Low Power and Wide Area 

Network Technologies for 

Internet of Things

Sebastián Barillaro

National Institute of Standard and Technology

February 2018
SEBASTIÁN BARILLARO

Professor at La Matanza National 

University

Engineering and Technology Innovation 

Department

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
SEBASTIÁN BARILLARO

Researcher at National Institute of 

Industrial Technology

Electronic and Computer Center

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
SEBASTIÁN 

BARILLARO

System Engineer

Guest Researcher

International Associated

SIM – NIST Engagement Program

Host: Dr. Raghu Kacker

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LPWAN IOT 

LABORATORY

Information Technology Laboratory

Computer Security Division + Applied 

and Computational Mathematics 

Division

• Sebastián Barillaro

• Lee Badger

• Rick Kuhn

• Raghu Kacker

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
INTERNET OF THINGS

There are so many definitions of IoT as 

people talking about.

Let’s agree in one concept: Things 

connected.

Again, we have lot of technologies to 

choose for connecting these things. 

Most of them are wireless.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
HOW WE CONNECT

ALL THOSE THINGS?

• There are well defined technologies for most common network 

requirements.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro

0.1 m

Proximity

Area Network

10 m

Personal

Area Network

100 m

Local

Area Network

20,000 m

Wide

Area Network
WIDE AREA

NETWORK

• Cellphone network is the most adopted technology

• It works in a licensed frequency

• High power consumption

• High data rate

• Telecommunication companies decide where to deploy

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
DO WE NEED MORE

SAME

TECHNOLOGY?

• Users never owns the network

• Users depend on 3rd party

• Users have to pay a fee

• Battery drains quickly

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
RANGE VS DATA RATE

• Most of network technologies 

focus on data rate.

• Cellphone technology is not really 

wide. It has big coverage because 

there are towers everywhere.

• It is necessary a real Wide Area 

Network Technology.

• LPWAN: A set of software and 

hardware communication 

protocols that allow 

communication among two or 

more points in a wide area with 

low energy costs.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro Data rate
TECHNOLOGY

CHARACTERISTICS

• Most of network technologies 

focus on data rate.

• Cellphone technology is not really 

wide. It has big coverage because 

there are towers everywhere.

• LPWAN: A set of software and 

hardware communication 

protocols that allow 

communication among two or 

more points in a wide area with 

low energy costs.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro

!

"

!

!

!

!

"

"

" The more is good

! The more is bad
LPWAN OPTIONS

• Most of network technologies 

focus on data rate.

• Cellphone technology is not really 

wide. It has big coverage because 

there are towers everywhere.

• It is necessary a real Wide Area 

Network Technology.

• LPWAN: A set of software and 

hardware communication 

protocols that allow 

communication among two or 

more points in a wide area with 

low energy costs.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LORA + 

LORAWAN

• LoRa is a patented (EP2763321 from 2013 and US7791415 from 

2008) technology developed by Cycleo (Grenoble, France) and 

acquired by Semtech in 2012.

• LoRaWAN is a media access control layer protocol for managing 

communication between LPWAN gateways and end-node devices, 

maintained by the LoRa Alliance. Version 1.0 of the LoRaWAN 

specification was released in June 2015. Version 1.1 released 

October 2017.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LORA

• LoRa is a proprietary, chirp spread spectrum (CSS) radio 

modulation technology for LPWAN used by LoRaWAN, 

Haystack Technologies, and Symphony Link.

• Processing gain = increased receive sensitivity

• Enables longer range at expense of lower data rate

• ISM Band

• EU: 868, 434 MHz Band

• US: 915 MHz Band

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LORAWAN

• LoRa is a proprietary, chirp spread spectrum (CSS) radio 

modulation technology for LPWAN used by LoRaWAN, 

Haystack Technologies, and Symphony Link.

• Processing gain = increased receive sensitivity

• Enables longer range at expense of lower data rate

• ISM Band

• EU: 868, 434 MHz Band

• US: 915 MHz Band

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
REMOTE

MONITORING OF

STATION CLOCKS

Deutsche Bahn (DB) is currently conducting several pilot studies on 

remote monitoring of station clocks using LoRaWAN TM. On the one 

hand runs a trial with 50 watches, which were retrofitted with a 

surveillance solution. Two other watches were equipped with sensor 

technology in cooperation with the Berlin tech startup Relayr, which 

will be tested at the Berlin S-Bahn stations Bellevue and 

Jannowitzbrücke. Finally, on a third clock with the software startup 

GreyRook, a new approach to the time synchronization of station 

clocks is being developed.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
XIGNAL

Xignal is the solution for now and the future. 

Intelligent and sustainable pest control.

Xignal detects the status of the mouse and rat trap: armed, 

unarmed or unarmed with catch. With the advanced LoRa 

technology the communication runs via your private or public 

network. By a push notification on your mobile or tablet you 

get online 24/7 reports about rodent activities. So you can 

directly respond and control the activities of rodents.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
SWISSCOM LOW

POWER NETWORK

CONNECTIVITY

POWERED BY LORA

Zurich City Police: M2M Solution

To ensure that the roads are cleaned on schedule 

and released for traffic again, the world’s largest 

technoparty relies on tight organisation. Zurich 

City Police relies on an M2M solution from 

Swisscom for this, allowing them to inform Love 

Mobiles that fall out of line and throw the 

sequence into confusion in real time and control 

them accordingly.

The Swisscom Low Power Network powered by LoRaTM is a 

complementary network designed to meet the unique needs 

of IoT based applications that require the communication of 

only small amounts of data

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
MACHINEQ

MachineQ, Comcast's Enterprise Internet of Things Service.

