Unit 3 - IoT Wireless Networks

 Introduction to WSN and its architecture

 Network topologies, Issues, Challenges and Security
 WSN Technologies and its application
 Wi-Fi ( IEEE 802.11 WLAN , 2.4GHz )
 Bluetooth ( IEEE 802.15.1 WPAN)
 Zigbee ( IEEE 802.15. 4 WPAN)
 LoRa ( IEEE P1451.5.5 )
What are Wireless Sensor Networks?
 What are Wireless Sensor Networks?
Sensor nodes are used in WSN with the onboard processor that manages and monitors
the environment in a particular area. They are connected to the Base Station which acts as a
processing unit in the WSN System.
Base Station in a WSN System is connected through the Internet to share data.

Applications of WSN:
Internet of Things (IOT)
Surveillance and Monitoring for security, threat detection
Environmental temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Noise Level of the surrounding
Medical applications like patient monitoring
Agriculture
Landslide Detection
Elements of WSN
A typical wireless sensor network can be divided into two elements. They
are:
Sensor Node
Network Architecture
Sensor Node
A Sensor Node in a WSN consists of four basic components. They are:
Power Supply
Sensor
Processing Unit
Communication System
Network Architecture
When a large number of sensor nodes are deployed in a large area to co-operatively monitor a
physical environment, the networking of these sensor node is equally important. A sensor node
in a WSN not only communicates with other sensor nodes but also with a Base Station (BS) using
wireless communication.

If each sensor node is connected to the base

station, it is known as Single-hop network
architecture.
Multi-Hop: Instead of one single link between the sensor node and the base station, the data is
transmitted through one or more intermediate node.

This can be implemented in two ways.

Flat network architecture
Hierarchical network architecture

Flat network Hierarchical network

architecture architecture
Sensors:
Sensors in WSN are used to capture the environmental variables and which is used for data
acquisition. Sensor signals are converted into electrical signals.
Radio Nodes:
It is used to receive the data produced by the Sensors and sends it to the WLAN access point.
It consists of a microcontroller, transceiver, external memory, and power source.
WLAN Access Point:
It receives the data which is sent by the Radio nodes wirelessly, generally through the internet.
Evaluation Software:
The data received by the WLAN Access Point is processed by a software called as Evaluation
Software for presenting the report to the users for further processing of the data which can be
used for processing, analysis, storage, and mining of the data.

What is meant by mining of data?

Data mining is the process of sorting through large data sets to identify patterns
Classification of Wireless Sensor Networks
Wireless Sensor Networks are extremely application specific and are deployed according to
the requirements of the application. Hence, the characteristics of one WSN will be different to
that of another WSN.
Irrespective of the application, Wireless Sensor Networks in general can be classified into the
following categories.

Deterministic and Nondeterministic WSN

Static and Mobile WSN
Single Base Station and Multi Base Station WSN
Static Base Station and Mobile Base Station WSN
Single-hop and Multi-hop WSN
Self – Reconfigurable and Non – Self – Configurable WSN
Homogeneous and Heterogeneous WSN
 Network Topologies in
WSN

Partially connected fully connected

STAR TREE mesh topology mesh
topology
 Wireless Sensor Network Architecture
Types of WSN Architectures
The architecture used in WSN is sensor network architecture. This kind of architecture is
applicable in different places such as hospitals, schools, roads, buildings as well as it is used in
different applications

There are 2 types of wireless sensor architectures:

