1 / 33

IoT Access Technologies/ IoT Connectivity Technologies:

IEEE 802.15.4

Physical Layer:
1 Wired/ Wireless Methods
2 Relevant Frequencies
MAC Layer:
1 Bridges- physical layer with data link control
IEEE 802.15.4
1 Wireless Access Technology
2 low cost and low data rate devices
Common Deployments:
1 Home and building Automation
2 Industrial wireless sensor network

2 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4

Criticisms:
1 MAC reliability
2 Unbounded latency
3 Susceptibility: Interference and multipath fading
MAC unreliability and Unbounded latency due to
1 Collision Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA)
algorithm
CSMA/CA: Access method
1 Device listens to channel
2 Starts Transmission: No other devices are transmitting
3 If other devices are transmitting: Wait Time (Random) occurs before
listening again
Interference and multipath fading due to
1 Lack of frequency-hopping technique
IEEE 802.15.4e and 802.15.4g: Start to address above issues

3 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4
Communication:
1 Radio waves
2 Most Radio waves: affected by multipath fading
Multipath Fading:
1 Receiving: Multiple copies of signal at different points in time
2 Due to different signal paths and reflections
Standardization and Alliances:
1 IEEE 802.15.4 or IEEE 802.15 Task Group 4: Define low-data-rate
PHY and MAC layer specifications for Wireless Personal Area Networks
(WPAN)
2 IEEE 802.15.4: Well known solution for devices (low-data-rate) that
need many months or even years of battery life
3 There is no alliance or promotion body for IEEE 802.15.4
IEEE 802.15.4 PHY and MAC layers- Foundations for several
networking protocol stacks
Networking protocol stacks: use 802.15.4 at the physical and link
layer levels, but the upper layers are different
4 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4
Some of the well known Protocol stacks based on IEEE 802.15.4
1 ZigBee
2 6LoWPAN
3 ZigBee IP
4 ISA100.11a
5 WirelessHART
6 Thread
ZigBee:
1 ZigBee specification: ratified in 2004- after the release of the IEEE
802.15.4 specification
2 Smart objects and sensors: Low bandwidth and Low power needs
Commonly used for:
1 automation for commercial applications: measuring temperature and
humidity to tracking assets
2 automation for home applications: control lighting,
3 smart energy applications: smart meters- to monitor and control the
use of utilities such as electricity and water
ZigBee utilizes the IEEE 802.15.4 standard at the lower PHY and
MAC layers
5 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: ZigBee Protocol Stack

6 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: ZigBee Protocol Stack

ZigBee network and security layer:

1 network startup
2 configuration
3 routing
4 securing communications
network and security layer responsibilities:
1 Discovering the neighbors
2 Managing the routing tables
3 Calculate the routing paths
4 Forming appropriate topology: often mesh-can be star or tree as well
For security:
1 Zigbee utilizes 802.15.4 at the MAC layer
2 Advanced encryption standard (AES) with a 128 bit key: To the
network and application layers

7 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: ZigBee Protocol Stack

Zigbee uses: Ad hoc On-Demand Distance vector (AODV) routing-

across a mesh N/W
1 This algorithm does not send message until route is needed
2 Routing table: If next hop route is not available
3 Network node: Broadcasts a request for routing connection
4 Based on responses: the path with lowest number of hops is selected
5 Disadvantage: Causes a burst of routing related traffic
6 Standard enterprise routing protocol: Learn the entire network
topology- store the complete routing table
Application support layer:
1 Interfaces: lower layers (Networking devices) with the higher layer
applications
Application profiles
1 Predefined for certain industries
2 Vendors can optionally create their own custom ones
3 Smart energy and home automation: Popular application profiles

8 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: ZigBee Protocol Stack
Range: 10-100 meters
Data rate: 250 Kbps

9 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART

Wireless Evolution: Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART)

License Free protocol: Networking Smart field devices- Industrial
Environments
WHART: Networking Protocol Stack built on IEEE 802.15.4

10 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART

WHART: Communicate- Central Control system

1 Direct Communication
2 Indirect Communication
Direct Communication:
1 Devices transmit data- Directly to Gateway (LOS)
2 Range: Typically 250m
Indirect Communication:
1 Between devices in a mesh
2 Then to gateway
WHART: Communication 99% Reliable- Maintenance of tight
schedule between message transmissions
Allows: Integration of legacy devices and new ones

11 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART

Ensures congestion control:

1 By eliminating channel 26
During each time slot:
1 Allow: Simultaneous propagation of 15 packets
Transmissions are synchronized: Using 10ms time slots
Network Manager:
1 Supervises each node in the N/W
2 Guides each node: When and Where to send packets
3 Allows: Collision free and timely delivery of packets- between source
and destination
4 Updates: Information regarding neighbors and signal strength
5 Decides: Which nodes- transmit and listen and frequency to be utilized
in each time slot
6 Handles code-based network security
7 Prevents unauthorized nodes from joining the network

12 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART
Physical Layer:
1 standard specification: IEEE 802.15.4
2 frequency band: 2.4 GHz
3 channel reliability: increased by utilizing only 15 channels of the 2.4
GHz band

13 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART
Data Link Layer:
1 Avoids collisions by the use of TDMA.
2 Use superframes: 10 ms wide time-slots that are grouped together
3 superframes: ensures- controllability of the transmission timing,
collision avoidance, communication reliability.
4 incorporates: channel hopping and channel blacklisting- increase
reliability and security
5 characteristic feature: channel blacklisting
6 feature: identifies channels consistently affected by interference and
removes them from use
Network and Transport Layers:
1 address issues: network traffic, security, session initiation/termination,
and routing.
2 WirelessHART is primarily a mesh-based network: each node can
accept data from other nodes in range and forward them to the next
node
3 All the devices in its network have an updated network graph, which
defines the routing paths to be taken
14 / 33
IEEE 802.15.4: WirelessHART

OSI stack’s network, transport, and session layers constitute:

WirelessHART’s network layer.
Application Layer:
1 The application layer connects gateways and devices through various
command and response messages
2 enables: compatibility with legacy HART devices (does not
differentiate between the wired and wireless versions of HART)

15 / 33
DASH7

DASH7: Based on active RFID standard

DASH7:
1 Operates in 433 MHz frequency band
2 Used: Agriculture, vehicles, mobiles and consumer electronics related
applications
3 Modulation: Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
4 Uses 433.92 MHz operational band: To enable communication- NFC
devices
5 NFC Device: operational band-13.56 MHz
6 NFC: To communicate with DASH7- Temporary modification of
Antenna to access higher order harmonics of DASH7 band

16 / 33
DASH7: DASH7 communication architecture

DASH7:
1 Fully defined and complete OSI stack
2 Lower layers: Not dependent on IEEE 802.15.4
3 Advantage of fully defined stack: Adaptable to the physical layers of
technologies- LORA or Sigfox

17 / 33
DASH7: DASH7 Protocol Stack
Integrated File System: Support Cheap Processing systems

18 / 33
DASH7

DASH7 Gateways: Can query devices in proximity without waiting for

pre-defined time-slots to listen to end device beacons
DASH7:
1 Capable of very dense deployments
2 Low memory footprint
3 minuscule power
4 Bridge between NFC and IoT communication systems
5 Enable tag-to-tag communication: without need to pass information
through a base station or a tag reader
6 Range: 1 to 10 km
7 Querying latency: 1 to 10 seconds

19 / 33
Z-Wave
Z-wave: Economical and less complicated alternative- Zigbee
Developed by Zensys: For Home Automation Solutions
Z-wave:
1 Power Consumption much lower than WiFi
2 Range: Greater than Bluetooth

20 / 33
Z-Wave

Operational Frequency: 800-900 MHz

Immune to inference effects: Wi-Fi and other radios utilizing 2.4 GHz
frequency band
Z-wave:
1 Modulation: Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK)
2 GFSK: Base band Pulses are passed through Gaussian filter before
modulation
3 Channel Coding: Manchester channel coding- for data transmission
over the channel
Z-wave devices: Mostly configured to- home based routers and access
points
Routers and access points: Forward Z-wave messages to a central hub
Z-wave devices: Can also be configured- Connect to central hub
directly (IF: Central hub is in range)
Z-wave routing- Home: Source-routed mesh network topology
21 / 33
Z-Wave
Z-wave Devices are not in range: Messages are routed through
different nodes- to bypass obstructions (obstructions- Household
appliances or layouts)
Z-wave Characteristic: Healing messages
Healing messages: To avoid radio dead spots
Central Network Controller device: Sets up and manages Z-wave
network
Z-Wave network: Devices have
1 Network (Home) ID: 4 bytes
2 Node ID: 1 byte
Device: Different Network ID- cannot communicate with one another
Central hub: Designed- to connect internet
One hub: Per home, Multiple devices: Per home
Devices: Cannot connect to the internet
Z-Wave:
1 Supports 232 devices and Single Hub (In a Single Home Deployment)
2 Source-Routed static network: Only static devices are included (mobile
devices excluded)
22 / 33
Z-Wave: Protocol Stack

