Understanding Communication Technologies for IoT - Sigfox LPWAN (Part 1)

“If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The Internet of Things is about to change it all over again!”?

Understanding Communication and selecting Right Communication is very Important in IoT Implementation. SO many questions come by users about what is the RIGHT Technology. I'll be writing within the Month of November a lot about IoT Communication Protocols.

Let's Start with one of my favorites Sigfox!!!

Sigfox The Beast of IoT

Origin: France – 2010

Low Power WAN (LPWAN)

Cost Per Device: US$15 ~ US$25 Per Device Per Year

Frequency: 868 to 869 MHz and 902 to 928 MHz depending on regions)

Sigfox uses?200 kHz?of the publicly available and unlicensed bands to exchange radio messages over the air (868 to 869 MHz and 902 to 928 MHz depending on regions). Sigfox uses Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) technology combined with DBPSK and GFSK modulation.

Sigfox's network works with lightweight messages (12 bytes, excluding payload headers).

The life cycle of a Sigfox message is always the same:

1. A device wakes up and emits a message using its radio antenna,
2. Multiple Sigfox base stations in the area receive the message,
3. Base stations send the message to the Sigfox Cloud,
4. The Sigfox Cloud sends the message to a customer's backend platform.

It's that simple!

What is a Sigfox "base station"??

Base stations are local Sigfox antennas, which receive?messages from emitting devices and forward them to the Sigfox Cloud. They are deployed in the field by our local Sigfox Operators.?

They are composed of three major elements:

• An antenna, to receive messages over the air, usually deployed on high points or towers,
• A LNA or LNAC?(low-noise amplifier), to amplify the signal and filter noise,
• An access point,?which understands the Sigfox messages and sends them to the Sigfox Cloud.

Once connected, they become part of our public network. They then start listening for all Sigfox messages sent by devices in the vicinity.?

1. Sigfox Devices will always give you Longer Battery Life. This is the biggest game changer. If you have 5K-10K devices running you don't want to be swamped with battery issues.
2. Sigfox Marketplace is growing day by day. This means more and more use cases are available for you to implement. In 2017/2018 biggest issue was to find the devices and right Vendor. People at Sigfox also can help you shortlist Right Devices for you.
3. You don’t worry about Connectivity and Infrastructure cost. If you ever break an IoT Solution then you have FIVE main components. Devices, Connectivity, Infrastructure for Connectivity, Cloud and IoT Platform. With Sigfox you don't worry about Infrastructure cost. This will reduce lot of burden from you in terms of having a 24/7 Team to have your Connectivity Base Stations maintained.
4. COST!!! IoT is all about Cost Saving from existing solution. To have a city wide Network you need Towers , Rentals for High Rise where you will Install Bases, Teams to manage them. Sigfox saves you all of that. Trust me it's WORTH IT!! If you have customers all over the city the Sigfox is your answer. Also Licenses for Approval as a HUGE cost.
5. Connectivity are very stable once done. Like every Network till you get it 100% connected the stability is very important. Sigfox Network and Base Stations are very stable.
6. Multi-Base Connectivity. When a device wakes up it transmits a signal and ANY base which receives the signal will transmit it back to Sigfox Cloud. So if One base is NOT Working there is always another base available for you. Normally Sigfox terms Stable Connection when Device is reporting to at least 3 Base Stations. You can also see Signal Strength in Sigfox Backend for Device Connectivity.

7. World Wide Coverage means you can take a Device from One country to Another and never have to pay anything extra. You can take device from UK to Spain and it will just keep on Sending Data. (If Device is as per that Country Range- See RC1 ~ RC4 details)

8. Back-end Integration is very easy if you want to bring data to your own platform. We love Sigfox as Backend is always easy with them. The Instruction manuals are very clear and precise from most of the vendors we've worked with.

9. Most of the Vendors want to give you Direct Payload. This saves a lot of cost if you want data to be integrated with your own Platform. Some vendors will Give you with APIs still but you'll always find alternate who can give you direct Payload. Very good if you have your own Platform development Happening.

Although a lot of my friends of Sigfox won't like it (may be won't agree also) but these are my simple assumptions.

1. Data will come through there Cloud which is located in France. Many People who want On Premise Solutions like Government not like that. For me it’s not an issue as these are encrypted messages but customer is ALWAYS right.
2. Indoor Coverage is always an issue with Sigfox. You’ll need indoor Base Stations when going in basements. Sigfox Terms of supply are never clear and it’s purely depending on your relationship with the Operator. So if you're having a use case with lot of indoor installations then you'll have lot of connectivity issues.
3. Some countries the coverage is Minimal. Before you implement the whole project communicate with your local operator to Make sure all areas are covered.
4. With many Countries you’ll have issues with local Telecommunication Authorities. This is always tricky when implementing IoT.
5. Like it or NOT Sigfox Operator is always your competition. All Sigfox Operators run there own IoT Company. You’ll always compete with them. As per Sigfox Policy one operator per country. If you’re an SI trying to sell a use case you better partner with them. But Market is Big enough so I'm sure you'll learn how to work with them or around them.
6. Same operators everywhere. Every Operator has taken so many countries. Personally i don't like this idea as countries are being SOLD by Sigfox to get initial License fees but most of them have 0 know-how on that region. Multiple operators can be something what can help them have more visibility.
7. Data interval minimum is 10 Minutes by Regulatory most places. So, if you’ve got a use case which needs data continuously then Sigfox is not the answer (Like Asset Tracking)

Sigfox is here to stay and I’m sure their operations will get more smoother every time. It's a great Technology which will have more and more use cases coming soon. I'll surely be using Sigfox more and more and hope so you can also benefit using this great IoT LPWAN Technology.