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LoRaWAN and NB-IoT : competitors or complementary

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2 CONNECTING UTILITY ASSETS USING LORAWAN www.abiresearch.com Both LoRaWAN and NB-IoT end devices have lower power consumption by shifting to sleep mode when not in operation. As a synchronous protocol, NB-IoT consumes significantly more energy than LoRaWAN, which is an asynchronous protocol, and when measured on the same data throughput, NB-IoT con- sumes higher peak current required for OFDM/FDMA modulation. Regardless, the characteristics of these two technologies are critical for many application segments that require deep indoor coverage and years of battery life. Enterprise customers looking to deploy a hybrid network using both private and public network infra- structure are best served by LoRaWAN for multiple reasons. With private LoRaWAN networks, enter- prises are not restricted due to business and cost constraints by data transmissions. Where available, campus network access can be augmented with a public LoRaWAN network. NB-IoT connectivity is cur- rently offered in areas that already have cellular coverage, but relative to LoRaWAN, deployment costs are higher because private network deployments will require acquisition or leasing of RF spectrum from network operators. Another factor affecting relative cost and performance between LoRaWAN and NB- IoT is that LoRaWAN has demonstrated better indoor penetration capabilities. The Maximum Coupling Loss (MCL) for both uplink and downlink of LoRaWAN is 165 dB; the NB-IoT MCL value can be from 145 dB to 169 dB for uplink and 151 dB for downlink based on the device class. The lower link budget of NB- IoT also reduces battery life. More LoRa Devices Than NB-IoT As of April 2019, worldwide there are more than 113 LoRaWAN networks in 55 countries at various stages of commercial deployment, according to the LoRa Alliance, compared to 90 NB-IoT networks. Ac- cording to the LoRa Alliance, there are 118 LoRaWAN devices that are certified by the LoRa Alliance. This compares to a total of 43 commercial NB-IoT and CAT-M devices, as reported by the Global Mobile Sup- pliers Association. According to Semtech Corporation, as of April 2019, the cumulative number of LoRa end nodes reached 97 million. LoRaWAN solution growth is accelerating because the device ecosystem has been rapidly expanding to address a broader set of vertical markets. Technology Parameters LoRaWAN NB-IoT Bandwidth 125 kHz 180 kHz Coverage 165 dB 164 dB Battery Life 15+ years 10+ years Peak Current 32 mA 120 mA Sleep Current 1µA 5µA Throughput 50 Kbps 60 Kbps Latency Device Class Dependent < 10 s Security AES 128 bit 3GPP (128 to 256 bit) Geolocation Yes (TDOA) Yes (in 3GPP Rel 14) Cost Efficiency (Device and Network) High Medium Source: ABI Research

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