SCHOOL OF COMPUTING

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

UNIT 3 Introduction to IoT SCSA1308

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 Unit 3

COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

IoT Communication Model - Wireless medium access issues - MAC protocol survey -Survey routing protocols,
Sensor deployment & Node discovery, Data aggregation & dissemination. Communication technologies, Long-
range Wireless Protocols : LoRa WAN, Ingenu, Satellite Communications, Short-range Wireless Protocols :
ANT+, WiFi, ZigBee, WHART, EnOcean, Z-Wave, NFC communication technologies : Zigbee Wifi - Zwave.

3.1 IoT Communication Model:

The term of internet of things (IoT) communication offered by Internet protocols . Many of the devices often
called as smart objects operated by humans as components in buildings or vehicles, or are spread out in the
environment. IoT devices are found everywhere and will enable circulatory intelligence in the future. For
operational perception, it is important and useful to understand how various IoT devices communicate with each
other. Communication models used in IoT have great value. The IoTs allow people and things to be connected
any time, any space, with anything and anyone, using any network and any service.
Communication types
1. Device-to-Device Communications
2. Device-to-Cloud Communications
3. Device to Gateway Model
4. Back End Data Sharing Model

Communications and Design Patterns

1. Request & Response Model
2. Publisher-Subscriber Model
3. Push-Pull Model
5. Exclusive Pair

3.1.1 Device-to-Device Communications:

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 Figure 3.1: Device to Device Communication

The device-to-device communication model represents two or more devices that directly connect and
communicate between one another, rather than through an intermediary application server. These devices
communicate over many types of networks, including IP networks or the Internet. Often, however these devices
use protocols like Bluetooth-Wave, or ZigBee to establish direct device-to-device communications.
Attack Surfaces on Device to Device Communication:
Credentials stealing from the firmware
Sensitive information disclosure
No proper updating mechanism of firmware
DoS Attacks
Buffer-overflow attacks
A buffer is a temporary area for data storage. When more data gets placed by a program or system process, the
extra data overflows. It causes some of that data to leak out into other buffers, which can corrupt or overwrite
whatever data they were holding. In a buffer- overflow attack, the extra data sometimes holds specific instructions
for actions intended by
a hacker or malicious user; for example, the data could trigger a response that damages files, changes data or
unveils private information.
Best Practices for securing Device to Device Communication:
Evaluate hardware components, firmware, software, communications protocols
Try to Make the signed Firmware, software and hash your binaries.
Implement the machine to machine authentication securely.
Get the feedback from the clients to improve the device security levels

3.1.2 Device-to-Cloud Communications

In a device to cloud communication model, the IoT device connects directly to an Internet cloud service
like an application service provider to exchange data and control message traffic. This approach frequently takes
advantage of existing communications mechanisms like traditional wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi connections to
establish a connection between the device and the IP network, which ultimately connects to the cloud service.

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 Figure 3.2: Device to Cloud Communication

Device to Cloud protocols . Below table 1 explains the details about the protocols :
Protocols AMQP MQTT XMPP CoAP
Transport TCP/IP TCP/IP TCP/IP UDP/IP
Message Publish Publish Point Point Request
pattern Subscribe Subscribe Response
Publish Subscribe

The Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) and the MQTT Protocol are often seen as mutually
exclusive choices, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT). AMQP is a general-purpose message transfer
protocol suitable for a broad range of messaging- middleware infrastructures, and also for peer-to-peer data
trans - directional protocol that allows either party on an existing connection to initiate
links and transfers, and has rich extensibility and annotation features at practically all layers. Both protocols share
that they can be tunneled over Web Sockets and therefore function well in environments that restrict traffic to
communication over TCP port 443 (HTTPS).

APPLICATION LAYER PROTOCOL:

TRANSPORT LAYER PROTOCOL

TCP UDP

NETWORK LAYER PROTOCOLS:

IPv4

IPv6

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6LoWPAN

LINK LAYER PROTOCOLS:

- Ethernet

- wifi

WiMax

- Low Rate WPAN

- Mobile Communication

3.1.3 MQTT Concepts

In MQTT, all messages are published into a shared topic space at the broker level. A
topic in MQTT is a filter condition on the consolidated message stream that runs through the MQTT broker
from all publishers. Publishing topics have a hierarchical structure (a path through topic space) and filters can be
expressed as direct matching conditions (topic name and filter expression must match), or the filter can use wild-
cards for single or multiple path segments.

Figure 3.3: MQTT Protocol

Every published message from any publisher is eligible for delivery into any client session where a
subscription exists with a matching topic filter. MQTT is very suitable for fast and online dispatch and
distribution of messages to many subscribers in scenarios

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concurrent subscribers.
MQTT s subscribe gesture is much lighter weight. It establishes a filter context and simultaneously
initiates and unbounded receive operation on that context. If session recovery is used, to scope of undelivered
messages is that individual filter context. Subscribing is receiving. In some brokers, such an MQTT subscription
context may indeed be backed by a volatile queue to allow leveling between fast and slow subscribers and to allow
for caching of messages while a subscriber is temporarily disconnected and if session recovery is supported; but
explicit construct. The trouble with MQTT is that it uses TCP connections
to a MQTT broker. Having an always-on connection will limits the time the devices can be put to sleep. This can
be somewhat mitigated by using MQTT-S, which works with UDP instead of TCP. But MQTT also lacks
encryption since the protocol was intended to be lightweight and encryption would add significant overhead.

Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) is an open source published standard for asynchronous
messaging by wire. AMQP enables encrypted and interoperable messaging between organizations and
applications. The protocol is used in client/server messaging and in IoT device management. AMPQ is efficient,
portable, multichannel and secure. The messaging protocol is fast and features guaranteed delivery with
acknowledgement of received messages. AMPQ works well in multi-client environments and provides a means
for delegating tasks and making servers handle immediate requests faster. Because AMPQ is a streamed binary
messaging system with tightly mandated messaging behavior, the interoperability of clients from different
vendors is assured.
AMQP allows for various guaranteed messaging modes specifying a message be sent:

At-most-once(sent one time with the possibility of being missed).

At-least-once (guaranteeing delivery with the possibility of duplicated messages).

Exactly-once (guaranteeing a one-time only delivery).

eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is a TCP protocol based on XML. It enables the exchange
of structured data between two or more connected entities, and out of the box it supports presence and contact list
maintenance (since it started as a chat protocol). Because of the open nature of XML, XMPP can be easily
extended to include publish- subscribe systems, making it a good choice for information that is handed to a central
server and then distributed to numerous IoT devices at once. It is decentralized, and authentication can be built in
by using a centralized XMPP server. The downsides of XMPP for IoT is that it lacks end-to-end encryption. It
also -of-service functionality, which can be a real deal-breaker depending on the application.

Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) is a protocol specifically developed for resource- constrained devices.
It uses UDP instead of TCP, and developers can work with CoAP the same way they work with REST-based
APIs. Since it uses minimal resources, it is a good option or low-power sensors. Since it uses UDP, it also can run
on top of packet-based technologies such as SMS, and messages can be marked confirmable or non-confirmable
to work with QoS. Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) can be used for encryption. The downside of
CoAP is that it is a one-to-one protocol, so broadcast capabilities are not native to the protocol.
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3.2 Attack Surfaces on Device to Cloud Communication

3.2.1 SQL injection , Cross-site scripting , Cross-site Request Forgery possible attacks on cloud application
interfaces.

SQL Injection (SQLi) refers to an injection attack wherein an attacker can execute malicious SQL statements
(also commonly referred to as a malicious payload
commonly referred to as a Relational Database Management System RDBMS). Since an SQL Injection
vulnerability could possibly affect any website or web application that makes use of an SQL-based database, the
vulnerability is one of the oldest, most prevalent and most dangerous of web application vulnerabilities.

3.3.2 Cross-site Scripting (XSS) refers to client-side code injection attack wherein an attacker can execute
malicious scripts (also commonly referred to as a malicious payload) into a legitimate website or web application.
XSS is amongst the most rampant of web application vulnerabilities and occurs when a web application makes
use of invalidated or uuencoded user input within the output it generates. By leveraging XSS, an attacker does
not target a victim directly. Instead, an attacker would exploit vulnerability within a website or web application
that the victim would visit, essentially using the vulnerable website as a vehicle to deliver a malicious script to
browser.

3.2.3 Username and password enumeration attacks

3.2.4 MITM attacks

Man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) is an attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the
communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other. One
example of man-in-the-middle attacks is active eavesdropping, in which the attacker makes independent
connections with the victims and relays messages between them to make them believe they are talking directly to
each other over a private connection, when in fact the entire conversation is controlled by the attacker. The
attacker must be able to intercept all relevant messages passing between the two victims and inject new ones.
3.3.5 Man in the Cloud (MiTC) attacks

Man in the cloud (MitC) attacks are interesting, and worrying, as they do not require any exploits or the running
malicious code in order to get a grip during the initial infection stage. Instead they rely upon the type of common
file synchronization service that we have all become used to, the likes of DropBox or Google Drive for example,
to be the infrastructure providing command and control, data exfiltration and remote access options. Man in the
cloud attacks are interesting, and worrying, as they do not require any exploits or the running malicious code
.Simply by reconfiguring these cloud services, without end user knowledge and without the need for plaintext
credential compromise to have occurred. It is hard for common security measures to detect as the synchronization
protocol being used makes it all but impossible to distinguish between malicious and normal traffic.

