The document discusses the evolution and challenges of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, highlighting technologies such as cellular IoT (CIoT) and low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN). It includes historical insights from the author's early IoT projects to recent advancements in connectivity options catering to low-power and low-throughput devices. Additionally, it emphasizes the maker movement aimed at democratizing IoT knowledge and providing accessible tools for development.

1. Talking with
Things
ECHELON MALAYSIA - 2017, PENANG, APR 13
What's Hot in Low-
Power Long-Range
IoT Connectivity

4. Disclaimer
English is not my mother tongue.
bear with me

5. What’s the heck an Indonesian
doing here in Penang :) ?
Well… I might have some stories/experiences to share with you

6. Internet of Things
Connectivity

7. First coined in 2009 by Kevin Ashton, RFID
pioneer and cofounder of the Auto-ID Center at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Internet of Things

8. “Network of physical objects with embedded
electronics, software, connectivity, and people to
enable connectivity to exchange data, for
intelligent applications and services„
Internet of Things

9. Things Connectivity People & Processes
Data Data
Internet of Things

10. A bit of story in 2003
around IoT connectivity

11. My final year project
in 2003 was kind of
IoT
Design and Implementation of Home Lighting
Control System and Home Monitoring System
using Mobile Phone over Internet

12. Circa 2003, original archive
Lamps
Web Cam
Modem for
SMS & GPRS
Home
Server*
GPRS GPRS
My final project
Architecture
“The Thing”
*Obviously it’s not based on single-board computer (SBC).
SBC is non-existent commercially back then

13. GPRS
2.5G, 40 - 80 kbps in theory
Mobile app Home Server app
Achieved 12 secs/frame
NOT 12 frame/secs (fps) :)
My final project
Video streaming feature
Circa 2003, original archive
J2ME app, on Nokia 3650 J2SE-based

14. That’s what I had in 2003
for wide area IoT connectivity

15. CONNECTIVITY
is one of the biggest challenges to
creating a true IoT
…yet, it always fascinates me!

16. Fast forward to now

17. oh hi…
Before continuing…

18. Andri Yadi
fb.com/andri.yadi | a at dycode dot com
http://andriyadi.me | http://dycodex.com

19. makestro.comCEO
ambassador

20. 150+ Speakings
30+ talks about IoT
for the past 2 years

21. Proudly coder for
19 years
ASM, QBasic, Pascal, c, C++,
Java, PHP, Bash, C#, Visual
Basic, HTML, JavaScript,
Python, Objective-C, Swift
.NET, Qt/QML, Java ME/EE/SE, Android
SDK, iOS SDK, Node.js
ARM MBED, ESP8266, ESP-IDF, Arduino

22. Cellular IoT (CIoT)
connectivity we NOW have
Fast, efficient
Up to 10 Mbps for 4G LTE
Ubiquitous coverage
Reliable & secure
Not designed for IoT in mind
High power consumption
Relatively expensive: modules,
data plan
Provisioning, manageability
Advantages Considerations

23. Cellular IoT (CIoT)
connectivity we WILL have
EC-GSM-IoT
LTE-M / eMTC
NB-IoT
Low data throughput
Low power
Low device & deployment cost
Extended coverage
Technologies Common Traits

24. 3
Evolution of IoT Connectivity in 3GPP/GSMA
5 MHz200 kHz 1.4 MHz 5/10/15/20 MHz
Other
influences
GSM LTE Cat-1+
Delay
Tolerant
Access
Cat-0
Cat-M1
Cat-NB1EC-GSM
UMTS
GSM is the original wide-area M2M
wireless connectivity technology. EC-GSM
enhances it to keep it competitive.
UMTS did not see any significant push
towards a low-power variant.
LTE-M (Cat-M1) is a concession to the
low-power/low-throughput device within
mainstream LTE.
NB-IoT (Cat-NB1), a new RAN technology,
is the official LPWAN contestant from the
3GPP/GSMA stable
Evolution of IoT Connectivity
in 3GPP/GSMA

25. LPWA
Competing technologies

26. Communication Technologies - Overview
Mbps
Kbps
bps
10 m 100 m 1 km 10 km
Baud rate
Range
Wi-Fi / BT
Short Range LPWAN
ST Confidential
Cellular
-M
-NB-IOT
5G
850/1900 MHz
900/1800 MHz
Sub-GHz
2.4 GHz
WIFI/BT
Short Range LPWAN
Cellular
IoT Connectivity: Range vs Speed

27. tend to be less complex than mesh networks as
the endpoints can be connected directly to a
gateway or base station, rather than relying on a
relay system to transmit messages.
cellular technologies and WiFi tend to offer high
throughput rates, while new low power wide area
(LPWA) technologies and Bluetooth are low
energy technologies (see graphic).
Low power wide area options Proprietary LPWA technologies in
Cellular
Range
Battery Life
LONG
SHORT LONG
Local network
(WiFi, ZigBee, Z-Wave)
Personal network
(Bluetooth)
Low-Power Wide-Area Network
(LPWAN: Sigfox, LoRa, Dash7)
Source: Alexander Vanwynsberghe, Blog article 'Long-range radios will change how the Internet of Things communicates'
Source: Alexander Vanwynsberghe, Blog article 'Long-range radios will change how the Internet of Things communicates'
IoT Connectivity: Range vs Power

28. What is LPWA
Low Power, Wide Area Networks
Low data throughput = High
sensitivity = Long range
Relatively low cost
Multiple Access = One-to-Many
Architecture
Using licensed or unlicensed
spectrum

