Figure 3-3-1-1 Positioning of Each Wireless Communications System

* Existing M2M connection are mainly 2G, 3G or 4G networks.

Figure 3-3-1-2 Examples of the Utilization of LPWA

Sector	Country/Corporation etc.	Outline of cases (L: LoRa, S: Sigfox)
Japan	Verification Stage	7 corporations including Azbil Corporation and Japan IBM	Verification experiments relating to collection of data from gas and water meters in Fukuoka City began in July this year. Issues being identified in preparation for practical implementation [L]
NTT Docomo, IT venture company Hata Pro	Verifying a system that monitors the operating status of the various facilities involved in a network connecting three water sources, eleven distribution reservoirs and the city office in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture, in real time using LPWA [L]
Hitachi Systems	Inspecting monitoring of manholes as part of a verification experiment towards the provision of crime prevention and safe solutions for the use of manholes, in cooperation with Tomisu, e-trust and Niigata City Water Authority [System unknown]
Implementation Stage	Kyocera Communications System	Introduction of system that carries out remote temperature management of refrigerators where pizza dough is stored in a delivery pizza chain [S]

(Source) "Analysis of Industrial Structure in the 4th Industrial Revolution, and Surveys and Research into the Current State of and Outstanding Issues Relating to Developments Relating to IoT/AI," MIC (2017)

### 1. New Communications Technology Supporting the IoT

IoT devices and related applications have various uses cases and communications attributes. In particular, wireless devices are accompanied by a range of restrictive conditions due to the quantity of electricity they use and their radio characteristics, and as such it is difficult to meet all the needs that arise with a single communications technology or standard. For that reason, in order to meet such diverse needs, new communications technologies and standards have been conceived and developed in the past few years. Fig. 3-3-1-1 summarizes the various options, including existing technologies and standards, with a focus on their attributes.

## (1) 5G

5G is the next-generation mobile communications system, which not only offers “super-high-speed” connection, but also the new attributes of “multiple connections” and “super-low delay.” Its actualization is hotly anticipated as the foundation of the IoT in the ICT age. In Japan, the “5 $ ^{th} $ Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF)” was founded in September

### 2. Trends Observed in Layers

When focusing on the IoT and data distributions, 2014.

## (2) LPWA

In the age of the IoT, it is necessary to respond to the communications needs of a wide variety of applications. In particular, the communications utilization and needs of industry require support for large-scale connections to multiple individual devices and lines, which may only transmit small amounts of data each. This needs to be provided at low cost, and available built into sensor devices for long-term use at low levels of energy consumption. Current development and provision based specifically on these requirements is underway, under the concept known as LPWA (Low Power Wide Area). LPWA communications speed is relatively slow, at between a few kbps to a few hundred kbps, but devices are extremely energy efficient – they can be used for between a few years to tens of years using regular batteries – and provide communications over large distances of between a few kilometers to several tens of kilometers.

which are factors in the realization of the 4th Industrial