Layered Network Architecture
Clustered Architecture.
Layered Network Architecture
Application layer: Responsible for traffic management and provide software for different
applications that translate the data in an understandable form or send queries to obtain
certain information. Sensor networks deployed in various applications in different fields,
for example: military, medical, environment, agriculture fields
Transport layer: The function of this layer is to provide reliability and congestion avoidance
where a lot of protocols designed to provide this function are either applied on the
upstream or downstream. These protocols use different mechanisms for loss detection and
loss recovery
The following are some popular protocols in this layer :
STCP (Sensor Transmission Control Protocol)
PORT (Price-Oriented Reliable Transport Protocol
PSFQ (pump slow fetch quick)
Network layer: The major function of this layer is routing. The basic idea of the routing
protocol is to define a reliable path and redundant paths according to a certain scale called
metric, which differs from protocol to protocol.
There is a lot of routing protocols available for this layer, they can be divide into; Flat routing
and hierarchal routing
Time driven, query driven and event driven.
Data aggregation and data fusion

Data link layer: Responsible for multiplexing data streams, data frame detection, MAC, and
error control, ensure reliability of point–point or point– multipoint.

Physical Layer: Can provide an interface to transmit a stream of bits over physical medium.
Responsible for frequency selection, carrier frequency generation, signal detection,
Modulation and data encryption.
 Design Issues and challenges of Wireless Sensor Network
Architecture
The design issues and challenges of wireless sensor network architecture mainly
include the following.
Fault performance: Failure of node is high in WSN, Hence designer should design a robust
and reliable network. The protocols deployed in a sensor network should be able to detect
these failures as soon as possible and be robust enough to handle a relatively large number
of failures while maintaining the overall functionality of the network
Scalability: Flexibility in addition of new nodes to network should be possible without
changing the architecture or the topology of the network
Cost of Production: The cost of the node should be cheaper because when network grows
the number nodes also increases there by increasing the cost. So the designer of WSN
should find optimum number of nodes required for the application.
Operation environment: WSN should not be vulnerable to small changes in the
environment conditions.
Data Aggregation: Since nodes in a network lie very closely, there may be chances of
generating similar data between these nodes. The duplicate data validation should be
monitored
Design Issues and challenges of Wireless Sensor Network Architecture

Quality of Service and Lifetime: Quality of Service means data should be delivered within
time period. The sensor network has to trade off between quality of data and energy
consumption. In particular, the senor network has to satisfy certain QoS metrics like data
latency, energy, packet loss, bandwidth, error rate etc . WSNs should work for a longer
time by consuming low power, hence designers need to validate the protocols such that
node consumes less power making WSN node to last longer
Energy Consumption : Sensor network lifetime is strongly dependent on its battery. Hence
power conservation and power management is an important issue in WSN especially
where no power regeneration is possible
Hardware Design: At minimum, every sensor node needs to have a sensing unit, a
processing unit, a transmission unit, and a power supply and every additional functionality
comes with additional cost and increases the power consumption and physical size of the
node. Thus, additional functionality needs to be always balanced against cost and low-
power requirements.
Sensor Localization: Localization is extensively used in WSNs to identify the current
location of the sensor nodes. A WSN consist of thousands of nodes that make the
installation of GPS on each sensor node expensive.
Wireless Sensor Network Applications
Wireless sensor networks may comprise numerous different types of sensors like low
sampling rate, seismic, magnetic, thermal, visual, infrared, radar, and acoustic, which are
clever to monitor a wide range of ambient situations. Sensor nodes are used for constant
sensing, event detection & local control of actuators.

•Weather monitoring systems

•Indoor air monitoring systems
•Soil moisture monitoring systems
•Surveillance systems
•Smart grid
•Structural health monitoring systems
 Security in Wireless Sensor
Confidentiality ensures that only authorized parties with sufficient privileges
may view the information. The tool most commonly used to achieve
confidentiality is Encryption.

Integrity which ensures that the data stored on devices is correct and no
unauthorized persons or malicious software has altered data, it is probably more
critical than either confidentiality or availability measures to protect integrity
include error checking methods such as check sums and file hashing.

 Availability is pretty straightforward which means that network resources are

readily available to authorized users, although a secure computer must restrict
access attempts by unauthorized users, it still must allow immediate access to
authorized users. for instance a banking customer should be able to check their
balance or withdraw their funds in a timely manner
WSN Technologies and its Application : Bluetooth
Bluetooth is designed to operate in an environment of many users. Up to eight
devices can communicate in a small network called a piconet.

