LPWAN May Soon Be a Reality for M2M in IoT

Laird's article, LoRa Alliance Poised to Make LPWAN a Reality for M2M, written by Chris Downey, was recently featured in Wireless Design and Development. The article discusses a new emerging market due to the deployment of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). According to Downey, LPWANs are expected to bridge the gap between current LAN and WAN technologies to allow for low-cost machine-to-machine (M2M) communication for the emerging Internet of Things (IoT). LPWAN is expected to see wide use in varying markets such as Smart Metering, Smart Cities, Tracking, Agriculture, Smart Home, and Smart Environmental monitoring. According to the article, in these markets alone, the total market size for wireless connectivity is expected to reach over a billion dollars. The entire IoT market is projected to consist of over 20 million devices by 2020 and LPWAN is poised to take up 40% of the total IoT Market.

In the article, Downey also discusses past wireless M2M options, competition, as well as leading contender for the LPWAN market, the LoRa Alliance, and their new standard, LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN is a new standard set to simplify local installations and enhance interoperability among connected "things". LPWAN is well positioned to provide a new communication  model for long-range, low data-rate, battery powered applications for M2M. The LoRa Alliance was founded by Semtech and includes members such as IBM, Cisco, Microchip, Kerlink, and Actility.

Check out the full technical article, here.