1. INTERNET OF THINGS
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS
Szymon Słupik
szymon.slupik@homersoft.com

2. IoT means Low Power Radio
 Laptop computer
 15W average, always on
 WiFi: 54Mbps +, streaming data
 Last mile: 10Mbps +
 Presence sensor
 15μW average (6 orders less!)
 75mW transmission power
 3ms transmission time @125kbps
 1 message every 75 seconds
 12 years on a CR2450 coin cell battery
 Forever on a 3x7cm photovoltaic @50lx (dim room)

3. Low Power Radio Protocols
 Range between 10m and 100m (typical)
 IEEE 802.15 (open / multi – vendor):
 Bluetooth Low Energy
 ZigBee
 6LoWPAN
 Other (closed / single – vendor)
 ANT / ANT+
 Z-Wave
 EnOcean (ISO/IEC 14543-3-10)
 Proprietary
 Hundreds / thousands of things

4. Radio Estate Properties
 2.4GHz (globally unified but crowded)
 Bluetooth LE
 ZigBee
 6LoWPAN
 ANT / ANT+
 Sub–GHz: 868/902/915MHz
(regional, low duty cycle)
 ZigBee
 6LoWPAN
 Z-Wave
 EnOcean
 433 MHz (globally unified)
 Proprietary (eg weather stations)

5. Bluetooth Low Energy
 Bluetooth SIG: http://bluetooth.org
 Bluetooth 1/2/3 = streaming media (audio etc.)
 Bluetooth LE = sensors and actors („things”)
 Bluetooth 4 = Bluetooth 3 & BLE (dual mode)
 Smartphones
 Not supported on Android today
 Only via proprietary (but open) stacks (Broadcom)
 Expected at GoogleIO 2013
 Strict transport / open application layer
 Star network topology
 No mesh / repeaters
 Energy efficient receivers

6. ZigBee
 ZigBeeAlliance: http://zigbee.org
 Strict 802.15.4 MAC layer (868/915MHz / 2.4GHz)
 Common transport layer for proprietary applications
 Application – layer open standards emerging
 ZLL (ZigBee Light Link)
 ZHA (ZigBee Home Automation)
 ZSE (ZigBee Smart Energy)
 Ad-hoc mesh network topology
 Coordinators, repeaters, end nodes
 Destination – based routing (self healing)

7. Z-Wave
 Z-Wave Alliance: http://z-wave.com
 Controlled by Sigma Designs
 Requires membership, NDA
 Physical layer varies by region (frequencies / radio bands)
 Strict Application – layer protocol
 Command Classes guarantee interoperability
 Wide selection of compatible products
 Source – based routing mesh
 Not self – healing
 Controllers, slaves

8. EnOcean
 EnOcean Alliance http://enocean-alliance.org
 Controlled by EnOcean GmbH (the company)
 Spin-off of SiemensAG
 Designed for energy harvesting
 Mechanical, photovoltaic, thermoelectric
 True wireless: very popular for sensors
 Physical layer varies by region (frequencies)
 Application layer is optional
 Equipment Profiles
 Star network topology
 Up to 2 repeaters between nodes

9. 6LoWPAN
 6LoWPAN IETF group RFC 4944
 IPv6 over Low powerWireless Personal Area Networks
 MAC layer based on 802.15.4 (same as ZigBee)
 Varies by region (frequencies)
 Fragmentation, header compression
 Transport layer: UDP orTCP
 Vendor – specific „mesh under”
 NXP (Jennic),TI, ZMDI
 Standard addressing (IPv6) and security (IPsec, IKE)
 No application layer standards yet
 Potential to „rule them all”
 Including BLE, ZigBee (IP),
Z-Wave,
PowerLine Communications

10. The question
 Which one to choose?

11. The answer
 It depends…
 Reach: Bluetooth LE
 Features: ZigBee
 Compatibility: Z-Wave
 Efficiency: EnOcean
 Security: 6LoWPAN