Ten of these piconets can coexist in the same coverage range of the Bluetooth
radio.

The physical layer of 802.15.1 (Bluetooth) consists of two parts

i)Baseband
ii) Bluetooth Radio

Transmission Scheme – FHSS (Frequency Hoping Spread Spectrum )

Modulation scheme used = GFSK

Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK) is a type of FSK modulation that uses a
Gaussian filter to shape pulses before modulation. This process is known as pulse
shaping
Each Bluetooth device may be either a Master or a Slave at any one time,
though not simultaneously. These two roles are defined as follows:
Master—The device which initiates an exchange of data.
Slave—The device which responds to the Master
Different versions of Bluetooth: Over the years Bluetooth went on with up
gradation with newer standards, we list different standards of Bluetooth below:

Bluetooth v1.0: It was the first standard, faced difficulties with interoperability, being
the drawback of this version.
Bluetooth v1.1: This version Fixed problems faced from previous versions and added
signal strength indicators and non encrypted channels.
Bluetooth v1.2: This version gave faster transfer speeds, better transmission
involving retransmission of corrupted data packets.
Bluetooth v2.0+EDR: Again brought about faster transfer speeds, upto 3 Mbits/s
theoretically. EDR stood for 'Enhanced Data Rate'.
Bluetooth v2.1+EDR: A major revision that let device pairing happen much faster and
more easily
Bluetooth v3.0+HS: Allowed data transfer of upto 24 Mbits/s
Bluetooth v4.0 LE: V4.0 LE: Bluetooth Low Energy, it kept data rates at up by
lowering the power , which connected to new world with devices such as fitness
bands, smart watches etc .
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Advantages
It creates adhoc connection immediately without any wires. Connection
establishment is very quick. User only need to pair the bluetooth PAN connection
between two devices.
It has low power consumption.
It can pass through walls.
It has better range than Infrared communication.
no issue of interoperability among different bluetooth vendor products.
It is used for voice and data transfer.
It uses FHSS and hence data communication is more secure.

Disadvantages
Security it operates on Radio frequency and hence can penetrate through walls. It is
advisable not to use it for critical business or personal data transfer.
As Home RF technology operates on same frequency, It has interference from it.
Has lower Bandwidth when compared to WiFi.
Battery usage is more compare to the condition when bluetooth is powered OFF.
BLE or bluetooth low energy or bluetooth smart is developed to enhance the battery
life further.
Applications
Despite all the disadvantages or cons, Bluetooth is one of the most widely used
network protocol in the world. While we are used to Bluetooth headsets, there's
way more to it than just that. Some of the applications include:

 Wireless headsets
Interface between devices and in-vehicle entertainment systems
Replacement for some WiFi networks
Wireless bridging in corporate or industrial networks
Wireless connection for peripherals like keyboards and mice
Wireless audio transmission Videogame console controllers
Low bandwidth wireless communication and data transfer
Wireless interface between mobile devices and peripherals such as speakers
Replacement for IR connections
Short range medical applications
 Real time location tracking
 WSN Technologies and its Application : Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a popular wireless network protocol powering most home networks,

public hotspots, business local area networks without the cost of any wires to
network computers and digital devices.

It uses Radio frequency waves to transfer data allowing only Wi-Fi enabled
devices to receive and transmit data when devices are within the range of Wi-Fi
network.

