Communication distance of IOT smart energy meter

NFC

The communication distance is generally within 20cm

WIFI

Generally around 50m indoors

RFID

The communication distance is related to the frequency band, ranging from 10cm to hundreds of meters. The higher the frequency, the farther the distance.

Zigbee

The distance is generally around 10-200 meters

Lorawan

1500 upto 3000m in an open area in smart metering application.

Rs48

Theoretically it can reach up to 1200m, but it may not be possible in practice. For example the communication distance of RS485 should be within 400m when put into practical use.

M-bus

The transmission distance varies in different applications. Generally speaking, it is between a few hundred meters and tens of kilometers.

4G LTE

Globally.

NFC

Advantages:

(1) High security: The encryption technology used by NFC can ensure the security of data during transmission and prevent it from being stolen or tampered with by hackers

(2) Supports a variety of application scenarios: NFC can be used in various scenarios such as payment, identity verification, access control, smart tag reading, etc., making it convenient and practical.

(3) Cost savings: Compared with other wireless communication technologies, NFC's chips and antennas have lower costs and are suitable for large-scale popularization and application.

Disadvantages:

(1) Limited transmission distance: The communication distance of NFC is only a few centimeters, so it is only suitable for short-range communication scenarios.

(2) Limited compatibility: Although more and more devices are beginning to support NFC technology, there are still many old devices that do not support this technology, limiting its popularity and application scope.

(3) Security issues: Although NFC uses encryption technology, there is still a risk of being attacked by hackers.

WIFI

Advantages:

(1) Flexibility and mobility: Wireless LAN can access the network at any location within the wireless signal coverage area. Users connected to a wireless LAN can move and stay connected to the network at the same time.

(2) Easy installation: Generally, as long as one or more access point devices are installed, a local area network covering the entire area can be established.

(3) Easy fault location: It is easy to locate faults in wireless networks, and the network connection can be restored by simply replacing the faulty device.

Disadvantages

(1) Performance: Wireless LAN relies on radio waves for transmission. These radio waves are emitted through wireless transmitting devices, and buildings, vehicles, trees and other obstacles may block the transmission of electromagnetic waves and affect network performance.

(2) Rate: The transmission rate of wireless channels is low, which is only suitable for personal terminals and small-scale network applications.

(3) When the power failed, the wifi router will stop working so the task of wifi energy meter is hard to fulfill.

RFID

Advantage:

(1) Super strong anti-interference ability-One of its most important advantages is non-contact identification. It can work in harsh and harsh environments, has strong penetrating power, and can quickly identify and read tags.

(2)  The data capacity of RFID tags is very large-It can be expanded to 10k according to user needs, which is much higher than the capacity of 2725 digits of QR code barcode.

(3) Can be operated dynamically-Its tag data can be dynamically modified using programming, and can be dynamically tracked and monitored as long as the object attached to the RFID tag appears within the effective recognition range of the reader.

(4) Long service life-Because of its strong anti-interference ability, RFID tags are not easily damaged and have a long service life.

(5) Anti-collision-Within the effective recognition range of the reader, it can read multiple RFID tags at the same time.

(6) High safety-RFID tags can be attached to products in any form and can encrypt tag data to improve security.

(7) Fast recognition speed-As soon as the RFID tag enters the effective recognition range of the reader, it will start reading data immediately. Under normal circumstances, the recognition can be completed in less than 100 milliseconds.

Disadvantages:

(1) Insufficient technological maturity: RFID technology has been around for a relatively short time. Although it is developing rapidly, it is not mature enough in some aspects. For example, there are difficulties in applying UHF RFID tags to commodities such as metals and liquids, which limits their application in certain scenarios.

(2) High cost: The price of RFID electronic labels is higher than that of ordinary barcode labels, which is generally dozens of times that of ordinary barcode labels. This results in higher costs for large-scale applications and may reduce the market's enthusiasm for using RFID technology.

(3) Security issues: The security issues faced by RFID technology mainly include illegal reading and malicious tampering of RFID electronic tag information. Although security can be improved through encryption and other methods, there are still certain security risks.

(4) Technical standards are not unified: At present, RFID technology has not yet formed a unified standard, and multiple standards coexist in the market. This results in the RFID tags of different companies' products being incompatible with each other, which brings certain confusion and difficulties to the application of RFID technology.

(5) Privacy protection issues: RFID technology can track and monitor items, but it may also leak personal privacy information.

Zigbee

Advantages:

(1) High security. The security of ZigBee technology stems from its systematic design. So far, there has been no precedent for ZigBee technology being cracked in the world, while security incidents in wireless technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and Z-Wave have occurred frequently. This shows its safe status in the field of short-range wireless communications.

