servers that interface with application servers. Latency and uplink/downlink capacity are generally sufficient for periodic reporting and event-driven transmissions rather than high-speed interactive services. Deployments often provide wide-area coverage with relatively few gateways serving many devices.

Prominent LPWAN technologies include LoRaWAN, which uses unlicensed sub-GHz spectrum and a star-of-stars topology with gateways; NB-IoT and LTE-M in licensed cellular networks; Sigfox, a proprietary ultranarrowband network; and Weightless specifications (Weightless-P/N). Each technology differs in spectrum usage, data rates, range, and power consumption. LoRaWAN is popular for private and public networks; NB-IoT and LTE-M leverage existing cellular infrastructure and operator support.

Common use cases are smart metering, environmental sensing, asset tracking, agriculture, and remote monitoring. Deployment considerations include regulatory duty-cycle limits, spectrum availability, network operator presence, device compatibility, security, and the need for bidirectional communication for certain applications.