Since its availability in homes, public places have made it a popular technology for
data transmission today is Growing, with more than 4 billion devices shipping
annually and 16 billion devices in use
WiFi systems use two primary radio transmission techniques. 802.11b (<=11
Mbps) − The 802.11b radio link uses a direct sequence spread spectrum technique
called complementary coded keying (CCK).
Wi-Fi network uses radio waves as shown in Figure to send data across the network
When you download a file over a WiFi network, a device known as a wireless
router first receives the data from the internet via your broadband internet
connection and then converts it into radio waves. The wireless router then emits the
radio waves to the surrounding area, and the wireless device that has initiated the
download request captures them and decodes them.
 WiFi Standards
Name Speed Frequen Notes
cy
802.11a 6 to 24 5 GHz Not compatible with b or g networks. This is one of the oldest
Mbit/s standards, but still in use by many devices today.
(max 54)

802.11b 1 to 11 2.4 GHz Compatible with g networks. Really, g was made to be backwards
Mbit/s compatible with b to support more devices.

Wi‑Fi 4 6 to 54 2.4 GHz The most popular network type. Its combination of speed and
802.11g Mbit/s backwards compatibility makes it a good match for today’s
networks.

72 to 600 2.4 and The fastest type of network. 100 Mbps is common, though speeds of
Wi‑Fi 5 Mbit/s 5 GHz up to 600 Mbps is possible under perfect conditions. It does this by
(8 02.11n) using multiple frequencies at once.

433 to data throughput maximum of 1,300 Mbit/s adds MU-MIMO

Wi‑Fi 5
6933 5 GHz support, additional Wi-Fi broadcast channels for the 5GHz band,
(802.11ac)
Mbit/s and support for more antennas on a single router

Theoretical network throughput of 10Gbps—around a 30-40

600 to 2.4/5
Wi‑Fi 6,6E percent improvement over the ac standard. increased network
9608 GHz, 6
(802.11ax) capacity by adding broadcast subchannels, upgrading MU-MIMO,
Mbit/s GHz
and allowing more simultaneous data streams2019
 Advantages of WiFi

Wireless Ethernet: Wi-Fi is an Ethernet replacement.

Extended Access: The absence of wires and cables extends access to places where
wires and cables cannot go or where it is too expensive for them to go.
Cost Reduction: the absence of wires and cables brings down cost, low cost of
wireless routers, no need for trenching, drilling to make physical connections.
Mobility: Wires tie you down to one location. Going wireless means you have the
freedom to change your location without losing your connection.
Flexibility: Extended access, cost reductions, and mobility create opportunities for
new applications as well as the possibility of creative new solutions for legacy
applications.
Deployment: The installation of a Wifi access point is relatively easy compared to a
Wired network connection. There is no complexity of cables being run in different
locations and operating switches.
 Disadvantages of WiFi
Security: Even though many encryption techniques are taken by the wireless networks, still the
Wifi is vulnerable to hacking. Public Wifi networks are open for anyone, hackers can impose
their fake networking ID. Without consent users may connect to this fake ID and fall into the
category of cyber attack victims.

Range : Range offered by a Wifi network is limited, typically around 100-150 feet. While it is
sufficient for a normal home, it can actually be a problem for building structures. The strength of
a Wifi network will be reducing as you move away from the access point.

Speed: The speed of a Wifi connections are far more slower than a wired connection (around 1-
54 Mbps). That is too just one device connected to the dedicated servers. This may look fine as
long as there are few devices connected to the network. The moment when there are more
devices connected, you could experience a drastic reduction in speed.

Reliability: A Wifi network works in the frequency of 2.4Ghz. This frequency has high chances of
getting hindered due to the electro magnetic waves and other forms of obstacles. As a result
you may frequently experience connectivity issues and weak signal strengths. Especially during
large file transfers the signal can get interfered.

Bandwidth: Many routers only allows 30 maximum devices to be connected. The bandwidth of
the Wifi network gets weaker as you add more devices. It is solely reserved for a single user.
Most often when the bandwidth gets limited users can experience slow speeds
 Applications of Wi-Fi
With such a high functionality, this technology is adopted by so many kinds of
electronic and gadget. Some devices that use Wi-Fi to support its functionality are
console, laptop, PC, smartphone, camera, printers, and many others.