Best Practices for securing Device to Cloud Security:

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 Check all cloud interfaces are reviewed for security vulnerabilities (e.g. API interfaces and cloud-based web
interfaces)

Make sure cloud-based web interface not having weak passwords

Ensure that any cloud-based web interface has an account lockout mechanism

Implement two-factor authentication for cloud-based web interfaces

Maintain transport encryption

Ensure that any cloud-based web interface has been tested for XSS, SQLi and CSRF vulnerabilities.

3.3 Communications and Design Patterns

3.3.1 Request & Response Model

This model follows a client-server architecture.

The client, when required, requests the information from the server. This request is usually in the encoded format.
This model is stateless since the data between the requests is not retained and each request is independently
handled.
The server Categories the request, and fetches the data from the database and its resource representation. This
data is converted to response and is transferred in an encoded format to the client. The client, in turn, receives the
response.
On the other hand In Request-Response communication model client sends a request to the server and the
server responds to the request. When the server receives the request it decides how to respond, fetches the data
retrieves resources, and prepares the response, and sends it to the client.

Figure 3.4: Client Server

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 Figure 3.5: Request & Response model

3.3.2 Publisher-Subscriber Model

This model comprises three entities: Publishers, Brokers, and Consumers.
Publishers are the source of data. It sends the data to the topic which are managed by the broker. They are not
aware of consumers.
Consumers subscribe to the topics which are managed by the broker.
Hence, Brokers responsibility is to accept data from publishers and send it to the appropriate consumers. The
broker only has the information regarding the consumer to which a particular topic belongs to which the publisher
is unaware of.

Figure 3.6: Publish-Subscribe architecture

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 Figure 3.7: Publish-Subscribe model

3.3.3 Push-Pull Model

The push-pull model constitutes data publishers, data consumers, and data queues.

Publishers and Consumers are not aware of each other.

Publishers publish the message/data and push it into the queue. The consumers, present on the other side, pull the
data out of the queue. Thus, the queue acts as the buffer for the message when the difference occurs in the rate of
push or pull of data on the side of a publisher and consumer.
Queues help in decoupling the messaging between the producer and consumer. Queues also act as a buffer which
helps in situations where there is a mismatch between the rate at which the producers push the data and consumers
pull the data.

Figure 3.8: Push-Pull model

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 Figure 3.9: Push-Pull model
3.3.4 Exclusive Pair
Exclusive Pair is the bi-directional model, including full-duplex communication among client and server. The
connection is constant and remains open till the client sends a request to close the connection.
The Server has the record of all the connections which has been opened.
This is a state-full connection model and the server is aware of all open connections.
WebSocket based communication API is fully based on this model.

Figure 3.10: Exclusive pair model

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 Figure 3.11: Exclusive pair model

3.4 Wireless Media Access Issues in Internet of Things

When it comes to communication using a wireless medium there is always a concern about the interference due
to other present wireless communication technologies. Wireless means communication and message transfer
without the use of physical medium i.e., wires.
Let us understand how communication is done between them. Different Mobile stations(MS) are attached to a
transmitter/receiver which communicates via a shared channel by other nodes. In this type of communication, it
makes it difficult for the MAC design rather than the wireline networks.
The very important issues which are observed are:
Half Duplex operation
Time-varying channel
Burst channel errors.
These are explained as following below.
3.4.1 Half Duplex operation:

Half-duplex transmission means when the sender and receiver both are capable of sharing data but one at a time. In
wireless transmission, it is difficult to receive data when the transmitter is sending the data because during
transmission a large amount or a large fraction of signal energy is leaked while broadcasting. The magnitude of
the transferred signal and received signal differs a lot. Due to which collision detection is even not possible by
the sender as the intensity of the transferred signal is large than the received one. Hence this causes the problem
of collision and the prime focus should be to minimize the collision

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3.4.2 Time-varying channel :
Time-varying channels include the three mechanisms for radio signal propagations they are Reflection, Diffraction,
and Scattering.
Reflection
This occurs when a propagating wave carrying information intrudes on an object that has very large dimensions than
the wavelength of the wave.
Diffraction
This occurs when the radio path between the transmitter and the receiver is collided by the surface with sharp edges.
This is a phenomenon which causes the diffraction of the wave from the targeted position.
Scattering
This occurs when the medium through from the wave is traveling consists of some objects which have dimensions
smaller than the wavelength of the wave.

While transmitting the signal by the node these are time shifted and this is called multipath propagation. While when
this node signals intensity is dropped below a threshold value, then this is termed as fade. As a result Handshaking
strategy is widely used so as a healthy communication can be set up.

3.4.3 Burst channel errors :

Burst channel errors are called as a contiguous sequence of symbols, which are received in a communication channel,
in which the first and last symbols has an error and there is no evidence of contiguous sub-sequence of corrected
received symbols. When time-varying channels are used then signals strengths are introduced due to which errors
are observed in transmission. For these channels in wireline networks, the Bit rate is high as 10 -3.

3.5. MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL:

In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, media access control (MAC) data communication protocol is
a sub layer of the data link layer (layer 2). The MAC sub layer provides addressing and channel access control
mechanisms that make it possible for several terminals or network nodes to communicate within a multiple access
network that incorporates a shared medium, e.g. an Ethernet network. The hardware that implements the MAC is
referred to as a media access controller.

The MAC sub layer acts as an interface between the logical link control (LLC) sub layer and the network's physical
layer. The MAC layer emulates a full-duplex logical communication channel in a multi-point network. This
channel may provide unicast, multicast or broadcast communication service.
3.6 OSI Reference Model

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Figure 3.12: ISO-OSI Reference model

Figure 3.13: ISO-OSI protocols

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 Figure 3.14. ISO-OSI Devices

Figure 3.15. ISO-OSI Protocol Data Unit

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 Figure 3.16. ISO-OSI upper-lower layers

Figure 3.17. Transport layer ports

3.7 MAC protocol survey:

MAC protocol is the first protocol layer above the Physical Layer in ad hoc .The primary task of any MAC protocol
is to control the access of the nodes to shared medium.
Classification of MAC protocols:
These are as following below.
1. Contention-based protocols without reservation/scheduling
Bandwidths are not reserved.
No guarantees.
2. Contention-based protocols with reservation mechanisms
Bandwidth is reserved for transmission.
Guarantees can be given.
3. Contention-based protocols with scheduling mechanisms
Distributed scheduling is done between nodes.
Guarantees can be given.
4. Other protocols
Combine multiple features of other protocols.
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 It can also use a completely new approach.

Most Internet of Things (IoT) technology features are defined by the protocols used to design the technology for
specific applications. Features such as network topology, power consumption, transmission power efficiency, and
delays are important issues in the definition or choice for using a certain technology for a particular solution.
Medium access techniques, data rates, communication mode between devices, transmission range, power
consumption, and others are all examples of characteristics derived from the development and deployment of
each protocol. Therefore, the study of MAC layer protocols can show how to design a suitable technological
solution for an application.

Based on its own needs, IoT applications may require the adaptation of the existing network protocols so that they
can meet the requirements of IoT applications. Protocols may need to be adjusted, evolved or developed to meet
the IoT applications that demand different performance characteristics such as far-reaching, reliable and robust
low power transmission techniques. According to requirements, it is possible to classify and point out the main
MAC layer protocols suitable to attend a service characteristic.
3.8 Short Range MAC Layer Protocols
Short range coverage medium access control (MAC) protocols are defined by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN), which is the network established
between elements that surround the human body. WPAN communication technologies differ from other
conventional wireless network technologies. These networks call for easy connectivity in order to reach personal
wearable or hand-held devices. Moreover, WPAN requires power efficiency, small size, low cost and maybe most
importantly easy to use devices.

Short-distance technologies such as near field communication (NFC) and radio frequency
Identification (RFID) are technologies that fit into this study context due to their usage with
Differentiated mechanisms for the physical and linking layers.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID):
It refers to a set of technologies that are aimed at identifying and recognizing elements (tags). An RFID system is
basically composed of two types of devices: the identified devices (tags) and the device identifiers or readers.
Tagged devices are triggered by RF (Radio Frequency) waves emitted by the reader devices and reply its
identification (ID) tags. Readers handle data exchange between them. When necessary, readers send RF pulses
interrogating the tags in the area. Tags reply to this question by submitting their tag IDs.
Near Field Communication (NFC)
Near Field Communication is a short range transmission technology that uses low-power
transmission links that, differently from Bluetooth, do not require pairing for transmission. Just bringing one device
close enough to the other allows communication. This feature forces the user of the device to be handling it during
use. As the facility of the device works only with is owner, it is a manner to ensure the safe security of the
technology usage. Its operation is comparable to RFID technology because NFC devices can act as both a reader
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 and a tag. The communication is performed in active or passive mode, operating in the 13.56 MHz band.