23 / 33
Bluetooth
Bluetooth: Defined by IEEE 802.15.1 standard
1 Range: Short Range wireless communication technology
2 Operates at low power: to communicate with Bluetooth enabled
devices
Developed: To replace cable- for communication between two or more
mobile devices (smart phones, laptops)
Allows: Transmission- voice and data over short distances
Bluetooth:
1 Frequency band: 2.4 GHz ISM
2 Range: Approximately 10 m
Transmission through:
1 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
2 Advantage: Reduces the interference caused by other devices-
operating in 2.4 GHz band
Bluetooth:
1 Data: Divided into packets before transmitting
2 Packets: Transmitted over 79 designated channels
3 Each channel: 1 MHz wide- 2.4 GHz band
24 / 33
Bluetooth
Adaptive frequency hopping: Enables Bluetooth- Perform 800 hops
per second over 79 channels
Initial versions:
1 Modulation: Gaussian Frequency shift keying (GFSK)
2 Data rates: up to 1 Mbps (Base rate mode)
New versions:
1 Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying: Data rate- 2 Mbps
2 8-DPSK (Differential phase shift keying): Data rate- 3 Mbps
Bluetooth:
1 Follows: master-slave architecture
2 Enable small network: can accommodate- 7 slave devices
simultaneously with single master node
3 Slave node: In one piconet cannot be part of another piconet at the
same time- Implies can have a single master node at a time
4 Such network: Personal Area Network or Piconet
5 Bridge: Joins two piconets
6 N/W with bridge and piconet: Scatternet
25 / 33
Bluetooth: Network Architecture

26 / 33
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
BLE: Advanced version of Bluetooth
Channels:
1 40
2 2 MHz wide
Subset of Bluetooth 4.0
Features:
1 Low energy consumption
2 low cost
3 multivendor interoperability
4 enhanced range of operations
5 IoT oriented features
BLE:
1 Short range radio with minimal power usage
2 Operate for much longer time (even for years): Compared to previous
versions
3 Range: about 100 m- 10 times that of classical bluetooth
4 Latency: 15 times shorter
5 Transmission power: Between 0.01 and 10 mW
Suitable for IoT applications: Due to above characteristics
27 / 33
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Compared to Zigbee- BLE is more efficient in terms of energy

consumption
BLE:
1 allow devices to operate as master or slaves in a star topology
2 Discovery mechanism: Slaves sends advertisement over one or more
dedicated advertisement channels
3 Master: Scan the channels to discover the slave
4 During no activity (not exchanging data): The devices are operated in
sleep mode

28 / 33
IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11: PHY/MAC specifications- Wireless Local Area

Networks (WLAN)
WiFi is technically referred: By this standard
Frequency Bands:
1 900 MHz, 2.4, 3.6, 5 and 60 GHz bands
Base version: Released- 1997
IEEE 802.11 ac (2013)
1 Very High Throughput- Frequency band below 6 GHz
2 Improvement over 802.11 n- Better modulation scheme, wider
channels, and multi user MIMO
IEEE 802.11 ai
1 Introduces: Fast initial Link setup

29 / 33
IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11a:
1 Data rate: 54 Mbps Frequency band: 5 GHz
IEEE 802.11b:
1 Data rate: 11 Mbps Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
IEEE 802.11g:
1 Data rate: 54 Mbps using OFDM Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
IEEE 802.11n:
1 Data rate: 140 Mbps using OFDM Frequency band: 5 GHz

30 / 33
IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 LAN: Based on cellular architecture
1 System: Subdivided into cells
2 Each cell: Basic Service Set- Controlled by a base station (AP)
WLAN: May be formed by single cell, with single AP
Most Installations: several cells and APs connected through
distribution system (DS)- Typically Ethernet
WLAN: includes different cells, respective APs and the DS- single 802
Network - to the upperlayers of OSI model
802.11 uses: CA mechanism with a positive acknowledgment scheme
1 Station: Senses the medium
2 If medium busy: Defers transmission
3 If medium free: Station is allowed to transmit
4 Receiving station: Checks the Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of
received packet and sends an Acknowledgment packet (ACK)
5 Sending station: If ACK received- implies no collision
6 Sending station: If ACK not received- retransmits until ACK is received
7 Sending station: After retransmission for given number of times still
ACK not received- the packet is discarded
31 / 33
IEEE802.11

32 / 33
Wi-Fi deployment architecture

33 / 33