INGENIEUR
Figure 1 : Tradeoffs in Selecting Communication Technologies
to consumers but for most smart city applications , it is not suitable .
As engineers , we are constantly making tradeoffs . To build a smart city digital infrastructure , we will optimise for the following technical considerations :
● Low infrastructure costs – to build and operate the infrastructure ;
● Low or no radio subscription costs – i . e ., unlicensed band or low-cost licensed band ( e . g ., NB-IoT );
● Low radio chipset costs – this drives the device costs and final solution cost ; and
● Low power consumption – many of these devices will be battery-powered and replacing batteries increases maintenance costs .
In addition to the technical evaluations above , city operators also have non-technical but equally important considerations :
● Technology ecosystem maturity and adoption – Are we investing in technology that is going to be around 10 -20 years from now ?
● Interoperability – The city network infrastructure can integrate different devices from different vendors on the same infrastructure
● Regulatory – Does the technology meet the local regulations ? ( i . e ., Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission standards )
● Scalability – Can we start small and scale up later ?
● Sustainability – Do we have the human resources and infrastructure to deploy and operate the selected technology ? ( e . g ., Long Range Wide Area Network ( LoRaWAN ) gateways require line-of-sight installations )
Recommended Technologies – Mesh & LPWAN
There are two complementary technologies that we recommend for our customers : LoRaWAN and 6LoWPAN ( IPv6 over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network ).
LoRaWAN is a type of Low Power Wide Area Network ( LPWAN ) technology , while 6LoWPAN is mesh technology proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force ( IETF )
The two connectivity technologies complement each other and are not mutually exclusive . LoRaWAN technology does have its limitations and is not suitable for all smart city deployments .
18 VOL 93 JANUARY-MARCH 2023