Educational System: This technology can be used by teachers to employ better

learning modes to their students where they can access the relative data content from
the internet.
Automotive Applications: One of the example we are familiar with the use of wireless
speaker system inside a car, where both passenger and driver will be able to play
music for their gadget without any wired connection.
Home Applications: a popular concept today where connecting more devices to boost
faster application that can be controlled remotely and easily like appliances such as
TV. AL conditioner, door by our handheld devices.
Industrial Applications: For monitoring logistics between transportation vehicles,
cargo and the materials that are transported in it.
Military Applications: Wi-Fi technology supports in the vehicular communication
application, ad-hoc networking, command post, Personnel Role Radios equipment
etc..
 WSN Technologies and its application : Zigbee

Zigbee Technology is a Wireless Communication Standard that defines a set of protocols for use in low data rate, short
to medium range wireless networking devices like sensors and control networks.

Zigbee is a low-cost and low-powered mesh network widely deployed for controlling and monitoring applications
where it covers 10-100 meters within the range. This communication system is less expensive and simpler than the other
proprietary short-range wireless sensor networks as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The target of Zigbee Technology is low cost, low power, battery operated wireless sensors that do not need to constantly
update its status and also allows sleep mode or low power mode for its electronics and radio.
ZigBee ensures that networks remain operable in the conditions of a constantly changing quality between communication
nodes. ZigBee standard defines a multi-layer structure on software usually this is called ZigBee protocol stack.

The 2.4 GHz band uses the direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) modulation technique. This technique spreads the
signal over the entire bandwidth. ZigBee operates within a range of 10 to 75 meters. The environment in which it is
deployed, may affect the range.
Zigbee Technology is based on IEEE 802.15.4 Standard and the Zigbee devices
operate in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM Band (ISM – Industrial, Scientific and Medical).
Other frequency bands like 784 MHz, 868 MHz and 915 MHz in China, Europe and USA
(and Australia) respectively are also used.

The data rates in Zigbee Technology are dependent on the frequency band. For
example, the 868 MHz band supports a data transfer rate of 20 kbps while the more
common 2.4 GHz band supports data rates up to 250 kbps.
Zigbee Devices: Two types of devices mainly
FFD or Full-Function Devices An FFD Device can literally do it all. It can perform all the
tasks described in the IEEE 802.15.4 Standard and can take up any role in the network.
RFD Reduced-Function Devices as the name suggests, has limited capabilities. The
number tasks performed by an RFD Devices are limited.

Zigbee consists of three devices "ZigBee coordinator". "Router" and "End device"
Zigbee Coordinator
A Zigbee Coordinator is a PAN Coordinator in the IEEE 802.15.4 Network (an FFD
Device) and it is responsible for forming the network. After establishing the network,
it allocates network address for the devices that are allowed to join the network. It
also routes the messages between the end devices.

Zigbee Router
A Zigbee Router is an IEEE 802.15.4 Coordinator (an FFD Device) and is enables the
range of the Zigbee Network. With the help of a Zigbee Router, more devices can be
added to the network. A Zigbee Router can sometimes act as a Zigbee End Device.

Zigbee End Device

A Zigbee End Device is neither a Zigbee Coordinator nor a Zigbee Router. A Zigbee End
Device physically interfaces to a sensor or executes a control operation. It can be
either An FFD or an RFD depending on the application.
Advantages of Zigbee
Simple and easy network setup
No central controller
Network is distributed providing uniform distribution of load
Remote monitoring of appliances is easy
Saves much of cost of replacing battery with existing Infrared technology
Scalable network, easy to add/remove a Zigbee end device to the network.

Disadvantages of Zigbee
Not secure compared to Wi-Fi
One has to have knowledge of system to operate Zigbee devices
Incurs more cost if replacement of the Zigbee compliant device occurs
Its prone to attack by unauthorized people
Limited coverage hence best suited for indoor wireless communication.
 Applications of Zigbee
Industrial Automation: In manufacturing and production industries, a communication
link continually monitors various parameters and critical equipment. Hence Zigbee
considerably reduces this communication cost as well as optimizes the control process
for greater reliability.