Bluetooth IEEE 802.15.1

WPAN IEEE 802.15.1 also called the Bluetooth Basic Rate (BR) is a global 2.4 GHz specification working with
short-range wireless networking. It covers the versions v1.0, 1.0B with voice dialing, call mute, last number redial
and a 10 m range as the main facilities and a v1.2 with adaptive frequency hopping added. Versions
v2.0+Enhanced Data Rates (EDR) and v2.1+EDR added more capabilities such as improved resistance to radio
frequency interference as well as improving indoor coverage and LOS range to 100 m. Fast transmission speeds
and low power consumption mechanisms were also increased on the v2.0+EDR and v2.1+EDR versions. Version
v2.1 counts on a sniff subtracting function that results in less transmissions do access the medium and so reducing
interference.

Bluetooth Low Energy

Being part of the Bluetooth v4.0 standard adopted in 2010-06-30, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is also known as
Smart Bluetooth. BLE is an IEEE 802.15.1 variation with better and more suitable capacities for low power
applications than the classic Bluetooth Basic Rate. Devices that demand communication with both standards of
Bluetooth are required to implement and support both protocol stacks due the incompatibilities among them. Star
is the only topology accepted by BLE due the standard definition that does not permit physical link connections
among slave devices. Any data exchanged between two slave devices shall pass through the unique master and a
slave device may not be connected to two master units at the same time.

IEEE 802.15.4
It is a subgroup of features that refers to physical and medium access control layers that can support ZigBee and
6LoWPAN upper. IEEE 802.15.4 focuses on physical and data link layer specifications while ZigBee Alliance
aims to provide the upper characteristics.It is a standard that defines PHY and MAC layers for personal area
networks that demand low rate and low cost applications.
3.9 Long Range MAC Layer Protocols :
Based on their own requirements such as rate, distance coverage, robustness, etc., the existing
network protocols need some adaptation to meet the necessary requirements to attend IoT services. In some cases,
some protocols were developed to meet IoT applications that demand far-reaching, reliable and robust
transmission. Some of the protocols classified as protocols for LP-WANs are able to satisfy the demand for
protocols with a large coverage area. LP-WANS protocols can overcome some mobile cellular network failures
increasing strong adaptations to meet the IoT requirements.

LP-WAN are presented as good candidates to support several of the previously mentioned
requirements of the IoT structure, and are able to surpass the short-range restriction of the
LANs Among the possible solutions are the proprietary and unlicensed ISM band technologies
Sigfox, LoRa/LoRaWAN, against mobile cellular network solutions such as LTE-A (Long Term
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Evolution Advanced) and Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT).

NB-IoT

According to the LTE eMTC regional specifications, it can operate only within the bandwidth of
an LTE carrier. NB-IoT systems can be implemented as autonomous systems in the Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) band , employed in the LTE bandwidth carrier or in the LTE bandwidth guard band.
Due to the reduction of the NB-IoT bandwidth to 180 kHz, low data rate devices can have extended coverage,
complexity reduction, and low power consumption. For scenarios with coverage problems of cellular network
operators, NB-IoT is seen as the future of IoT devices using mobile network infrastructure.

LTE Long Term Evolution

Long Term Evolution enhanced Machine-Type Communication (LTE eMTC) standards-based
technologies support CAT-0 and CAT-M modes. While LPWAN LTE CAT-0 is commonly used to
implement M2M/IoT, CAT-M reduces complexity keeping the coverage aspect using existing mobile cellular
network infrastructure . LTE eMTC counts on the same mobile technology benefits as security, privacy, data
reliability and device identification.

LoRa Long Range Protocol

LoRa defines a physical layer technology developed by Cycleo in 2010, a company that was
acquired by Semtech from Camarillo, United States of America.The LoRa module manufacturer offers the user a
programmed library that allows communication between LoRa nodes, providing a simple link protocol. Libelium,
a company based in Zaragoza, Spain provides the tools and libraries needed to operate with LoRa The LoRa
protocol is an open standard defining physical layer to use direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) with multiple
spreading factors that range from 7 to 12. This combination allows the establishment of a relationship between
distance coverage and the desired data rate.

Long Range Protocols

In the case of the LPWANs presented, the main parameters that differ are the distance range of the protocols
discussed. Improvements, adaptations, and innovations have occurred mostly at the PHY layer while the MAC
layer was adjusted as needed.

With no power control and baud rate adjustment mechanisms, the LoRa modulation itself becomes inefficient for
applications that demand frequent transmissions and high transmission rates (tens of kilobits or more). Due to
these characteristics, LoRa is automatically surpassed by its evolution, the LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN improves the
MAC layer with the power control mechanism by dividing the operational mode of the devices into classes and
using adaptive data rates (ADR).
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3.10 Survey routing protocols:
A routing protocol specifies how routers communicate with each other to distribute information that enables them to
select routes between nodes on a computer network. There exist lots of routing protocols each having a unique
operating standard with significant performance for Wireless Sensor Networks that can be deployed for IoT with
few modifications for bandwidth and power consumption. We discuss few of the broad categories of routing
protocols in this section.

Naive Routing
The idea deployed in naïve routing is flooding. Each node can overhear its neighbors within its range. The source
node floods the network with route request packets called as beacons. Destination nodes respond with a route
reply message to the beacon and communication link is established between these nodes. Beaconing is typically
utilized for location tracking, discovering routes to destinations and tracking neighbors through keep-alive
requests. One of the most important factors that affect performance is the beacon interval in the route discovery
process. If the beacon interval is too small, the number of beacons generated becomes huge. On the other hand, a
higher beacon interval incurs a lesser number of generated beacons. Popular routing protocols such as DSR,
DSDV and AODV fall under this category.

Hierarchical Routing:
Nodes form clusters based on polling. The cluster head is responsible for all communications on behalf of the
members of the cluster. Group mobility can be achieved by the cluster head following some metric to devise the
mobility pattern of the nodes in the cluster. LEACH is a common example, where the cluster head is rotated
among the members to facilitate load balancing that can be deployed for IoT environments.
Query based Routing
The underlying principle of query based routing is data dissemination within the network. A querying node can
retrieve data from any node in the network. Common examples are SPIN and Direct Diffusion.
Multipath routing

Protocols employing multipath routing seek to and use alternate paths towards every destination. This distributes the
cost of forwarding packets among more nodes, saving the energy of individual, highly-frequented nodes.

Probabilistic routing

Routing decision is based on the calculated probabilistic value. A primitive method to compute these values is by
gossiping. Data packets are flooded into the network like a rumor with a probability p. Unlike other flooding
mechanisms, these packets are forwarded only once and thereby the traffic overhead is reduced. A highly
structured approach is to refer the prior history of packet delivery and mobility pattern, based on this we can
decide which nodes can form a route to the destination.

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 Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV)

AODV computes a loop free single path on demand. A mobile node discovers and maintains a route to another node
only when it needs to communicate. One observation of AODV is that, though the source actually discovers
multiple paths during the route discovery process, it chooses only the best route and discards the rest. Also,
frequent route breaks cause the intermediate nodes to drop packets because no alternate path to the destination is
available. This reduces the overall throughput and the packet delivery ratio. Moreover, in high mobility scenarios,
the average end-toend delay can be significantly high due to frequent route discoveries. When route failures occur,
the process of route discovery has to begin from scratch consuming more network resources and overhead.
3.11 Comparison of IoT Protocols - Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)

Figure
3.18.Comparison

Figure 3.19.
coverage distance

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 Figure 3.20. comparison

3.12 Sensor deployment & Node discovery

Five static sensor deployment strategies are introduced. The deployment strategies are one uniform random
deployment and four regular deployments: square grid, triangle grid, hexagon grid, and THT. These strategies
are shown in Fig. 1 . A square field is considered in this work.

Figure 3.21. Sensor Deployment Strategies

Uniform Random Deployment

Regular Deployment
1. Square Grid
2. Triangle Grid
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3. Hexagon Grid
4. Tri-Hexagon Tiling (THT)
Uniform Random Deployment:
In the random deployment scheme, sensors are deployed in a random way. Therefore, the exact locations of nodes
are not known. Random deployment is usually suitable in thefollowing cases:
When the environment is harsh and therefore, deployment of nodes is exceedingly difficult.
When wireless sensor network is large scale.
When the cost of sensors is not an issue
In this method, sensors are dropped form a helicopter, an airplane or an unmanned vehicle. Uniform random
deployment is random deployment where nodes are placed in a sensing area randomly with uniform distribution.
Fig. 1a illustrates the uniform random deployment method.
Regular Deployment:
Regular deployment refers to placing sensors in a regular form in a sensing area. This type of deployment can
usually be applied in non-harsh environment and non-large-scale regions. In this paper, four regular deployment
strategies are introduced.

