Low-Power Networks For The Internet Of Things

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies

Non-cellular LPWA (low power wide area) technology could play a large role in the Internet of Things, but the market lacks a dominant standard.

Much of the attention given to the Internet of Things (IoT) has focused on the types of “things” joining the network, the data that can be collected, and new applications that might be enabled by that data. However, the networks carrying that IoT data will play an important role — and not every connected device or asset is going to be able to leverage a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. A number of emerging applications rely on connecting devices that don’t necessarily have the capacity (in terms of power or space) to use public cellular or Wi-Fi networks.