LoPATraN: Low Power Asset Tracking by Means of Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) Technology

Abstract

The narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT) communication standard is gaining momentum within the big picture of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) owing to its capabilities of ensuring pervasive and wide coverage while limiting power consumption. Therefore, it turns out to be a valuable enabling technology within a considerable number of applications. Apart from traditional remote monitoring and data acquisition purposes where comparable Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) facilities have ruled for years, NB-IoT can potentially carve out space within specific alcoves in which low latency, low power, high data-rates and ubiquitous coverage are fundamentals requirements. Long term asset tracking definitely falls within such niches, and in particular NB-IoT can become a valuable alternative to be exploited by both replacing the conventional Global Position System (GPS) system, or supporting it. To this end, this paper proposes an innovative tracking system prototype for asset shipping which relies on two enabling technologies: GPS and NB-IoT. While position transmission is always put into effect via NB-IoT, it can be fetched by resorting to both GPS (like a standard tracker) or NB-IoT (thus establishing a GPS-less method). As a result, two localization techniques are arranged: the former one is preciser but energy hungrier, while the latter one is coarser but more low power. Such working principles were successfully tested on the field by means of two road tests in as much itineraries. Tests results are in agreement with the expectations underlying the two working principles since the finer one provides a more accurate tracking. In addition, a consumption analysis was also performed aiming at assessing the prototype lifetime. Finally, tests pursuing the assessment of the tracking error were carried out underling the fact that it strongly depends on the geographic deployment of NB-IoT towers.

Integration of Data and Predictive Models for the Evaluation of Air Quality and Noise in Urban Environments

“…Regarding noise pollution, calibrated microphones will offer us precise measurements of noise levels, allowing us to address this omnipresent urban pollutant effectively [ 35 ]. For data communication, technologies such as LoRaWAN and NB-IoT, ideal for low-power, long-range IoT data transmission, and networks for applications requiring real-time transmission and support for a high density of connected devices, were chosen [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

Design and Evaluation of a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN)-Based Emergency Response System for Individuals with Special Needs in Smart Buildings

“…The Standalone mode is intended to work with the current GSM frequency spectrum, while the Guard Band mode utilizes the inactive resource block of the LTE carrier. In contrast, the In-Band mode uses the resource block in the LTE carrier [ 30 , 31 ]. The NB-IoT communication protocols offer a range of benefits for IoT devices and their applications, as they are based on LTE concepts.…”

Performance Evaluation of LoRaWAN SX1276 Radio in Non-Line of Sight conditions

“…Due to the relatively low data rate obtainable on LoRaWAN, the technology has been oftentimes used with applications that are insensitive to delays and packet loss [8]. Some of these applications include asset tracking [9], pipeline monitoring [10], [11], metering [12] among several others.…”