Advantages and disadvantages of the top ten Internet of Things communication technologies and comparative analysis of application scenarios

As a basic technology, wireless communication technology is very important for Internet of Things products and solutions. With the growth of wireless applications, there will be more and more various technologies and devices, and more and more rely on wireless communication technology. Today we will use this article to take stock of the advantages and disadvantages of the main wireless communication technologies in the Internet of Things and their application scenarios.

1. Technical characteristics of Bluetooth 

Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard that can realize short-distance data exchange between fixed devices, mobile devices and building personal area networks. Bluetooth can connect multiple devices and overcome the problem of data synchronization. The characteristics of Bluetooth technology include the use of frequency hopping technology to resist signal fading; fast frequency hopping and short packet technology can reduce co-frequency interference and ensure transmission reliability;Forward error correction coding technology can reduce the influence of random noise during long-distance transmission; use FM modulation to reduce the complexity of equipment, etc. The Bluetooth master device can communicate with up to seven devices in a micro-grid. The roles of the devices can be switched through the agreement, and the slave device can also be converted into the master device.

2. Technical characteristics of ZigBee

Different from Bluetooth technology, ZigBee technology is a short-distance, low-power, cheap wireless communication technology, and it is a wireless network protocol for low-speed short-distance transmission. It is characterized by short distance, low complexity, self-organization, low power consumption, and low data rate. The ZigBee protocol is divided into physical layer, media access control layer, transport layer, network layer, application layer, etc. from bottom to top, among which the physical layer and The media access control layer follows the provisions of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. ZigBee technology is suitable for the fields of automatic control and remote control, and can be embedded in various devices.

 3. Technical characteristics of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is very common in our lives. Almost all public places in first-tier cities are equipped with wireless networks, which is determined by its low cost and transmission characteristics. Wi-Fi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to a wireless local area network, usually using the 2.4G UHF or 5G SHF ISM radio frequency band, and the connection to the wireless local area network is usually password-protected; but it can also be open, which allows any Devices within the WLAN range can be connected.

4. Technical characteristics of LiFi

LiFi is also called visible light wireless communication. It is a new wireless transmission technology that uses the visible light spectrum for data transmission. LiFi uses already laid equipment to form a device similar to a WiFi hotspot by implanting a tiny chip on the light bulb. The terminal can access the network at any time. The biggest feature is that data transmission is performed by changing the flickering frequency of the room lighting light. As long as the lights are turned on indoors, it can be connected to the Internet without WiFi. It has broad application prospects in smart homes in the future.

5. Technical characteristics of GPRS

GPRS can be said to be very familiar to us. It is a mobile data service available to GSM mobile phone users and belongs to the data transmission technology in the second generation of mobile communication. GPRS is a technology between 2G and 3G, also known as 2.5G, which lays the foundation for the smooth transition from GSM to 3G. With the development of mobile communication technology, 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies have been developed, and GPRS has gradually been replaced by these technologies.

6. Technical characteristics of Z-Wave

Z-Wave is an emerging short-distance wireless communication technology based on radio frequency, low cost, low power consumption, high reliability, and suitable for networks. BFSK/GFSK) modulation method, the data transmission rate is 9.6 kbps, suitable for narrow bandwidth applications. Compared with various existing wireless communication technologies, Z-Wave technology will be the technology with the lowest power consumption and the lowest cost, which will effectively promote the low-speed wireless personal area network.

7. Technical characteristics of radio frequency 433

Radio frequency 433 is also called wireless transceiver module, which adopts radio frequency technology and consists of a single IC radio frequency front-end produced by all-digital technology and ATMEL's AVR single-chip microcomputer. It is a micro transceiver that can transmit data signals at high speed, and the wirelessly transmitted data is packaged and error detected ﹑Error correction processing. The scope of application includes wireless smart terminals such as wireless POS machines, PDAs, security, wireless monitoring of computer room equipment, and access control systems. Transportation, meteorology, environmental data collection, intelligent community, building automation, PLC, logistics tracking, warehouse inspection and other fields.

8. Technical characteristics of NFC

NFC is an emerging technology. Devices using NFC technology can exchange data when they are close to each other. It is evolved from the integration of non-contact radio frequency identification (RFID) and interconnection technology. Integrate the functions of inductive card reader, inductive card and point-to-point communication, and use mobile terminals to realize applications such as mobile payment, access control, and identification. It realizes multiple functions such as electronic payment, identity authentication, ticketing, data exchange, anti-counterfeiting, advertisement, etc. It changes the way users use mobile phones and makes their consumption behavior gradually become electronic.

9. Technical characteristics of UWB

UWB is a carrier-free communication technology that uses nanosecond to microsecond non-sinusoidal narrow pulses to transmit data. Unlike traditional wireless systems with relatively narrow bandwidths such as Bluetooth and WLAN, UWB sends a series of very narrow low-power pulses over a wide frequency. Wider spectrum, lower power, and pulsed data mean that UWB causes less interference than traditional narrowband wireless solutions, and can deliver performance comparable to wired in indoor wireless environments.

10. Technical characteristics of Modbus

Modbus is a serial communication protocol. Modbus has become the industry standard for communication protocols in the industrial field, and is now a common connection method between industrial electronic devices. The Modbus protocol is a master/slave architecture protocol. There is a master node, and other nodes that use the Modbus protocol to participate in communication are slave nodes, and each slave device has a unique address. On serial and MB+ networks, only nodes designated as masters can initiate a command. There are many modems and gateways that support the Modbus protocol, because the Modbus protocol is simple and easy to replicate, some of them are specially designed for this protocol, but the designer needs to overcome some problems including high latency and timing.