Comcast today (July 18th) announced plans to expand its 

enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) service, machineQTM, 

to 12 major U.S. markets. MachineQ is an IoT network 

service and platform that uses Low Power Wide Area Network 

(LPWAN) technology based on the globally-adopted 

LoRaWANTM protocol to build and deploy solutions for 

businesses and municipal organizations. The service is rolling 

out in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Detroit, 

Indianapolis, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Oakland, 

Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
THE THINGS NETWORK

The Things Network is about enabling 

low power Devices to use long range 

Gateways to connect to an opensource, decentralized Network to 

exchange data with Applications and 

Platforms. 

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
AIR QUALITY (RIVM)

National Institute for Public Health and the Enviroment.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro

• A number of sensor kits was prepared 

by RIVM for assembly by interested 

citizens.

• The kits were distributed during a 

symposium on citizen science and 

during workshops in the cities of 

Amsterdam and Amersfoort.

• Measurements were also organized by 

several groups of people and the data 

was shared with RIVM.

• Apeldoorn

• Venlo

• Several individuals

• Most sensors connected to the 

internet using WiFi, some 25% communicated using LoRa.
GALE A. BREWER, 

MANHATTAN BOROUGH

PRESIDENT

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro

...We can build an IoT network that 

embodies the values of responsible 

tech, and has empathy, openness, 

and public service at its core...

...Each LoRa gateway powered by “The 

Things Network” that goes on-line in 

my borough will quickly become 

essential to our thousands of not-forprofit organizations, and startup 

incubators and accelerators...

... To help expand the network, I’m 

installing two MultiTech Gateways, one 

for our Harlem storefront office on West 

125thStreet and one for our downtown 

office next to the Brooklyn Bridge and 

City Hall...
HEAT SEEK

At Heat Seek its our mission to make the city a safer, 

warmer place to live for all New Yorkers.

Heat Seek helps tenants resolve their home heating issues 

by providing the objective, reliable temperature data 

they need to expose the problem and hold their landlords 

accountable. Working closely with tenants, tenant organizers, 

public interest attorneys, and city officials, we install 

proprietary temperature sensors and offer technical expertise 

to assist tenants in documenting when their landlords fail to 

provide adequate heat during the wintertime.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
FLOOD NETWORK

Install a Flood Sensor- Using brand new LPWAN 

technology you can collect data on water levels in 

nearby streams via the Internet. Our low-cost 

wireless sensors harness the power of the Internet of 

Things to give you updates about waterways, rivers, 

ditches and even groundwater. They are powered by 

battery and can connect wirelessly to a gateway 

which instantly sends the data to show on your map.

With a subscription you and a group of members can 

be alerted by SMS or email as water levels change. 

You can manage your data and devices more closely 

and analyse the data, choosing whether to publish as 

open data.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LACUNA SPACE

Low-cost, simple and reliable global connections to sensors 

and mobile equipment. It just works everywhere, and all the 

time, so you can focus on using your data.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
LACUNA SPACE

Lacuna Space is currently based out of the European Space 

Agency’s Business Incubation Centre on the Harwell Campus 

– at the heart of the UK’s space applications development 

community – and we also have an office in the Netherlands 

where we work closely with The Things Network in 

Amsterdam. We also have developers and collaborators 

working in France and Switzerland ... its a growing company 

with ambitions out of this world, literally ...

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
INTERNET OF LIFE

The Smart Parks solution provides National Parks with 

a new tool to protect wild life and to improve park 

management.

Since most National Parks have no basic 3G or 4G internet 

coverage, we start by covering the conservation area with a state of the art communication network to collect data from 

sensors we distribute across the park. We provide sensors to 

securely track wild life and to protect the area with gate 

sensors. The data is processed and presented in an easy to 

use web application. This is called Situational Awareness and 

is very important in modern wildlife conservation.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
INTERNET OF LIFE

• Covering 1.122 km2, (almost Montgomery County Area) including black rhinos and over 12.000 other 

large mammals with 12 gateways

• Highest tower is 40 meters, lowest tower is 8 meters

• Highest tower location is situated at +1.800 meters 

above sea level

• Installed over 80 trackers, collecting over 100.000 

location updates per day

• Already collected over 1.500.000 location updated in 3 months

• System has 0% downtime since first installation

• Total time of development and deployment is 8 

months only

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
NIST IOT-LPWAN LABORATORY PROJECT

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
NIST IOT-LPWAN LABORATORY PROJECT

A real wide laboratory 

does not fit in a room.

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
SIM IOTLPWAN 

INTERNETWORK

Preliminary

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
BRAINSTORMING TIME!

• How will you use LPWAN?

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro

REFERENCES

• http://www.deutschebahn.com/en/Digitalization/DB_Digital/productworld/16189758/lorawan_en.html

• http://lpn.swisscom.ch/e/our-offering/

• http://lacuna.space/

• https://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/machineq-comcasts-enterprise-internet-of-things- service-expanding-to-12-major-us-markets

• http://manhattanbp.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/2-2-18_The%20Things%20Conference%20Speech_Final.pdf

• http://heatseek.org

• https://www.xignal.com/

• https://internetoflife.com

• https://flood.network

• https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/

• https://www.samenmetenaanluchtkwaliteit.nl/sites/default/files/2018- 02/Fireworks_2017_2018_TTN030218_220dpi.pptx.pdf

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro
COPYRIGHT

All right reserved to Sebastian Barillaro 

2018

Low Power and Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet of Things - Sebastián Barillaro