What are the wireless protocols that make up the Internet of Things?

Currently, Connected Home uses six wireless communication protocols, sub-1GHz (Sub GHz), Wi Fi, Bluetooth, zigbee, ZWave and Thread. These agreements have a place to go, and choosing the right combination for your design is an important step in the development process, because no single protocol can provide a common solution. To help designers understand which use case is best for each agreement, Silicon Labs (also known as "core technology") will analyze the most commonly used wireless protocols through this technical dry article.


Wireless networks below 1 GHz for low data rate applications such as home security and automation, compared to the more powerful and feature-rich protocols such as Wi Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee in the 2.4 GHz band, networks below 1 GHz (running frequencies below 1 GHz) are available More practical benefits.
Distance is one of the outstanding advantages of the network below 1GHz. Narrowband transmission for continuous operation at distances of one kilometer or more. They can transfer data to remote hubs without jumping between nodes. However, long distances also have the problem of increased interference from neighboring devices. In areas with multiple frequencies below 1 GHz, low interference is an advantage that is not as "crowded" as the 2.4 GHz band. However, in some areas, fewer channels below 1 GHz are available, and there are duty cycle constraints that limit the time the device transmits. Finally, wireless networks below 1 GHz have very low power consumption compared to the 2.4 GHz protocol.

However, networks below 1 GHz are not entirely suitable for all aspects of connected homes. Many existing networks below 1 GHz use proprietary protocols and are closed systems. Such systems typically require application transformations to communicate with other systems. In the case of wireless networks below 1 GHz, communication between homes and communications that may reside in cloud data services and controls may be more complicated. When trying to understand the wireless protocol landscape, you should understand the difference between 802.11b/g/n devices and mesh networks. Comparing star networks (typical 802.11 deployments) and mesh networks (typically ZigBee and Thread), you might first notice that in a star network, all traffic passes through the center point, while the mesh network provides device-to-device connection.

Wi-Fi (802.11)
Wi-Fi is currently the most well-known protocol, as most people use it at home every day for more than a decade. The popularity of Wi-Fi benefits from the standards and updates provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through the letter code (g/n/ac), while the Wi-Fi Alliance manages device certification and branding. The main advantage of Wi-Fi is its familiarity, which is thought to be "simple" than other protocols and ubiquitous in modern homes. After all, the predecessor of Wi-Fi was born in 1991. At present, the most knowledgeable technology owner (currently a potential customer base of connected home products) can reset the Wi-Fi router to troubleshoot basic issues. Wi-Fi defines the MAC layer protocol and security, but does not define the application objects and communication methods of the device.


This means that all manufacturers can define their own application layer protocols, and device-to-device communication is complex or even impossible unless the two companies define these protocols together. This limits the use of Wi-Fi in the device market for connected home devices. Wi-Fi also sets the network's central access point model, which means that if the access point does not work, the network will stop running. Compared to other protocols, Wi-Fi consumes a lot of power, so although it is suitable for power supply equipment, it is not ideal in battery-critical applications. Wi-Fi also has scalability issues.
For example, some routers can only support up to 15 devices, while Connected Home is expected to be close to 100 devices. Another issue is the Wi-Fi network competition caused by various data sources. If there is contention between the streaming video and the thermostat, neither of the two streams will get the required bandwidth. If you think that streaming TV shows compete with your child's video game downloads is just a little inconvenient, imagine your thermostat is also trying to take up bandwidth.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a wireless technology specification managed by the Bluetooth Technology Alliance (SIG). Designed for short-range data transmission and switching, Bluetooth is able to take advantage of the unlicensed ISM band at 2.4 GHz. Bluetooth includes several functions, from point-to-point streaming audio transmission to large-scale multi-to-many (m:m) mesh networks.

BluetoothBR/EDR
Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) is a short-range communication protocol commonly used in smartphone applications. It works without a special gateway because it already uses a smartphone or mobile device, but it also has some drawbacks. It only supports peer-to-peer networks, so distance and reliability are limited. If your smartphone is not within the endpoint distance, you cannot establish a streaming connection.

