IOT CONNECTIVITY PROTOCOL

COMPARISON TABLE
IOT CONNECTIVITY PROTOCOL COMPARISON TABLE
Haltian’s IoT Connectivity Protocol comparison table lists down data points for different attributes for key IoT
connectivity protocols as provided by the public standard specifications. Visit Haltian’s Connectivity Garage
website for accessing the source information.

LTE Cat EC-GSM- NB-IoT Google Bluetooth Wirepas

Features LTE Cat 1 Zigbee SigFox LoRa
M1 IoT Rel 14 Thread LE Mesh
Channel 1.4 MHz 1.08 MHz 200 KHz 180 KHz 600 KHz - 5 MHz 0.1 KHz100 125 KHz 600 kHz - 5 2 MHz 2 MHz

Transmission
Full Full/Half Half (FDD) Half Half Half Half Half Full/Half Full/Half
Duplexity
70 kbps
125 kbps, 500
Downlink (DL) (GMSK) - 100 - 600 300 bps - 20 – 250
10 Mbps 1 Mbps 127 Kbps 20 - 250 kbps kbps, 1 Mbps, 1 Mbps
peak rate 240kbps bps 50 kbps kbps
2 Mbps
(8PSK)
100 to
70 kbps
600 bps 125 kbps, 500
Uplink (UL) (GMSK) - ~300 bps - 20 – 250
5 Mbps 1 Mbps 159 kbps 20 - 250 kbps (depending kbps, 1 Mbps, 1 Mbps
peak rate 240kbps 50 kbps kbps
on the 2 Mbps
(8PSK)
country)
Number of
2 1 1-Feb 1 1 1 1 1
Antennae
< 100
700 msec - 1 - 100 msec,13.5
Latency range 10-15 msec 10-15 msec <10 sec 15 msec > 20 sec < 3 msec, < 10 msec
2 sec msec msec - 1
sec

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 Google Bluetooth Wirepas
Features LTE Cat 1 LTE Cat M1 EC-GSM-IoT NB-IoT Zigbee SigFox LoRa
Thread LE Mesh
Data limit Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined 140 msg/ Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined

Payload
Size of
MAC PDU 0 – 102 0-12 B Payload 51- MAC PDU 0 –
payload in a Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined 0 - 2790 bits 102 bytes
bytes uplink, 8 B 222 B 102 B
data packet
downlink
Max 30 sec/ <1% in some
Duty cycle Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined <1% <1% Not defined Not defined
hour (<1%) bands
AES-CCM,
128-bit HMAC-
Data Private key, TLS, DTLS,S-
EPS-AKA EPS-AKA UMTS AKA (EPS-AKA) AES 128 NwkSkey/ SHA256, P256 AES 128
Encryption VPN+SSL HA-256
AppSkey ECDH, HMAC-
SHA-256
SAFER+,
Device Aut- Zigbee device Unique ID/ 64-bit De- Authentication
SIM SIM SIM SIM EC-JPAKE HMAC
hentication authentication Private key vEUI Key
SHA256
Voice
communicati- VoLTE VoLTE GSM No No No No No No No
on support
Sigfox
Native posi- Wirepas Positio-
Positioning E-CDI E-CDI Cell ID OTDOA, E-CID Yes Geoloca- iBeacon
tioning ning Engine
tion
Private
Standardiza- Bluetooth
3GPP Release company, Thread Private Com-
tion organiza- 3GPP Rel8 3GPP Rel13 3GPP Rel13 Zigbee alliance LoRa alliance Special Inte-
14 open stan- group pany
tion rest Group
dard
UE bandwidth 20 MHz 1.4 MHz 2.4 MHz 200 kHz 200 kHz 125 kHz
14, 20, 23
Maximum Case de-
dBm (depen- Case dependent
Transmission 23 dBm 20/23 dBm 23/33 dBm 22 dBm 22 dBm pendent (~0 0, 4, 20 dBm 0, 4, 20 dBm
ding on UE (~0 dBm)
power dBm)
power class)

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 EXPLANATIONS

Channel bandwidth is the part of the spectrum band utilized for a single communication link.
Channel Bandwidth A band is typically composed of several channels. The band and the channel bandwidth are both given as values in
Hz.

Transmission duplexity describes the capability of a certain RF unit to send and receive data at the same time. In
Full duplex transmission, both parties of a communication session can
Transmission Duplexity (Tx/Rx)
transmit and receive data simultaneously. Half duplex refers to the transmission protocol where the transmitter (Tx)
and receiver (Rx) make use of the channel, in turns.

Maximum or peak downlink (DL) data transfer rate in bits per second at which a digital radio device can receive data,
Downlink Peak Rate
usually in ideal radio conditions.

Maximum or peak uplink (UL) data transfer rate in bits per second at which a digital radio device can send data,
Uplink Peak Rate
usually in ideal radio conditions.

The number of antennae refers to the quantity of physical antennas required for the devices. Each antenna is radia-
No. of Antennae
ting or receiving the RF signal of a single transceiver unit.

In communication networks, this is typically defined as the round-trip time delay of a data package, from source to
destination, and back to destination. It gives a clear indication of the
Latency Range
responsiveness of the network to the requirements of delay-sensitive applications. This is
usually measured through ICMP messages

This refers to system limitations to the amount of data traffic offered to the network. It is
understood to be a limitation designed to comply with the duty cycle requirements for the
Data Limit unlicensed band. It may be explicitly defined or not. In the latter case, duty cycle restrictions
will apply. Cellular systems do not have such limits, although there could be
subscription-defined limits.

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 Data limitation is calculated on the maximum size of packets, and is defined for several
technologies that use optimized protocols. If no specific values are mentioned, no specific limits are defined, alt-
Data Amount (size of packets)
hough maximum packets sizes will be limited by some network segments. This is referring to the actual payload of
the packets.

This refers to the limitations imposed to certain frequency bands, generally known as ISM. While such a spectrum is
unlicensed, there are known regional regulations to comply with, which limit, for instance, transmitted power, and
also the time needed for transmitting. The latter one is also known as “duty cycle”, and is considered to be a design
Duty Cycle
criteria when developing systems to use for such bands. Values can be given in seconds of transmission per hour, for
instance, 30 seconds of sending data per hour. The idea is to share the spectrum with a large number of expected
transmitters efficiently, and with limited interferences related effects.

Data encryption is a recurrent requirement for all IoT solutions. Cellular IoT solutions can rely
on the underlying cellular encryptions, which are well defined in their respective standards.
Data Encryption The unlicensed solutions need to reassure their potential users that the data transfers through the unlicensed
bands, are accessible to everyone and secured through reliable encryption
methods.

Device authentication is a key requirement for a secure solution. Cellular devices can rely on the ynderlying cellular
device authentication methods, such as SIM and IMEI. Unlicensed solutions need to provide their own means to
ensure that the devices are connecting to the correct
Device authentication
gateways; as such systems rely on specific solutions built around private keys and/or
device-specific keys. This is an area that we expect to become more relevant, since the
forecasted amount of devices to be deployed is sizeable.

The organization creating the specifications and responsible for their maintenance and
Standardization Organization evolution. For the non-3GPP standards, the company, industry alliance or consortium is
indicated.

Defined as the bandwidth of the user equipment (UE) transceivers (or end nodes) designed to operate in certain
UE bandwidth bands. It can be seen as the bandwidth of the base-band amplifiers of the UE or end nodes before modulation into a
carrier frequency.

Sometimes referred to as the power class, this is the nominal maximum transmit power allowed for the device (or
Max TX power
end node) transceiver to operate in the specified band/s

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