A Survey of 5G Emerging Wireless Technologies Featuring LoRaWAN, Sigfox, NB-IoT and LTE-M

TLDR

Increasing demand for wireless services has driven the development of new technologies that support remote sensing and monitoring via wireless sensor networks, requiring long range, low energy consumption, and efficient data rates. The study evaluates several wireless technologies as potential 5G candidates for wireless sensor networks, assessing their suitability and application. A comparative analysis of LoRaWAN, NB‑IoT, Sigfox, and LTE‑M standards is presented, exploring their potential use in WSN.

Abstract

On the ever increasing demand of different wireless based services and applications, new wireless technologies have been evolved. One of these applications is using wireless sensor networks (WSN) for remote sensing and monitoring. Several technologies have been proposed to fulfil the stringent requirement of WSN such as long communication range, low energy and efficient data rate. In this paper, we will shed the lights of several wireless technologies that have been examined to be potential candidates to be applied in the fifth generation (5G) communication technologies and how they can be used in WSN. Particularly, a comparison between LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, Sigfox, and LTE-M technologies that are the standards and bases for 5G communication technologies is presented and their potential usage for WSN is explored.