Bluetooth Low Power (LE)
The original BluetoothLE core specification was adopted in June 2010, with a primary focus on reducing power consumption, while introducing a one-way communication standard that paved the way for Bluetooth beacons. Since 2010, BluetoothSIG has updated the BluetoothLE core specifications several times, and each new version provides functional improvements.

zigBee
Zigbee was first standardized in 2004 and consumes less power than Wi-Fi. It uses the IEEE 802.15.4 physical RF specification (unlike the more common 802.11 Wi-Fi). Zigbee is currently used primarily for home automation mesh networks and many industrial applications. Zigbee has developed an application protocol for defining device-to-device applications for various types of devices and their communication modes in the home and business sectors. These application protocols are developed between companies within the alliance, so there is both a healthy product ecosystem and a competitive chip supplier.
The zigbee protocol has many advantages, including reliability, scalability, and the ability to self-heal the mesh network. At present, the problem faced by zigbee is the regionalization of application standards and the poor operability. In addition, there is a lack of direct IP addressing capability. The zigbee device requires two addresses, as well as application layer translation, to communicate with devices on the Internet, which can cause potential points of failure on the gateway.

Z Wave
The Z Wave protocol is mainly used for home control and monitoring and is a proprietary protocol. Home security companies use the Z Wave wireless protocol to build a network of door and window sensors, fire detectors, thermostats, and other home automation equipment that can be accessed through high-level applications and even on the Web. Z Wave is best suited for low bandwidth 1 GHz deployments. The application protocol developed by Z Wave can standardize the way devices communicate with each other to achieve true home device-to-device communication.


However, this standard is controlled by a company and it is difficult to achieve development and expansion. The application layer protocol does not apply to IP and needs to be converted to an IP protocol to enable communication between the device and the cloud or mobile phone. Z Wave is not an open standard and requires address and application conversion to communicate with devices on the Internet. Z Wave requires a gateway to operate, which in turn brings a single point of failure to the network. In addition, the protocol assumes that the device is static and prohibits mobile devices (such as remote controls) from joining the network.

Thread
Thread is a new open standard that assigns an Internet Protocol (IP) address to every device on the network, and that IP address can be extended by nodes. Thread enables device-to-device communication without the need for a gateway. Note that eliminating gateway requirements (or allowing multiple gateways) also eliminates a single point of failure, which is necessary in a mesh network that needs to be always on. Thread has three main advantages: scalability, interoperability, cheaper and simpler hardware. Although Thread is evolving, there is no need to delay the development of connected home products. Any product that uses an existing 802.15.4 chip can be updated wirelessly (OTA) to the IP Thread-based protocol. This enables continuous deployment of existing systems and knows that they can be updated to Thread when the system is ready.

Security and connected home security have been built into the existing mesh networking home protocol in the deepest layers of the software stack, such as AES encryption at the 802.15.4 MAC layer. Traffic is always encrypted, and with the new authentication technology, all nodes can require authentication before they can communicate with each other and with the network. Devices that use lower security in the software stack can only achieve the same level of security as the new device. The weakness that exists in key installations or devices is the need to update the keys of the entire system.

IP security and existing protocols in the connected home family mix IP and non-IP stacks. Other markets and networks have been aggregated into the IP protocol because it provides many different addressing, routing, and security mechanisms that can be targeted to specific networks or devices, as well as end-to-end addressing and message routing. No application layer conversion is required. The rapid expansion of the Internet into other industries and market segments demonstrates how this technology shift will enable new services and devices to innovate and rapidly evolve on the corresponding IP infrastructure.
The use of IP also enables the mixing of underlying technologies and bridged devices between different MAC/PHYs. In this way, applications running on an Ethernet-connected home computer can run on a mobile communication device over a Wi Fi or cellular connection. In many new application areas, consumers want to use their mobile phones for control at home and when they are away from home. This type of seamless connectivity is very important in these areas.

In the connected home sector, a large number of companies are innovating and developing new equipment and services. Some services require high bandwidth and are more suitable for Wi Fi. Other devices are limited battery-powered sensors. They are more suitable for using the current 802.15.4 low-power wireless network and ZigBee protocol stack, and will migrate to the Thread protocol in the future. Stack.

Summary As the Internet of Things and connected homes become more popular, like smartphones, it's common to run multiple protocols at home. This is not the success or failure of an agreement, but to find the right combination of protocols to enable your IoT applications to communicate with each other and with gateways, the cloud, and consumers. What applications do you expect to use at home? We may not be able to use flying cars in the short term, but as equipment and protocols increase, seamlessly connected connected homes will soon become a reality, which will make our environment more convenient. Comfortable and energy efficient.

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