Square Grid: In the square grid deployment, a square sensing area is divided into small squares and the nodes
are placed at the points of grid intersection as shown in Fig. 1b.
Triangle Grid: A square sensing area in this model is divided into small triangles and the sensors are located in
the points of triangle heads as shown in Fig. 1c
Hexagon Grid: In hexagon grid deployment scheme, a sensing area is divided into hexagons, as illustrated in
Fig. 1d, and the sensors are placed at the vertices of hexagons.
Tri-Hexagon Tiling (THT): THT is a deterministic deployment method that was proposed in [12]. TThis model
is a pattern of hexagonal stars that consist of triangles and hexagons. Tiling refers to covering the area without
leaving any gaps and without any overlapping. Fig. 1e displays the THT deployment strategy.
IoT Sensor Deployment Challenges:
The business benefits of IoT coupled with market trends are driving rapid IoT adoption in every industry vertical
like smart cities, building automation, industrial, healthcare, etc. This growing demand for IoT connectivity is
paving the way to a plethora of sensor types for various use cases such as traffic sensors, parking meters, pressure
sensors, electricity sensors, and so on. Efficient sensor deployment is one of the key success factors in every IoT

Challenge #1: Variety of sensors and chipsets

There is an increasing number of commercial launches of cellular technologies like NB-IoT, Cat-M1/M2, LTE-
M, LoRa, etc. Each of these technologies has specific electronics for sensing endpoints. Although the cost of
-effective solution that can work with the
widespread in electronics of the cellular-connected IoT sensors to measure connectivity parameters.

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 Challenge #2:Identify an optimal location to deploy sensors
Whether it is a factory floor or a smart building, it is never easy to identify the perfect spot to deploy the IoT
sensors. To successfully capture and transmit the ambient inputs over-the-air, the sensor must be located near the
input-source and also where the network signal strength is reliable. To determine signal quality spread, today
operators mostly rely on statistical modeling using terrain and clutter models. This results in statistical
variabilities. Currently, there is no way to capture empirical network data, the lack of which often leads to
installing sensors in sub optimal locations where the signal quality is poor and unreliable. Unreliable connectivity
results in poor sensor performance which in turn affects the performance of the overall IoT solution and impacts
the customer experience.

Challenge # 3: Not easy to remediate sensor performance issues

IoT sensors are typically installed in hard-to-access locations. When a sensor exhibits sub-optimal performance
due to network connectivity, it is hard to root-cause the problem. Currently, there is no way to obtain real-time
visibility into connectivity data to assess network health. The technicians may need to try a different location
hoping for better wireless connectivity or replace the sensor itself. In such trial-and-error methodology, multiple
truck rolls could be needed before the problem is identified and rectified. This impacts both OpEx and TCO and
also skews up inventory management.

Challenge # 4 Network validations for connectivity SLAs

It is difficult to guarantee a satisfactory level of service if the IoT devices fail to deliver due to poor connectivity.
Currently, RF and RAN design are done based on statistical models. Once the IoT network is deployed, due to
the lack of network health data, it is not possible to validate your network design assumptions and performance
in the context of the initial SLAs.
ext
blog discusses ways to overcome these challenges.

NEIGHBOUR DISCOVERY FOR lot SCENARIOS :

1. Time Synchronised Protocols
2. Deterministic Approach
3. Colocation based Approaches
4. A Fully Distributed Opportunistic Approach
5. Learning Based Approach
Time Synchronised Protocols:
These protocols make use of synchronization methods to schedule communication with neighboring nodes. With
these methods it is possible for the nodes to arrive at a common time reference.
Deterministic Approach:
Deterministic approaches make use of mathematical methods to guarantee overlap. Though they require higher
discovery latency, they do not need any synchronization. The searchlight protocol by Bakht et al can ensure
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discovery within a definite latency by sequential search. This protocol
has two slots - Active slots and probe slots. The nodes decide to remain awake during active slots, and sleep
during the remaining slots. During an active slot, the node may sendlreceive or do both. Successful discovery
takes place between two neighboring nodes whenever their active slots overlap. When a discovery scheme uses
few active slots to discover neighbors within a reasonable time limit, then it is said to be efficient. In Searchlight,
each node has two active slots in t. The first
active slot, called the anchor slot, is the first slot in the period. In the symmetric case, since the position of this
anchor slot is fixed in t but the start times for the t vary for different nodes, the anchor slots for two nodes overlap
only if the difference between the start times of the two periods is less than a timeslot. The two anchor slots would
never meet since the offset remains constant. The relative position of the anchor slot of one node remains the
same with respect to that of the other node always and is in the range [1, t - 1]. Searchlight introduces a second
active slot in t called the probe slot, which searches for the anchor slot of the other node. Probe-anchor, probe-
probe and anchor-anchor overlaps all result in discovery. One disadvantage of this scheme is that it is a mobile
agnostic method and is not well suited for mobile scenarios.

Colocation based Approaches:

These approaches make use of knowledge coming from neighbouring nodes. This knowledge is used to coordinate
schedule between the nodes.
A Fully Distributed Opportunistic Approach:
In order to optimize the discovery of constrained nodes in loT network, Djamaa et al have proposed EADP
(Efficient Application-layer Discovery Protocol). The protocol targets low power applications. EADP
architecture has the following components - User agent, Service agent,Reply Agent. The user agent delivers a
limited-flooding algorithm for discovering nodes in a pull-mode. The service agent is responsible for maintenance
of remote service information. The service agent also has a state-maintenance mechanism that allows the protocol
to react to topology changes. The reply agent is responsible for control and delivery of unicast replies. In addition,
the Service Agent uses Trickle-inspired Algorithm which controls the frequency and size of messages that are
used for advertising. Thus, the algorithm allows minimizing the number of advertising messages and also ensures
a bound on the number of descriptions of the service.
Learning Based Approach:
Context Aware Resource Discovery framework leverages Q-Learning techniques to do node discovery. The
system is able to reduce energy wastage when contacts are not expected while reducing discovery latency by
employing an approach in which both mobile and static devices can learn their contact opportunities. Thus the
time of contact useful for service is increased provisioning data collection.
Q-Learning is becoming widely used in communication scenarios for solving problems that require learning of
knowledge to be exploited at a later time. This algorithm belongs to the Temporal Difference (TD) methods of
Reinforcement Learning (RL) methods. The other two methods of RL are Dynamic Programming and Monte
Carlo methods. TD methods combine the pros of the other two types of RL methods; that is, they don't require an
accurate model of the environment.
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 Figure 3.22. Learning based approach

After the completion of the learning phase, the framework enters the experimental phase. In this phase, the
framework is tested with the real world data and optimal decisions are taken.
3.13 Data Aggregation :
Data Aggregation is the process of one or more sensor nodes and detects the information result from the other sensor
nodes. The aim of the data aggregation is removes data redundancy and improves the energy lifetime in wireless
sensor network. Therefore reducing the number of data packets transmitted over the network because aggregation
need less power as compare to multiple packets sending having same data

Data Aggregation Approaches:

Data aggregation is further divided into four basic approaches.

a) Cluster based approach
b) Tree based approach
c) Multipath approach
d) Hybrid approach.

Cluster Based Approach: Cluster Based Approach is defined as the hierarchical approach in which whole network
is separated into various cluster. Each cluster has cluster heads and which is cluster choose from members. The
main role of cluster head aggregate data received from cluster members locally and then transmits the result to
base station. The cluster head can share information with the sink directly via long range transmissions or multi
hopping using other cluster heads.

Tree Based Approach: The Tree Based Approach is actually defining aggregation concept which is used to make
aggregation tree. This tree define as minimum spanning tree in which sink node act as root and source node act
as leaves. Data start flowing from leave nodes up to root nodes. The main disadvantage of this approach is data
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 packet loss at any level of tree which may cause failure whole network.

Multipath Approach: This approach is used to overcome the drawbacks of tree based approach. Accordingly to this
approach each and every node could send data packets over multiple paths using multiple neighbors in
aggregation tree. So a data packet sends from source to destination using multiple paths with the help of
intermediate nodes. The example of this approach like ring topology. Overhead is the disadvantage of this
approach
Hybrid Approach: The Hybrid Approach is the mixture of cluster based approach, multipath
approach and tree based approach. This approach is mainly used for adaptively for optimal
performance of their data aggregation
3.14 Data Dissemination:
Data Dissemination is the process in which sensor nodes is collecting the data and communicate to the base station
or any other interested node. The source node is generating the data and the information to be reported is known
as event. Those nodes which are interested in event and seek information are known as sink. So in this whole
process data are routed in sensor network. It is two steps process; in first step interested nodes are broadcast to
their neighbor nodes in the network and in second step nodes after receiving the request nodes sends requesting
data.
Data Dissemination Approach:
There are many data dissemination methods or approaches which are following as:
Flooding: If the destination node is not receive the data packet or specified number of hops is not reached. Then each
node broadcast the gathered data until the packet is reached to their destination node. The main advantage of
flooding is not requires costly topology maintain or route discovery but it face several problems like implosion,
overlap and resource blindness.
Gossiping: The gossiping is the version of flooding approach .In this approach the packet is
sent to a single neighbor chosen from neighbour table randomly instead of broadcasting each packet to the entire
neighbor. This process can take long time from completion. Gossiping avoids the problem faced in flooding
approach like implosion.
SPIN: (Sensor Protocol for Information via Negotiation) this is the enhancement of flooding
protocols based on data centric routing. Flooding has mainly three problems like: implosion,
overlap and resource blindness. To overcome these problems the spin family protocols used
three ways: ADV, REQ, DATA are used. The nodes which are interested in the event to transmit REQ message for
DATA. After receiving REQ message source node sends DATA message to interested node. In this way data can
reach to all interested node in entire network. This technique prevents the problems implosion, overlap and
resource blindness which is faced by flooding. Wireless Sensor Network is the important in the field networking.
A WSN is basically made up of number of several sensor nodes which work together. In this paper, we focus on
existing various Data Dissemination and Data Aggregation approaches which is play very important role to

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 increase the lifetime of network.

