Wireless is exactly what it says it is
Wire less
No wire, just communications by air. But does it provide less communication than with a wire? Well, it depends what you need it for.
If we go back just 10-15 years, wireless technology was not always flexible or easy to use. For example, Bluetooth did not succeed in establishing itself as a practical consumer technology until well into the 2000s. Today, however, most things go wirelessly and we use many different protocols, depending on what we want to do. But for normal consumers the type of wireless technology we use is more or less irrelevant. It should just work! We use Bluetooth if we connect our headphones or smartwatch, we connect our smartphones with 4G, and we connect our smart IoT devices with Z-wave, Zigbee or LE Bluetooth.
So, what determines the use of one wireless technology or another? There are a number of differentiators that need to be considered. Three major ones are distance, energy consumption and the application characteristics. Then, of course, we can include some other factors such as security, network topology needs or future firmware upgrades.
IoT or IIoT?
There is also another major differentiator. Will this be an IoT or an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) solution? An industrial-graded solution normally requires greater robustness, durability and security. For example, there is a major difference between having a Wi-Fi connection between your IPhone (that you can charge anywhere, anytime) and a router 10 meters away with a megabit bandwidth on one hand compared to a waste water sensor placed in a water cistern 10 km out in the forest with no external power supply, but requiring a low bit message to be sent every second day.
However, both are defined as wireless solutions, even though they have diametrically opposed characteristics. Sometime in the near future we will also have access to 5G networks. The USP for 5G will be its real-time usage and high bandwidth. But it will also feature high energy consumption and highly condensed network coverage.
Although there are no right or wrong solutions, there are definitely solutions that are tailored for different needs – a point that is seldom emphasized.
LoRa
Lapp Automaatio has decided to base its groundbreaking solution for wireless industrial sensor solutions on LoRa (Long Range). This is low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) technology – either a low-power, wide-area (LPWA) network or a low-power network (LPN) – which is a type of wireless telecommunications wide-area network designed to allow long-range communications at a low bit rate between things (connected objects) such as battery-operated sensors. Its low power, low bit rate and intended use distinguish this type of network from a wireless WAN that is designed to connect users or businesses and carry more data, thus using more power. The LPWAN data rate ranges from 0.3 kbit/s to 50 kbit/s per channel.
By using LoRa as the technology for our wireless transmitter, we are able to provide answers that are perfect for different types of sensor solutions – no matter whether they are new or retrofit solutions. Low bandwidth sensors can then be very mobile and not dependent on a power supply to the point of measurement, since this is battery-provided and able to operate even for years . If you have a need for flexible solutions with mobile access points for data gathering, this is the perfect answer.
Customers can use either their own communication gateway, or the increasingly common citywide LoRa networks. In other words, the industrial wireless infrastructure is normally already available and offers a solid platform on which to base a wide range of special applications.
Today, Lapp Automaatio can supply our customers with a LoRa-based IoTKey transmitter that will furnish you with seamless, wireless communications from either our own sensors, or the sensors of third parties. Aided by our ATEX-approved solution, we at Lapp Automaatio can uniquely provide customers with a robust long-range communications solution for harsh environments that is truly wireless, flexible and reliable.
Please visit Lapp Automaatio @ Teknologia19 event in Helsinki 5-7th of November
IoTKey is a registred trademark of Lapp Automaatio OY