Home Automation: Zigbee is perfectly suited for controlling home appliances

remotely as a lighting system control, appliance control, heating, and cooling system
control, safety equipment operations and control, surveillance, and so on.

Smart Metering: Zigbee remote operations in smart metering include energy

consumption response, pricing support, security over power theft, etc.

Smart Grid monitoring: Zigbee operations in this smart grid involve remote
temperature monitoring, fault locating, reactive power management, and so on.

ZigBee technology is used to build engineering projects like wireless fingerprint

attendance system and home automation, in Consumer Electronics like Gaming
Consoles, Wireless Mouse, Wireless Remote Controls
 WSN Technologies and its application : LoRa
LoRa (Long Range) is a patented digital wireless data communication technology,
acquired by Semtech in 2012.
LoRa is a wireless technology that offers long range, low power and secure data
transmission for M2M and IoT applications.

LoRa is based on Chirp Spread Spectrum(CSS) modulation, which has low power
characteristics like FSK modulation but can be used for long range communications.

LoRa can be used to connect sensors, gateways, machines, devices, animals, people
etc. wirelessly to the cloud. This technology enables large number of applications
such as public/multi networks that can be connected on a same network

LoRa transmits over license-free sub-gigahertz radio frequency bands like 868 MHz
(Europe) and 915 MHz (North America). LoRa enables very-long-range transmissions
(more than 10 km in rural areas) with low power consumption.
 LoRa Technology Specifications

Governing Body LoRa Alliance

Standard 801.15.4g
Frequency ISM 868/915 MHz
Range Up to 5 km (Urban) and 15 km (Rural)

Data rate 27 kbps

Modulation Chirp Spread-spectrum modulation type based
on FM Modulation Technology
Security 32-bit CRC
Capacity One gateway can take thousands of nodes
LoRa is a low power Wide Area Network (LPWAN).

LoRa (from "long range") is the physical proprietary radio modulation technique. It is
based on spread-spectrum modulation techniques derived from chirp spread
spectrum (CSS) technology.

We expect Millions of IoT devices to be connected to the network; International

standard followed by everybody.

To achieve Low power and wide area we end with one more parameter called
Bandwidth. Bandwidth and maximum capacity of the channel are directly related.
Smaller the bandwidth lowers the capacity of our channel.

All of the devices discussed in the previous section like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi doesn't
employ the scheme of Low Power and wide area network.

Henceforth the technology called LoRa was evolved which is closely related towards
Mobile Internet standards
The LoRaWAN networks are laid out in a star-of-stars topology, have base
stations/gateways relaying the data between the sensor nodes and the network
server.
Communication between the sensor nodes and the base stations goes over the
wireless channel utilizing the LoRa physical layer, whilst the connection between the
gateways and the central server are handled over a backbone IP-based network
LoRaWAN Consists of distributed gateways which are connected to the internet.

Many devices connect to one gateway and many gateways are connected to the
broker infrastructure and many applications are also connected to same brokers.

Here we see two different approaches: commercial and community approach. In many
places telecom companies are targeted to deploy LoRa networks, we can buy a
contract and can use the infrastructure.

LoRa is the physical layer i.e. the chip and LoRaWAN is the MAC layer i.e. the software that’s
put on the chip to enable networking.
End Nodes
The End Nodes are LoRa embedded sensors. The nodes typically have, Sensors, LoRa
transponder to transmit signals over LoRa patented radio transmission method, and
optionally a micro-controller. The sensors may connect to the LoRa transponder chip,
or the sensor may be an integrated unit with the LoRa transponder chip embedded.

The LoRaWAN end nodes(sensors) typically use Low Power and are battery powered.
LoRa embedded sensors that run on batteries that can typically last from 2–5 years.
The LoRa sensors can transmit signals over distances from 1km — 10km.