Communication Technologies:
• The backbone of IoT is a network of connected, smart devices.
• These devices communicate with each other to collect and exchange data
• IoT drastically improved performance and efficiency resulting in better user experience.
• Smart lighting components like drivers, controllers, gateways, app interfaces, and cloud solution need to
communicate with each other.
What is long range communication (LRCS)?
A system that uses satellite relay, data link, high frequency, or another approved communication
system which extends beyond line of sight eg: LoRa WAN, Satellite Communications etc.

• LoRaWAN

LoRaWAN is a Media Access Control (MAC) layer protocol built on top of LoRa
modulation. It is a software layer which defines how devices use the LoRa hardware, for example when
they transmit, and the format of messages.

The LoRaWAN protocol is developed and maintained by the LoRa Alliance. The first
LoRaWAN specification was released in January 2015. The table below shows the version history of the
LoRaWAN specifications. At the time of this writing the latest specifications are 1.0.4 (in 1.0 series) and
1.1 (1.1 series).

Version Release date

1.0 January 2015
1.0.1 February 2016
1.0.2 July 2016
1.1 October 2017
1.0.3 July 2018
1.0.4 October 2020
Bandwidth vs. Range

LoRaWAN is suitable for transmitting small size payloads (like sensor data) over long
distances. LoRa modulation provides a significantly greater communication range with low bandwidths
than other competing wireless data transmission technologies. The following figure shows some access
technologies that can be used for wireless data transmission and their expected transmission ranges vs.
bandwidth.

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 LoRaWAN Architecture

LoRaWAN networks are deployed in a star-of-stars topology.

A typical LoRaWAN network consists of the following elements.

Figure: A typical LoRaWAN network architecture

• End Devices - sensors or actuators send LoRa modulated wireless messages to the gateways or receive
messages wirelessly back from the gateways. .
• Gateways - receive messages from end devices and forward them to the Network Server.
• Network Server - a piece of software running on a server that manages the entire network.
• Application servers - a piece of software running on a server that is responsible for securely processing
application data.
• Join Server - a piece of software running on a server that processes join-request messages sent by end devices
(The Join Server is not shown in the above figure).

End devices communicate with nearby gateways and each gateway is connected to the network server.
LoRaWAN networks use an ALOHA based protocol, so end devices don’t need to peer with specific gateways.
Messages sent from end devices travel through all gateways within range. These messages are received by the
Network Server. If the Network Server has received multiple copies of the same message, it keeps a single copy
of the message and discards others. This is known as message deduplication.

LoRaWAN features

• Ultra low power - LoRaWAN end devices are optimized to operate in low power mode and can last up
to 10 years on a single coin cell battery.
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• Long range - LoRaWAN gateways can transmit and receive signals over a distance of over 10 kilometers in
rural areas and up to 3 kilometers in dense urban areas.
• Deep indoor penetration - LoRaWAN networks can provide deep indoor coverage, and easily cover multi
floor buildings.
• License free spectrum - You don’t have to pay expensive frequency spectrum license fees to deploy a
LoRaWAN network.
• Geolocation- A LoRaWAN network can determine the location of end devices using triangulation without
the need for GPS. A LoRa end device can be located if at least three gateways pick up its signal.
• High capacity - LoRaWAN Network Servers handle millions of messages from thousands of gateways.
• Public and private deployments - It is easy to deploy public and private LoRaWAN networks using the
same hardware (gateways, end devices, antennas) and software (UDP packet forwarders, Basic Station software,
LoRaWAN stacks for end devices).
• End-to-end security- LoRaWAN ensures secure communication between the end device and the application
server using AES-128 encryption.
• Firmware updates over the air - You can remotely update firmware (applications and the LoRaWAN
stack) for a single end device or group of end devices.
• Roaming- LoRaWAN end devices can perform seamless handovers from one network to another.
• Low cost - Minimal infrastructure, low-cost end nodes and open source software.
• Certification program- The LoRa Alliance certification program certifies end devices and provides end-
users with confidence that the devices are reliable and compliant with the LoRaWAN specification.
• Ecosystem- LoRaWAN has a very large ecosystem of device makers, gateway makers, antenna makers,
network service providers, and application developers.

LoRaWAN applications

Here are a few great LoRaWAN use cases provided by Semtech, to give you some insight into
how LoRaWAN can be applied:

• Vaccine cold chain monitoring - LoRaWAN sensors are used to ensure vaccines are kept at appropriate
temperatures in transit.
• Animal conservation - Tracking sensors manage endangered species such as Black Rhinos and Amur
Leopards.
• Dementia patients - Wristband sensors provide fall detection and medication tracking.
• Smart farms- Real time insights into crop soil moisture and optimized irrigation schedule reduce water
use up to 30%.
• Water conservation- Identification and faster repair of leaks in a city’s water network.
• Food safety- Temperature monitoring ensures food quality maintenance.
• Smart waste bins - Waste bin level alerts sent to staff optimize the pickup schedule.
• Smart bikes- Bike trackers track bikes in remote areas and dense buildings.
• Airport tracking - GPS-free tracking monitors vehicles, personnel, and luggage.
• Efficient workspaces - Room occupancy, temperature, energy usage and parking availability monitoring.
• Cattle health - Sensors monitor cattle health, detect diseases and forecast calves delivery time.
• LoRa in space - Satellites to provide LoRaWAN-based coverage worldwide

Satellite Communication:

What is Satellite Communication?

Satellite communication is transporting information from one place to another using a communication satellite
in orbit around the Earth. Watching the English Premier League every weekend with your friends would have
been impossible without this. A communication satellite is an artificial satellite that transmits the signal via a
transponder by creating a channel between the transmitter and the receiver at different Earth
locations.Telephone, radio, television, internet, and military applications use satellite communications.

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Need for Satellite Communication

We know that there are different ways to communicate, and the propagation of these waves can occur in
different ways. Ground wave propagation and skywave propagation are the two ways communication takes
place for a certain distance. The maximum distance covered by them is 1500 km, which was overcome by the
introduction of satellite communication.

How Satellite Communications Work?

The communication satellites are similar to the space mirrors that help us bounce signals such as radio,
internet data, and television from one side of the earth to another. Three stages are involved, which explain
the working of satellite communications. These are:

• Uplink
• Transponders
• Downlink

Let’s consider an example of signals from a television. In the first stage, the signal from the television
broadcast on the other side of the earth is first beamed up to the satellite from the ground station on the
earth. This process is known as uplink.

The second stage involves transponders such as radio receivers, amplifiers, and transmitters. These
transponders boost the incoming signal and change its frequency so that the outgoing signals are not
altered. Depending on the incoming signal sources, the transponders vary.

The final stage involves a downlink in which the data is sent to the other end of the receiver on the earth. It
is important to understand that usually, there is one uplink and multiple downlinks.

A satellite is a body that moves around another body in a particular path. A communication satellite is
nothing but a microwave repeater station in space. It is helpful in telecommunications, radio and television
along with internet applications.

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 A repeater is a circuit, which increases the strength of the received signal and then transmits it. But, this
repeater works as a transponder. That means, it changes the frequency band of the transmitted signal from
the received one.

The frequency with which, the signal is sent into the space is called as Uplink frequency. Similarly, the
frequency with which, the signal is sent by the transponder is called as Downlink frequency. The following
figure illustrates this concept clearly.

The transmission of signal from first earth station to satellite through a channel is called as uplink.
Similarly, the transmission of signal from satellite to second earth station through a channel is called as
downlink.

Uplink frequency is the frequency at which, the first earth station is communicating with satellite. The
satellite transponder converts this signal into another frequency and sends it down to the second earth
station. This frequency is called as Downlink frequency. In similar way, second earth station can also
communicate with the first one.

The process of satellite communication begins at an earth station. Here, an installation is designed to
transmit and receive signals from a satellite in an orbit around the earth. Earth stations send the information
to satellites in the form of high powered, high frequency (GHz range) signals.

The satellites receive and retransmit the signals back to earth where they are received by other earth stations
in the coverage area of the satellite. Satellite's footprint is the area which receives a signal of useful strength
from the satellite.