29. LPWA: Typicals

30. License-free Spectrum
EC-
-m
Licensed Spectrum
LPWA: Technologies

31. LPWAN - ComparisonsLPWA: Comparison

32. Disclaimer
Obviously, I can not go deep into each
technologies
30 minutes won’t be enough

33. Cost
Modules, deployment, operational cost
Usage Model / Licensing
SIGFOX – Required to utilize their public network
LoRa – Proprietary physical layer but open MAC
Regional Regulatory
Allowed frequency for ISM band
In Europe, duty-cycle is 1% for end-devices
Upstream/Downstream
SIGFOX – nearly entirely upstream
LoRaWAN – has 3 classes supporting different balances of upstream & downstream
Hardware & Network Availability
Is it available NOW?
LPWA: Selection Factors

34. LoRa?
For that… we’ll focus on…

35. Not this woman :)

36. Wireless modulation technology
Physical (PHY) layer for long range
communications
Operates in the license-free ISM bands all
around the world
• 433, 868, 915 Mhz
• Regulated (power, duty-cycle, bandwidth) E.g: EU:
0.1% or 1% per sub-band duty-cycle limitation (per
hour)
Sensitivity: -142 dBm
Link budget (EU): 156 dB
What is LoRa

37. ISM Regulation ISM worldwide regulation 7
Output Power vs Duty Cycle
Countries Frequency band review Max. output power
EU 868 MHz 14 dBm
USA 915 MHz 20 dBm
Korea 900 MHz
14 dBm
Japan 920 MHz
Malaysia 862 to 875 MHz
20 dBm
Philippines 868 MHz
Vietnam 920 to 925 MHz
India 865 to 867 MHz
Singapore 922 MHz
Thailand 920 to 925 MHz
Indonesia 922 MHz
ANZ 915 to 928 MHz
Taiwan 920 to 925 MHz
China 470 to 510 MHz 17 dBm
919 to 923MHz

38. Communications protocol & architecture
utilizing the LoRa physical layer
Data rates are from 300bps to 5.5kbps
Has 2 high-speed channels at 11kbps and 50kbps
(using FSK modulation)
It supports
• secure bi-directional communication,
• mobility
What is LoRaWAN

39. LoRa/LoRaWAN Architecture

40. ASSET TRACKING
A real-world use case, that we did…

41. (Planned) thousand of assets to track
Deployed in country-side: no cellular
coverage, hard to reach once
deployed
Battery should last at least 3 years
Trigger alert if asset is in-move and
track its movement
Requirement

42. Low power MCU: Microchip/Atmel ATSAMD21
Sufficient clock, flash, RAM, peripherals
Interrupt: RTC, external -> useful for wake-up
Brain
Sensor
IMU sensor: gyroscope, accelerometer.
Will wake up MCU upon significant movement
Obviously, need GPS module to track location
Battery
Lithium-thionyl chloride cells (Li-SoCl2) to
reduce self-discharging rate
19Ah enough for 3+ years
Solution: Hardware-side

43. Most deployment areas are not covered by
any cellular services
Cellular
Wi-Fi
Nearby “civilization” is 5 km away.
Not having clean LoS to use directional antenna
Power consumption consideration
LPWA
Can be an option, but which one? Should be:
Private network
Easy and low-cost enough to implement NOW
Options: Connectivity

44. 3 - 5km LoRaWAN
Gateway
Network
Server
Application
Server
Cellular
(3G/4G)
Backend
Tracker
Node
Solution: Architecture
Makestro
Cloud
On-site

45. System only wake up upon: timer interrupt and external
interrupt (significant motion & displacement)
During sleeping:
Turn off unneeded MCU peripherals
Turn off/make sleep GPS and radio
Keep IMU sensor alive with the lowest update frequency
Only transmit data:
By timer (depends on OTA configuration)
Upon alert/interrupt
Circuit design optimisation: reduce components, pull-ups, etc
Low power technique

46. Tracker Node
GPS
Module
Backup/
RTC
Power
GPS
Antenna
LoRa
Antenna

47. Tracker Node
ATMEL
SAMD21
IMU Sensor
LoRa
Module
Battery
Sensor

48. Get One at: https://shop.makestro.com/product/tracker/

49. LoRaWAN
Gateway
LoRaWAN Node
Portable: battery
-powered,
GPS for accurate
timing

50. CLOSING

51. LPWA is NOW!

52. (arguably) a more accessible option,
NOW!

53. How to start?

54. Cytron’s Arduino &
Shields: GPS, LoRa,
LiPo battery
Use development board
+ modules!

55. Use development board + modules!
DycodeX’s ESPectro + LoRa + Alora Kit http://makestro.com/espectro

56. COMING SOON!

57. SIM868
GPRS + GPS
Ultimate IoT connectivity board!
ESP32 MCU
WIFi +
Bluetooth
SIM5360
3G + GPS
Options
Raspberry Pi-compatible pinout
Compatible with many Raspberry Pi hats

58. Ultimate IoT connectivity board!
LoRa/LoRaWAN
Module
NFC

59. Be a maker!

60. A movement to “democratize”
knowledge, hardware kit, and software
to help makers to start making in
hardware.
Disclosure: it’s initiated and supported by DycodeX, but it’s Community!

61. ENABLING MAKER MOVEMENT

62. Learning
Shop
Community
Software
Projects, tutorials, videos, news,
professional trainings
Hardware marketplace: kits,
devboards, maker tools
IoT Cloud infrastructure, software
libraries, sample code
Offline meetups, seminars,
training/hands-on, challenges

63. makestroid
makestroid
makestroid

64. How can we help?
for your next IoT endeavour

65. Andri
CEO
a@dycode.com
Helmi
CMO
helmi@dycode.com
Get in Touch

66. x@dycode.com | http://dycodex.com
IoT & maker movement enabler