A total guide for beginners
Table of content
LPWAN, LoRa®, NB-IoT, mioty® and others
Differences: Which standard should you use?
The Web Application: How does the data reach my screen?
Sentinum: What Does Sentinum Do?
The Basics : How does it work ?
LPWAN made simple: A sensor, with a battery life of more than 5 years, captures physical parameters such as distance, temperature, etc., and sends the data over 10 kilometers to a cloud server. The measured values then appear on your screen.
LPWAN, LORA®, NB-IOT, MIOTY® and others: What is It all about?
LPWAN stands for Low Power Wide Area Network and refers to a sensor network in which several sensors operate together – similar to how multiple devices are connected in a WLAN or LAN. The key difference with LPWAN applications is the energy efficiency of the devices (as the term “Low Power” already suggests). Unlike other networks like WLAN, LPWAN networks are not suitable for transferring large amounts of data – the transmission rate is limited. In return, they offer much greater range and significantly longer battery life.
So What Are LoRa®, mioty®, NB-IoT, and LTE-CAT-M1?
These terms refer to communication standards – similar to how Bluetooth and WLAN differ. These LPWAN technologies (LoRaWAN®, mioty®, NB-IoT, and LTE-CAT-M1) use low-frequency bands to achieve long transmission ranges.
LORA® and LORAWAN®
Many people use the terms LoRa® and LoRaWAN® to mean the same thing. However, the term LoRa® is often used incorrectly. Strictly speaking, LoRa® refers only to the physical layer developed by the company Semtech®, which enables energy-efficient long-range communication. LoRaWAN® defines a communication protocol and a network architecture for communication within a network.
LoRaWAN® technology uses so-called gateways to transmit data from the sensor to the internet. A gateway is similar to a Wi-Fi router in a typical home. A sensor sends data to the nearest gateway, which converts the information and forwards it via a network server to the internet, where the data can be processed – similar to how a smartphone connects to a router. In other words, if you want to use the LoRaWAN® standard, you’ll need gateways. Ideal locations include tall buildings. How many gateways are needed depends on local conditions. With LoRaWAN®, realistic transmission ranges are estimated at up to 2 km in urban areas and up to 15 km in rural areas. This depends mainly on the gateway locations, the environment, signal obstruction, and the antenna performance of the sensors. The LoRa® radio technology can also be used without gateways in some scenarios.
NB-IOT
This technology is based on the existing mobile network infrastructure and uses cell towers as gateways or routers. That means each sensor includes a special SIM card issued by a mobile provider. With some providers, data volume is already included for up to 10 years at a low prepaid rate. NB-IoT uses specific frequency bands within the LTE spectrum, but unlike regular LTE (which you may know from your smartphone), it’s optimized for very low energy consumption and long operating life.
One major advantage: You don’t need to build your own infrastructure with gateways to use NB-IoT. You can start using it directly, provided coverage is available in your area. Whether NB-IoT is available at your location can be checked using, for example, a coverage map provided by Telekom. Other network providers also offer NB-IoT services.
This LPWAN technology is particularly well suited for applications that require long-term battery operation and stable transmission over long distances. Since it relies on existing mobile networks, the deployment is simple and scalable, even across large areas. NB-IoT offers a robust and reliable solution for many industrial IoT applications and is increasingly being adopted in smart city, utility, and logistics projects.
Mobile NB-IoT availability at the Sentinum GmbH site in Nuremberg
LTE-CAT-M1
Just like NB-IoT, LTE-CAT-M1 also uses the existing mobile network infrastructure as gateways. However, the two technologies are not available in parallel in every country. Some countries rely on LTE-CAT-M1, others on NB-IoT, and some support both standards. What will prevail in the medium or long term is still uncertain. It’s entirely possible that all three of the technologies mentioned will coexist, as they differ in certain technical details.
MIOTY®
mioty® is an LPWAN technology developed by the Fraunhofer Institute IIS. It enables long battery life, low-cost hardware, and wide transmission ranges. The name mioty® comes from “My Internet of Things” and is designed for use not only in smart city applications but also in industrial environments. But what exactly makes mioty® unique? Unlike other LPWAN standards, mioty® uses a technique called telegram splitting. This method significantly increases battery life by reducing power consumption and offers strong resistance to interference. It also allows for much greater scalability.
In practice, this means mioty® can support many more devices with fewer gateways compared to other LPWAN communication standards. From a technical perspective, telegram splitting works by dividing the payload sent from the endpoint (sensor) into many smaller packets. These packets vary in both time and frequency, and the gateway reassembles them into a complete message. This approach helps to minimize packet loss and improves robustness against interference when compared to other standards. Just like with LoRaWAN®, users can set up and retrofit their own gateways for mioty® networks.
Differences : which communication standards should you use and when ?
mioty® is currently the most energy-efficient technology, followed by LoRaWAN® in comparison. This means that, with the same number of transmissions per day, the battery lasts longest when using mioty®. In return, only smaller amounts of data can be transmitted. NB-IoT and LTE-CAT-M1 sensors consume more power but can handle larger volumes of data. However, transmitting very large files—such as video—is still not feasible in self-powered applications, even with these standards
Use case
Here’s a simple use case: Some municipalities are required to regularly monitor groundwater levels. Normally, this involves staff driving to specific locations, taking manual measurements, documenting the data, and archiving it. This process not only incurs labor costs, but it also carries the risk of data loss or inconsistency.
With a self-powered sensor, groundwater levels can be monitored “continuously.” The sensor is maintenance-free and can operate for 3 to 5 years depending on the transmission frequency. For example, our sensors can measure the water level 24 times per day and transmit the current value 12 times daily, lasting up to 5 years. The data is displayed clearly on your screen. In addition, it can be exported and archived automatically.
If predefined threshold levels are exceeded, the measurement and transmission frequency can be increased, and an alert—such as an email or push notification—can be triggered. Historical data is also clearly visualized through trend graphs directly on the screen. These are the core features of a web application. You can find more exciting use cases here.
The Web application : How do the data reach my screen ?
A good question—and technically a complex process, though fortunately one you don’t need to worry about. You simply benefit from the finished application. Still, we won’t leave you in the dark. Here’s a basic explanation of how it works:
The sensor collects the data (it takes a measurement), processes it, and transmits the data to a gateway or mobile network tower. From there, the data are forwarded to the “internet.” In other words, they are sent to a cloud system. There, the data are stored, processed, and then made visible in a web application. That’s the visual display you see on your screen.
Our web application runs in the cloud or on a server (a computer—just not at your location, but at our data center in Germany). This means that to use our application, you don’t need to install any software, and in most cases, we don’t need access to your network infrastructure. The application is browser-based. You can easily access it from any device of your choice—smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Sentinum : What Does Sentinum Do?
We take care of the entire chain, from the sensor to the cloud solution and the web application, seamlessly from a single source.
We’re happy to answer any further questions , feel free to contact us.