The need for satellite communication becomes evident when we want to transmit the signal to far-off places,
where the Earth’s curvature comes into play. This obstruction is overcome by putting communication
satellites in space to transmit the signals across the curvature. Satellite communication uses two types of
artificial satellites to transmit the signals:

• Passive Satellites: If you put a hydrogen balloon that has a metallic coating over it up in the air, it technically becomes
a passive satellite. Such a balloon can reflect microwave signals from one place to another. The passive satellites in
space are similar. These satellites just reflect the signal back towards the Earth without amplification. Since the
satellite orbit height can range from 2000 to 35786 km, attenuation due to the atmosphere also comes into play, and
due to this, the received signal is often very weak.
• Active Satellites: Active Satellites, unlike passive satellites, amplify the transmitted signals before re-transmitting it
back to Earth, ensuring excellent signal strength. Passive satellites were the earliest communication satellite, but now
almost all the new ones are active satellites.

To avoid mixing up and interference signals, every user is allocated a specific frequency for transmitting.
The International Telecommunication Union does this frequency allocation. Geosynchronous satellites are of
note here. Geostationary orbit is present at 35786 km above Earth’s surface. If you can spot such a satellite
with a telescope from Earth, it will appear stationary to you. The satellite’s orbital period and the Earth’s
rotational rate are in sync.

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 Some More Information About Geostationary Orbits

These were some typical orbits. Apart from these, we also have orbits that address particular problems. The
Russians faced one such issue. GEO satellites worked perfectly for the equatorial regions, but they had a
very weak coverage near the Poles. The Russians designed an orbit with a very high inclination to address
this problem. The inclination is the angle between the satellite’s orbit and the equator. This orbit was called
the Molniya orbit. The orbit had excellent coverage of the North Pole for a short time. Molniya had a period
of 24 hours, but out of that, it would be close to Earth only for 6-9 hours. Russia launched more satellites in
the same orbit and soon had uninterrupted coverage.

Satellite Communication Services

There are two categories in which satellite communication services can be classified:

• One-way satellite communication

• Two- way satellite communication

One-way Satellite Communication

In one-way satellite communication, the communication usually takes place between either one or multiple
earth stations through the help of a satellite.

The communication takes place between the transmitter on the first earth satellite to the receiver which is the
second earth satellite. The transmission of the signal is unidirectional. Some common one-way satellite
communication is:

• Position location services are provided by the radio

• Tracking is a part of space operations services
• Internet services take place with broadcasting satellites

Following is the figure which explains the one-way satellite communication:

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11
Two-Way Satellite Communication

In two-way satellite communication, the information is exchanged between any two earth stations. It can be
said that there is a point to point connectivity.

The signal is transmitted from the first earth station to the second earth station such that there are two
uplinks and two downlinks between the earth stations and the satellite.

Following is the figure for the two-way satellite communication:

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 Pros and Cons of Satellite Communication

In this section, let us have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of satellite communication.

Following are the advantages of using satellite communication:

• Area of coverage is more than that of terrestrial systems

• Each and every corner of the earth can be covered
• Transmission cost is independent of coverage area
• More bandwidth and broadcasting possibilites

Following are the disadvantages of using satellite communication −

• Launching of satellites into orbits is a costly process.

• Propagation delay of satellite systems is more than that of conventional terrestrial systems.
• Difficult to provide repairing activities if any problem occurs in a satellite system.
• Free space loss is more
• There can be congestion of frequencies.

Applications of Satellite Communication

Satellite communication plays a vital role in our daily life. Following are the applications of satellite
communication −

• Radio broadcasting and voice communications

• TV broadcasting such as Direct To Home (DTH)
• Internet applications such as providing Internet connection for data transfer, GPS applications, Internet
surfing, etc.
• Military applications and navigations
• Remote sensing applications
• Weather condition monitoring & Forecasting

What is short range wireless?

A number of different wireless technologies have been developed for very short distances. These
are referred to as 'short-range wireless communication.' Signals travel from a few centimetres to several
meters. In contrast, signals in medium-range wireless communication travel up to 100 meters or so, while
signals in wide-area wireless communication can travel from several kilometers to several thousand
kilometers. Examples of short-range wireless communications are Bluetooth, infrared, near field
communication, ultraband and Zigbee. The common short-region wireless communication modes are UWB,
Wi-Fi, ZigBee and bluetooth.

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 ANT+

ANT+ is an interoperable wireless transfer capability that can be used with the basic ANT protocol. ANT+ is a
managed network that is able to collect, transfer and store sensor data. It is mainly used in sports, wellness and
home health applications, such as in heart rate monitors, speed sensors and small GPS devices.

ANT is a wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating
personal area networks. ANT is an ultra-low power protocol that is able to operate off of small batteries, such as
coin cells. ANT peripherals typically operate in a broadcast mode that can be received from multiple handsets
or displays simultaneously. ANT+ (built on the base ANT protocol) defines standardized device profiles that
specify data formats, channel parameters and network keys. A "profile" defines a specific use case, or data set.
The most common ANT+ profile is heart rate (HR), and is used by many heart rate monitors in the market
today. Other examples of ANT+ profiles include:

• Bicycle Speed & Cadence (S&C)

• Bicycle Power (PWR)
• Activity (ACT)
• Weight Scale (WGT)
• Blood Pressure (BP)

WIFI

Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows devices such as computers (laptops and desktops),
mobile devices (smart phones and wearables), and other equipment (printers and video cameras) to interface
with the Internet. It allows these devices--and many more--to exchange information with one another, creating a
network.

Internet connectivity occurs through a wireless router. When you access Wi-Fi, you are connecting to a wireless
router that allows your Wi-Fi-compatible devices to interface with the Internet.

What is a WiFi Technology & How Does It Work?

• Wi-Fi is a popular wireless networking technology.
• Wi-Fi stands for “wireless fidelity”.
• Wi-Fi was invented by NCR Corporation/AT&T in the Netherlands in 1991.
• By using this technology we can exchange information between two or more devices.
• Wi-Fi has been developed for mobile computing devices, such as laptops, but it is now extensively using for mobile
applications and consumer electronics like televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.
• There should be two possibilities in communicating with the Wi-Fi connection: access point to the client connection or
client to client connection.
• It is commonly called a wireless LAN (local area network).
• WiFi technology allows local area networks to operate without cable and wiring.
• A computer’s wireless adaptor transfers the data into a radio signal and transfers the data into an antenna for users.

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 How does Wi-Fi work?

Wi-Fi is a wireless technology for networking, so it uses Electromagnetic waves to transmit networks. We
know that there are many divisions of Electromagnetic waves according to their frequency such as X-ray,
Gamma-ray, radio wave, microwave, etc, in Wi-Fi, the radio frequency is used. For transmitting Wi-Fi signal
there is three medium,

• Base station network or an Ethernet(802.3) connection: It is the main host network from where the network
connection is provided to the router.
• Access point or router: it is a bridge between a wired network and a wireless network. It accepts a wired Ethernet
connection and converts the wired connection to a wireless connection and spreads the connection as a radio wave.
• Accessing devices: It is our mobile, computer, etc from where we use the Wi-Fi and surfing internet.

Working of Wi-Fi

All the electronics devices read data in binary form, also router or our devices, here routers provide radio
waves and those waves are receive by our devices and read the waves in binary form. We all know how a
wave looks like, the upper pick of the wave is known as 1 and the lower pick of the wave is known as 0 in
binary. Like below:

Data transmission

Some more terminologies

• SSID (Service Set Identifier): It is a 32 character name that identifies the Wi-Fi network and differentiates one Wi-Fi
from another Wi-Fi. All the devices are attempting to connect a particular SSID. Simply, SSID is the name of the wireless
network.

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• WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access- Pre-Shared Key): It is a program developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance Authority to
secure wireless networks with the use of Pre-Shared Key(PSK) authentication. WPA has 3 types, such as WPA. WPA2,
WPA3. It is a way of encrypting the Wi-Fi signal to protect from unwanted users.
• Wi-Fi uses Ad-Hoc networks to transmit. It is a point-to-point network without any interface.

How signals are reached to our devices?

Base Station

Types of Wi-Fi:

Wi-Fi has several types of standards, which are discussed earlier, here just the name of the standards are
defined,

Year of
Standards Description
Release
Wi-Fi-1 This version has a link speed from 2Mb/s to
1999
(802.11b) 11 Mb/s over a 2.4 GHz frequency band
After a month of release previous version,
Wi-Fi-2
1999 802.11a was released and it provide up to 54
(802.11a)
Mb/s link speed over 5 Ghz band
Wi-Fi-3 In this version the speed was increased up to
2003
(802.11g) 54 to 108 Mb/s over 2.4 GHz
This is the same as 802.11g but only the
802.11i 2004 security mechanism was increased in this
version
This is also the same as 802.11g, only Voice
802.11e 2004 over Wireless LAN and multimedia
streaming are involved
This version supports both 2.4 GHz and 5
Wi-Fi-4
2009 GHz radio frequency and it offers up to 72 to
(802.11n)
600 Mb/s speed
Wi-Fi-5 It supports a speed of 1733 Mb/s in the 5
2014
(802.11ac) GHz band

A new version will release in 2020 named 802.11ax developed by Huawei, which can support, a
maximum of 3.5 Gb/s. it will know Wi-Fi 6.

