Industrial communications

LPWAN

Low-power wide-area communications for meters and sensors using cellular NB-IoT and LTE-M connectivity

Small data volumes across distributed devices

LPWAN — Low Power Wide Area Network — is a wireless networking approach aimed at long-range communications and low energy use. For meters and sensors sending periodic readings, coverage and operability often matter more than raw data rates.

Within Intelliport’s cellular LPWA portfolio, NB-IoT and Cat-M1, also known as LTE-M, are central to low-power applications. Cat-1 provides an alternative for tasks requiring more throughput. Selecting the right connection is also important when modernising existing 2G/3G systems.

Design considerations

Connectivity selected for the task

Transmission frequency

Message size, measurement and reporting intervals, and the need for two-way communications determine the traffic profile.

Coverage and energy

Installation location, radio conditions, retransmissions and sleep modes all affect power consumption. Multi-year battery operation depends on the task and the device.

Network support

We choose the connection based on operator-supported technology and bands, latency requirements and device variant.

Technology selection

Different requirements, different communications

NB-IoT

For low-data-volume tasks prioritising low power consumption and radio reach. The IPS-40x sensor family uses NB-IoT connectivity.

LTE-M / Cat-M1

An option for IoT tasks where response time and communications flexibility matter alongside low power consumption.

LTE Cat-1

An alternative for tasks requiring higher bandwidth. It does not share the same low-power operating profile as NB-IoT and LTE-M.

Applications

Technology supporting operations

Smart metering

Collecting and transmitting electricity, gas and water consumption data through communications matched to the meter.

Smart metering and remote reading

Smart grids

Connecting field-network equipment and measurement points to central systems.

MV/LV substation digitalisation

Smart cities and parking

Transmitting readings from distributed sensors and parking occupancy data over NB-IoT networks.

Smart parking

Industrial and edge systems

Gateways and routers selected for the different communications needs of low-traffic and higher-bandwidth tasks; redundancy is also a consideration for high-availability systems.