Gateways
The LoRa sensors transmit data to the LoRa gateways. The LoRa gateways connect to
the internet via the standard IP protocol and transmit the data received from the LoRa
embedded sensors to the Internet i.e. a network, server or cloud.

The Gateways devices are always connected to a power source. The Gateways
connect to the network server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent
bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa.
Network Servers
The Network servers can be cloud based platform solutions like The Things Network
(TTN) or LoRIOT. The network servers connect to the gateways and de-dup data
packets, and then routes it to the relevant application.

Application Servers
The Application can typically be built over IoT platforms like AWS IoT using Lambda,
DynamoDb or S3 services.

LoRaWAN specification defines two layers of cryptography:

A unique 128-bit Network Session Key shared between the end-device and network
server
A unique 128-bit Application Session Key (AppSKey) shared end-to-end at the
application level

Data over LoRaWAN is encrypted twice; sensor data is encrypted by the node, and
then it is encrypted again by the LoRaWAN protocol; only then is it sent to the LoRa
Gateway. The Gateway sends data over normal IP network to the network server.

The Network server has the Network Session Keys (NwkSkey), and decrypts the
LoRaWAN data. It then passes the data to the Application server which decrypts the
sensor data, using the Application Session Key (AppSKey)
Advantages
Low Powered sensors, and wide coverage area measured in kilometers
Operates on free(unlicensed) frequencies, no upfront licensing cost to use the
technology
Low power means long battery life for devices. Sensor batteries can last for 2–5
years (Class A and Class B)
Single LoRa Gateway device is designed to take care of thousands of end devices or
nodes
It is easy to deploy due to its simple architecture
Better payload size (100 bytes)
Open: an open alliance and an open standard.
Long range enables solutions such as smart city applications.
Low bandwidth makes it ideal for practical IoT deployments with less data and/or
with data transmissions which aren’t constant.
Low(er) connectivity costs.
Wireless, easy to set up and fast deployment.
A layer of security for the network and one for the application with AES encryption.
Fully bi-directional communication.
Backed by the likes of CISCO, IBM and 500 other member companies of the LoRa
Alliance
Disadvantages

It can be used for applications using low data rate about 27kbps
Not for large data payloads, payload limited to 100 bytes.
Not for continuous monitoring (except Class C devices).
Not ideal candidate for real time applications requiring lower latency and bounded
jitter requirements.
Densification of LoRaWAN networks: The proliferation of LPWAN technologies, and
particularly LoRaWAN, poses co-existence challenges as the deployment of gateways
populate urban areas.
Disadvantage of open frequency is that you may get interference on that
frequency and the data rate may be low.
LoRaWAN fills the technology gap of Cellular and Wi-Fi/BLE based networks that
require either high bandwidth or high power, or have a limited range or inability to
penetrate deep indoor environments. In effect, LoRa Technology is flexible for rural or
indoor use cases in smart cities, smart homes and buildings, smart agriculture, smart
metering, and smart supply chain and logistics.
Applications
The system is easy to deploy and it can be used for a large number of Internet of
Things, IoT and machine to machine, M2M, applications. Applications for LoRa
wireless technology include: smart metering; inventory tracking, vending machine
data and monitoring; automotive industry; utility applications . . . in fact anywhere
where data reporting and control may be needed.

Smart city: Smart lighting, Air quality and pollution monitoring, Smart parking and
vehicle management, Facilities and infrastructure management, Fire detection and
management, Waste management.
Industrial Applications: LoRa WAN is suitable for wide range of industrial applications.
Radiation and leak detection, Smart sensor technology, Item location and tracking,
Shipping and transportation
Smart home applications: Enhanced home security, Home automation for IoT enables
smart appliances
Healthcare: LoRa is one of the best solutions for connecting healthcare devices
efficiently, Health monitoring devices and management
Wearable technology
Agriculture: Smart farming and livestock management, Temperature and moisture
monitoring, Water level sensors and irrigation control