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 Advantages of Wi-Fi

• It is a flexible network connection, no wiring complexities. Can be accessed from anywhere in the Wi-Fi range.
• It does not require regulatory approval for individual users.
• It is salable, can be expanded by using Wi-Fi Extenders.
• It can be set up in an easy and fast way. Just need to configure the SSID and Password.
• Security in a high in Wi-Fi network, its uses WPA encryption to encrypt radio signals.
• It is also lower in cost.
• It also can provide Hotspots.
• it supports roaming also.

Disadvantages of Wi-Fi

• Power consumption is high while using Wi-Fi in any device which has a battery, such as mobile, laptops, etc.
• Many times there may be some security problems happening even it has encryption. Such as many times has known
devices become unknown to the router, Wi-Fi can be hacked also.
• Speed is slower than a direct cable connection.
• It has lower radiation like cell phones, so it can harm humans.
• Wi-Fi signals may be affected by climatic conditions like thunderstorms.
• Unauthorized access to Wi-Fi can happen because it does not have a firewall.
• To use Wi-Fi we need a router, which needs a power source, so at the time of power cut, we cannot access the
internet.

Applications of Wi-Fi :

Wi-Fi has many applications, it is used in all the sectors where a computer or any digital media is used,
also for entertaining Wi-Fi is used. Some of the applications are mentioned below –

• Accessing Internet: Using Wi-Fi we can access the internet in any Wi-Fi-capable device wirelessly.
• We can stream or cast audio or video wirelessly on any device using Wi-Fi for our entertainment.
• We can share files, data, etc between two or more computers or mobile phones using Wi-Fi, and the speed of the
data transfer rate is also very high. Also, we can print any document using a Wi-Fi printer, this is very much used
nowadays.
• We can use Wi-Fi as HOTSPOTS also, it points Wireless Internet access for a particular range of area. Using
Hotspot the owner of the main network connection can offer temporary network access to Wi-Fi-capable devices so
that the users can use the network without knowing anything about the main network connection. Wi-Fi adapters
are mainly spreading radio signals using the owner network connection to provide a hotspot.
• Using Wi-Fi or WLAN we can construct simple wireless connections from one point to another, known as Point to
point networks. This can be useful to connect two locations that are difficult to reach by wire, such as two buildings
of corporate business.
• One more important application is VoWi-Fi, which is known as voice-over Wi-Fi. Some years ago telecom
companies are introduced VoLTE (Voice over Long-Term Evolution ). Nowadays they are introduced to VoWi-Fi,
by which we can call anyone by using our home Wi-Fi network, only one thing is that the mobile needs to connect
with the Wi-Fi. Then the voice is transferred using the Wi-Fi network instead of using the mobile SIM network, so
the call quality is very good. Many mobile phones are already getting the support of VoWi-Fi.
• Wi-Fi in offices: In an office, all the computers are interconnected using Wi-Fi. For Wi-Fi, there are no wiring
complexities. Also, the speed of the network is good. For Wi-Fi, a project can be presented to all the members at a
time in the form of an excel sheet, ppt, etc. For Wi-Fi, there is no network loss as in cable due to cable break.
• Also using W-Fi a whole city can provide network connectivity by deploying routers at a specific area to access the
internet. Already schools, colleges, and universities are providing networks using Wi-Fi because of its flexibility.
• Wi-Fi is used as a positioning system also, by which we can detect the positions of Wi-Fi hotspots to identify a
device location.

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 ZigBee

What is Zigbee Technology?

Zigbee communication is specially built for control and sensor networks on IEEE 802.15.4
standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), and it is the product from Zigbee alliance. This
communication standard defines physical and Media Access Control (MAC) layers to handle many devices
at low-data rates. These Zigbee’s WPANs operate at 868 MHz, 902-928MHz, and 2.4 GHz frequencies.
The data rate of 250 kbps is best suited for periodic as well as intermediate two-way transmission of data
between sensors and controllers.

What is Zigbee Technology?

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.

ZigBee is a Personal Area Network task group with low rate task group 4. It is a technology of home
networking. ZigBee is a technological standard created for controlling and sensing the network. As we
know that ZigBee is the Personal Area network of task group 4 so it is based on IEEE 802.15.4 and is
created by Zigbee Alliance.

ZigBee is a standard that addresses the need for very low-cost implementation of Low power devices
with Low data rates for short-range wireless communications.

Types of ZigBee Devices:

• Zigbee Coordinator Device: It communicates with routers. This device is used for connecting the devices.
• Zigbee Router: It is used for passing the data between devices.
• Zigbee End Device: It is the device that is going to be controlled.

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 General Characteristics of Zigbee Standard:

• Low Power Consumption

• Low Data Rate (20- 250 kbps)
• Short-Range (75-100 meters)
• Network Join Time (~ 30 msec)
• Support Small and Large Networks (up to 65000 devices (Theory); 240 devices (Practically))
• Low Cost of Products and Cheap Implementation (Open Source Protocol)
• Extremely low duty cycle.
• 3 frequency bands with 27 channels.

Operating Frequency Bands (Only one channel will be selected for use in a network):

1. Channel 0: 868 MHz (Europe)

2. Channel 1-10: 915 MHz (the US and Australia)
3. Channel 11-26: 2.4 GHz (Across the World)

Zigbee Network Topologies:

• Star Topology (ZigBee Smart Energy): Consists of a coordinator and several end devices, end devices
communicate only with the coordinator.
• Mesh Topology (Self Healing Process): Mesh topology consists of one coordinator, several routers, and end
devices.
• Tree Topology: In this topology, the network consists of a central node which is a coordinator, several routers,
and end devices. the function of the router is to extend the network coverage.

Zigbee Architecture

Zigbee system structure consists of three different types of devices as Zigbee Coordinator, Router,
and End device. Every Zigbee network must consist of at least one coordinator which acts as a root and bridge
of the network. The coordinator is responsible for handling and storing the information while performing
receiving and transmitting data operations.

Zigbee routers act as intermediary devices that permit data to pass to and fro through them to other
devices. End devices have limited functionality to communicate with the parent nodes such that the battery
power is saved as shown in the figure. The number of routers, coordinators, and end devices depends on the
type of networks such as star, tree, and mesh networks.

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 Zigbee protocol architecture consists of a stack of various layers where IEEE 802.15.4 is defined
by physical and MAC layers while this protocol is completed by accumulating Zigbee’s own network and
application layers.

Zigbee architecture is a combination of 6 layers.

1. Application Layer
2. Application Interface Layer
3. Security Layer
4. Network Layer
5. Medium Access Control Layer
6. Physical Layer

Physical Layer: This layer does modulation and demodulation operations upon transmitting and receiving
signals respectively. This layer’s frequency, data rate, and a number of channels are given below.

MAC Layer: This layer is responsible for reliable transmission of data by accessing different networks
with the carrier sense multiple access collision avoidances (CSMA). This also transmits the beacon frames
for synchronizing communication.

Network Layer: This layer takes care of all network-related operations such as network setup, end device
connection, and disconnection to network, routing, device configurations, etc.

Application Support Sub-Layer: This layer enables the services necessary for Zigbee device objects and
application objects to interface with the network layers for data managing services. This layer is
responsible for matching two devices according to their services and needs.

Application Framework: It provides two types of data services as key-value pair and generic message
services. The generic message is a developer-defined structure, whereas the key-value pair is used for
getting attributes within the application objects. ZDO provides an interface between application objects and
the APS layer in Zigbee devices. It is responsible for detecting, initiating, and binding other devices to the
network.

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 Zigbee Operating Modes and Its Topologies

Zigbee two-way data is transferred in two modes: Non-beacon mode and Beacon mode. In a non-beacon
mode, the coordinators and routers continuously monitor the active state of incoming data hence more
power is consumed. In this mode, the routers and coordinators do not sleep because at any time any node
can wake up and communicate.

However, it requires more power supply and its overall power consumption is low because most of the devices
are in an inactive state for over long periods in the network. In a beacon mode, when there is no data
communication from end devices, then the routers and coordinators enter into a sleep state. Periodically this
coordinator wakes up and transmits the beacons to the routers in the network.

These beacon networks are work for time slots which means, they operate when the communication needed
results in lower duty cycles and longer battery usage. These beacon and non-beacon modes of Zigbee can
manage periodic (sensors data), intermittent (Light switches), and repetitive data types.

Zigbee Technology in IoT

We know that Zigbee is one kind of communication technology similar to Bluetooth as well as WiFi,
however, there are also numerous new rising networking alternatives like Thread which is an option for
the applications of home automation. In major cities, the Whitespace technologies were implemented for
IoT-based wider region use cases.

ZigBee is a low-power WLAN (wireless local area network) specification. It provides fewer data using less
power by frequently connected devices to turn off a battery. Due to this, the open standard has been
connected through M2M (machine-to-machine) communication as well as the industrial IoT (internet of
things).

Zigbee has become an IoT protocol that is accepted globally. It is already competing with Bluetooth, WiFi,
and Thread.

Zigbee Devices

The specification of IEEE 802.15.4 Zigbee mainly includes two devices like Full-Function Devices (FFD)
as well as Reduced-Function Devices (RFD). An FFD Device performs different tasks which are
explained within the specification & it can adopt any task within the network.

