®
22
END
OF
YEAR
REPORT
2020
Approved
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Alliance
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WHITE PAPERS PUBLISHED IN 2020
CITIES
Why LoRaWAN
®
is the connectivity platform for
smart city applications READ NOW >
LOGISTICS
Why LoRaWAN
®
is the logical choice for as-
set-tracking connectivity READ NOW >
UTILITIES
A solution for successful interoperability with
DLMS/COSEM and LoRaWAN
®
READ NOW >
M AY 2 0 2 0
www.lora-alliance.org
WHY LoRaWAN
®
IS
THE CONNECTIVITY
PLATFORM FOR
SMART CITY
APPLICATIONS
INTRODUCTION
We live in a rapidly urbanizing world, in which two-thirds of
the population will live in cities by 2050, adding another 2.5
billion city-dwellers to the current just over 4 billion urban
residents
1
.
Smart cities are the ultimate in interconnected, intelligent
infrastructure, with services, devices and systems linked
that encompass simple inputs such as sensors on waste
bins or controls for streetlighting to complex citizen services
composed of multiple systems integrating with each other to
enable smart
transportation or connected vehicles.
The connection of infrastructure and services in a city
includes buildings, businesses and municipal assets, and
operates alongside smart buildings, smart vehicles and
smart utilities. The common goal is to make money, save
money or achieve compliance. Often, it's all three.
As in all complex technological deployments, smart cities
rely on an ecosystem of developers, equipment makers and
service providers to provide the various pieces of the smart
city architecture.
This ecosystem looks very similar for all
digitally transformed sectors, not just smart cities.
The equation is composed of hardware, software,
connectivity and data processing capability. There are
sensors and actuators to measure variables and then react
to them. For example, for turning a light off at dawn, there
of devices, there are radio access networks to connect
devices according to their needs and ensure connectivity is
ubiquitously available at an appropriate cost. There are also
data visualisation and analytics tools to derive actionable
insights from the data that is collected and communicated.
Individual endpoints differ from vertical to vertical as
infrastructure of the network and the data handling is
largely the same, providing a vast base of development
and engineering resources. Thankfully, it's not necessary
to reinvent the wheel every time you look to connect a
new endpoint device. The connectivity needs of an air
conditioner are similar to those of a streetlight, although
the data transmitted and the frequency of that transmission
might be very different.
requirements when it comes to infrastructure. They're
clearly different from a smart agriculture environment, for
example, which has far fewer applications to support, fewer
constraints in terms of dense urban topology, and involves
fewer stakeholders to integrate across the ecosystem.
Smart cities are complex in terms of the number of different
services, applications and endpoints involved; they have
challenging wireless network propagation characteristics,
such as needs for in-building and underground
network
coverage; they involve multiple vendors and types of users;
LoRa Alliance
®
and LoRaWAN
®
are registered trademarks. Used with permission. ©2020 LoRa Alliance
®
A P R I L 2 0 2 0
www.lora-alliance.org
WHY LoRaWAN
®
IS THE LOGICAL
CHOICE FOR
ASSET-TRACKING
CONNECTIVITY
INTRODUCTION
Asset tracking has been among the earliest applications
to gain significant traction first in the machine-to-machine
(M2M) market over the last two decades and, in more
recent years, in the Internet of Things (IoT). In early
iterations, the connectivity used for asset tracking was
either cellular or satellite. The objective was purely to have
remote visibility of the location of the asset. However, with
the evolution toward IoT and the increasing availability of
new technologies—such as low-power wide-area networks
(LPWANs)—asset-tracking applications are becoming more
ubiquitous, pervasive and sophisticated. We are now able
to communicate not only the position of the asset but also
key information, such as the status of the object and data,
such as temperature, speed and asset-specific information.
This paper explores the importance of asset tracking within
the evolution of logistics.
THE LOGISTICS SECTOR
Supply chain and logistics are often used interchangeably,
but this is not always accurate. Based on the Council
of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)
definition, logistics is seen as "part of supply chain
management that plans, implements, and controls the
efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of
goods, services and related information between the point
of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet
customers' requirements."
Using the CSCMP definition, the logistics competitive
landscape can be grouped based on different business
models. Noting that companies can operate using different
business models, they can be grouped in the way illustrated
in Figure 1.
Logistics Player Type
Logistics Player
Business Model
Typical Customers Segment
Logistics Service Providers (LSPs)
Mainly freight forwarders, third
and fourth parties
Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers B2B
Carriers
Trucking, rail freight, sea freight,
air freight
LSPs B2B
Courier Express Parcel (CEP) Last-mile delivery
Retailers and manufacturers, other
companies with the need to deliver items
B2B and B2C
Source: Elaboration on classification by PWC "Shifting Patterns: The Future of the Logistics Industry"
Figure 1. Logistics Market Classification
LoRa Alliance
®
and LoRaWAN
®
are registered trademarks. Used with permission. ©2020 LoRa Alliance
®
LoRa Alliance
®
& DLMS User Association
Whitepaper
Whitepaper: A Solution for Successful Interoperability with
DLMS/COSEM and LoRaWAN
®