An RFD Device has partial capabilities so it performs limited tasks and this device can converse with any
device within the network. It must act as well as pay attention within the network. An RFD device can
converse simply with an FFD Device & it is used in simple applications such as controlling a switch by
activating and deactivating it.

In an IEEE 802.15.4 n/w, the Zigbee devices play three different roles like Coordinator, PAN Coordinator
& Device. Here, FFD devices are Coordinator as well as PAN Coordinator whereas the Device is either
an RFD/ FFD Device.

The main function of a coordinator is for relaying messages. In a personal area network, a PAN controller
is an essential controller and a device is known as if the device is not a coordinator.
The ZigBee standard can create three protocol devices depending on the Zigbee devices, PAN
coordinator, coordinator, and the standard specification of ZigBee like the coordinator, router, and end
device which are discussed below.

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 Zigbee Coordinator

In an FFD device, it is a PAN Coordinator is used to form the network. Once the network is established,
then it assigns the address of the network for the devices used within the network. And also, it routes the
messages among the end devices.

Zigbee Router

A Zigbee Router is an FFD Device that allows the range of the Zigbee Network. This Router is used to add
more devices to the network. Sometimes, it acts as a Zigbee End Device.

Zigbee End Device

This is neither a Router nor a Coordinator that interfaces to a sensor physically otherwise performs a
control operation. Based on the application, it can be either an RFD or an FFD.

Why ZigBee is better than WiFi?

In Zigbee, the data transfer speed is less as compared with WiFi, so it’s the highest speed is simply
250kbps. It is very less as compared with the less speed of WiFi.

One more best quality of Zigbee is the rate of power utilization as well as the life of the battery. Its protocol
lasts for several months because once it is assembled then we can forget.

What Devices use ZigBee?

The following list of devices supports the ZigBee protocol.

• Belkin WeMo
• Samsung SmartThings
• Yale smart locks
• Philips Hue
• Thermostats from Honeywell
• Ikea Tradfri
• Security Systems from Bosch
• Comcast Xfinity Box from Samsung
• Hive Active Heating & accessories
• Amazon Echo Plus
• Amazon Echo Show

Instead of connecting every Zigbee device separately, a central hub is required for controlling all
the devices. The above-mentioned devices namely SmartThings as well as Amazon Echo Plus can also be
used like a Wink hub to play a vital role within the network. The central hub will scan the network for all the
supported devices and provides you simple control of the above devices with a central app.

What is the difference between ZigBee and Bluetooth?

Bluetooth Zigbee
The frequency range of Zigbee is 2.4 GHz
The frequency range of Bluetooth ranges from 2.4 GHz –
2.483 GHz

It has 79 RF channels It has 16 RF channels

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 Zigbee uses different modulation techniques like BPSK,
The modulation technique used in Bluetooth is GFSK
QPSK & GFSK.
Bluetooth includes 8-cell nodes Zigbee includes above 6500 cell nodes
Bluetooth uses IEEE 802.15.1 specification Zigbee uses IEEE 802.15.4 specification
Bluetooth covers the radio signal upto 10meters Zigbee covers the radio signal upto 100 meters
Bluetooth takes 3 seconds to join a network Zigbee takes 3 Seconds to join a network
The network range of Bluetooth ranges from 1-100 meters
based on radio class.
The network range of Zigbee is up to 70 meters

The protocol stack size of a Bluetooth is 250 Kbytes The protocol stack size of a Zigbee is 28 Kbytes
The height of the TX antenna is 6meters whereas the RX The height of the TX antenna is 6meters whereas the RX
antenna is 1meter antenna is 1meter
Blue tooth uses rechargeable batteries
Zigbee doesn’t use rechargeable batteries

Bluetooth requires less bandwidth As compared with Bluetooth, it needs high bandwidth
The TX Power of Bluetooth is 4 dBm The TX Power of Zigbee is 18 dBm

The frequency of Bluetooth is 2400 MHz The frequency of Zigbee is 2400 MHz
Tx antenna gain of Bluetooth is 0dB whereas the RX -6dB Tx antenna gain of Zigbee is 0dB whereas the RX -6dB
Sensitivity is -93 dB Sensitivity is -102 dB
The margin of Bluetooth is 20 dB Margin of zigbee is 20 dB
Bluetooth range is 77 meters The Zigbee range is 291 meters
The difference between Zigbee and Bluetooth is discussed below.

What is the difference between LoRa and ZigBee?

The main difference between LoRa and Zigbee are discussed below.

LoRa Zigbee
The frequency bands of LoRa ranges from
The frequency bands of Zigbee are
863-870 MHz, 902-928 MHz &779-787
868MHz, 915 MHz, 2450 MHz
MHz
LoRa covers the distance in urban areas
Zigbee covers the distance from 10-
like 2 to 5kms whereas in rural areas
100meters
15kms
The power utilization of LoRa is low as
Power utilization is low
compared to Zigbee

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 The modulation technique used in Zigbee is
The modulation technique used in LoRa is
OQPSK & BPSK, It uses the DSSS method
FSK otherwise GFSK
to change bits to chips.
The data rate of Zigbee is 20 kbps for 868
The data rate of LoRa is 0.3 to 22 Kbps for frequency band, 40Kbps for 915 frequency
LoRa modulation & 100 Kbps for GFSK band, and 250 kbps for 2450 frequency
band)
The network architecture of LoRa includes The network architecture of Zigbee routers,
servers, LoRa Gateway & end devices. coordinator & end devices.
The protocol stack of Zigbee includes
The protocol stack of LoRa includes PHY,
PHY, RF, MAC, network security &
RF, MAC & application layers
application layers.
The Physical Layer of LoRa mainly uses a
modulation system & includes error
rectification abilities. It includes a Zigbee includes two physical layers like
preamble for the purpose of 868/915 Mhz & 2450 MHz.
synchronization & uses an entire frame
CRC & PHY header CRC.
LoRa is used as a WAN (Wide Area Zigbee is used like LR-WPAN (low rate
Network) wireless personal area network)
It uses IEEE 802.15.4g standard & Alliance Zigbee uses IEEE 802.15.4 specification
is LoRa and Zigbee Alliance
Zigbee Technology Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of Zigbee include the following.

• This network has a flexible network structure

• Battery life is good.
• Power consumption is less
• Very simple to fix.
• It supports approximately 6500 nodes.
• Less cost.
• It is self-healing as well as more reliable.
• Network setting is very easy as well as simple.
• Loads are evenly distributed across the network because it doesn’t include a central controller
• Home appliances monitoring as well controlling is extremely simple using remote
• The network is scalable and it is easy to add/remote ZigBee end device to the network.

The disadvantages of Zigbee include the following.

• It needs the system information to control Zigbee based devices for the owner.
• As compared with WiFi, it is not secure.
• The high replacement cost once any issue happens within Zigbee based home appliances
• The transmission rate of the Zigbee is less
• It does not include several end devices.
• It is so highly risky to be used for official private information.
• It is not used as an outdoor wireless communication system because it has less coverage limit.
• Similar to other types of wireless systems, this ZigBee communication system is prone to bother from
unauthorized people.

Applications of Zigbee Technology

The applications of ZigBee technology include the following.

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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.

This is all about a brief description of Zigbee technology’s architecture, operations modes, configurations, and
applications. We hope that we have given you enough content on this title, for you to understand it better.
Thus, this is all about an overview of Zigbee technology and it is based on IEEE 802.15.4 network. The
designing of this technology can be done extremely strong so it operates in all kinds of environments.

It provides flexibility as well as security for different environments. Zigbee technology has gained so much
popularity in the market because it provides consistent mesh networking by enabling a network to control over
an extensive region, and also it provides low-power communications. So this is a perfect IoT technology

Near Field Communication Technologies

Parameters Wi-Fi Z-Wave ZigBee

Launched year 1997 2003 2033
PHY/MAC Standard IEEE 802.11.1 ITU-T-G.9959 IEEE 802.15.4
Frequency band 2.4GHZ 9000 MHZ 2.4GHZ
Range 100m 30-100m 10-100m
Maximum Data rate 54 Mbps 40-100 kbps 250 hbps
Topology Star Mesh Mesh
Power consumption High Low Low

~116mA(1.8V) 2.5mA ~ 40mA

Alliance Wi-fi Alliance Z-wave Alliance ZigBee Alliance
Throughput 54Mbps-1.3 Gbps 10kbps-100 hbps 20kbps-250kbps
Maximum signal rate 54mbps 40kbps/100 kbps 250kbps
Cryptography AES AES AES
Network type WPAN/P2P WPAN WPAN
Spreading DSSS,OFDM FHSS DSSS
Modulation type BPSK,QPSK,COFDM GFSK BPSK, O-QPSK

TEXT / REFERENCE BOOKS

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 1. Boswarthick,Omar Elloumi., The Internet of Things: Applications and Protocols,
Wiley publications.,2012
2. Dieter Uckelmann, Mark Harrison, Florian Michahelles., Architecting the Internet
of Things, Springerpublications.2011
3. Marco Schwatrz Internet of Things with Arduino Cookbook, Packt Publications.2016 .

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