(2) Low power consumption. ZigBee technology adopts an extremely low power consumption design. In theory, one battery can be used for more than 10 years. In actual applications, one battery can be used for about 2 years. This low power consumption technology makes it widely used in the field of smart homes, including in It can be used with ease in the application of various sensors such as smart door locks, infrared transponders, and temperature and humidity.

(3) Strong networking capabilities. Theoretically, a ZigBee gateway can connect more than 65,000 devices. Currently, in practical applications, it can form a stable network of more than 100 kinds of devices. The scale of such a network has far exceeded that of WiFi, Z-Wave, Bluetooth and other technologies. The foreseeable future is also sufficient to meet the needs of smart homes.

Disadvantages:

(1) Cost: Product development is difficult, the development cycle is long, and product costs are high

(2) Communication stability

(3) Self-organizing network capability: Fixed location for electronics requires continuous improvement of self-organizing network capabilities

Lorawan

Advantages:

(1) Low Cost:In LoRaWAN, the devices that are usually in greater quantity are the gateways and terminals. Since the gateway only serves as a data forwarder, its price is relatively cheap, at around $50 USD. The terminal device only needs to send data information to the gateway, so the price of the terminal device is around $10 USD.

(2) Wide Coverage Range:Using CSS and ADR, LoRaWAN can communicate with a gateway up to 15 km away in unobstructed open areas or up to 5 km away in urban areas. This means that a single gateway can cover all devices in an area of approximately 700 square kilometers.

(3) Low Power Consumption and Long Life:Compared to 4G CAT1, LoRaWAN boasts ultra-low power consumption, whereas 4G CAT1 lacks low power features. In outdoor settings such as agriculture and forestry, 4G CAT1 cannot be battery-powered like LoRaWAN.Due to the requirements of low power consumption and low peak current, the power consumption of LoRaWAN terminal devices in sleep mode is below 5uA, which significantly reduces the device's power consumption. A single charge can extend the device's life to 10 years, greatly reducing the cost of support and maintenance.

(4) Strong Penetration Capability:LoRa wireless modulation technology can penetrate indoor depths, with the ability to reach underground water and gas meter sensors.

(5) No need for a frequency license:LoRaWAN operates on a free public spectrum, available for anyone to use, which sets it apart from NB-IoT, another low-power technology that requires carrier networks. LoRaWAN's private network feature gives it greater economic and operational flexibility.LoRaWAN networks are deployed on free ISM bands (EU868, AS923, US915MHz), allowing any service provider or enterprise to deploy and operate LoRaWAN networks without a frequency license.

Disadvantages:

(1) Open bandwidth + open standards = vulnerable to attacks, LoRaWAN operates on the free bandwidth of ISM (ISM) and its protocol specifications are made public, bringing vulnerability to attacks

(2) Network capacity: Since LoRaWAN uses a shared frequency band, the network capacity is limited and network congestion may occur.

(3) Latency: LoRaWAN has a relatively large latency, which may impact the performance of real-time applications.

Rs485

Advantages

(1) High-speed transmission: RS485 supports high-speed data transmission, usually reaching a rate of more than 10Mbps. This is important for applications that require the rapid transfer of large amounts of data, such as industrial control systems and data acquisition equipment.

(2) Long-distance transmission: The RS485 interface can perform reliable data transmission over long distances, up to 1,200 meters. In comparison, other serial interface standards such as RS232 can only transmit over shorter distances. This makes RS485 ideal for applications requiring data transmission over long distances, such as building automation systems and remote monitoring equipment.

(3) Multipoint communication: The RS485 interface supports multiple devices to communicate on the same bus, which means that one master device can communicate with multiple slave devices in two directions. Such characteristics make RS485 suitable for scenarios such as centralized control systems and distributed data acquisition systems.

(4) Anti-interference ability: The RS485 interface uses differential signal transmission and has good anti-interference ability. It can effectively resist electromagnetic interference, noise interference and interference signals in the environment. This makes RS485 widely used for communication needs in industrial environments and other noisy environments.

(5) Flexibility and scalability: The RS485 interface can be flexibly configured as half-duplex or full-duplex mode, and can be interconnected with other serial interface standards (such as RS232, RS422) by using an RS485 converter. This flexibility and scalability make RS485 a versatile serial communication solution.

Disadvantages

(1) Communication rate limitation: As the transmission distance increases, the transmission rate will be limited.

(2) Limit on the number of connected devices: The more connected devices, the more complex the circuit, so the number of connected devices is limited.

(3) Signal attenuation problem: When transmitting over long distances, data transmission errors or loss may occur.

(4) It cannot perform automatic arbitration of the bus, so the communication efficiency is low, the data redundancy is large, and it is not suitable for applications requiring high speed.

(5) Only one node can transmit data at a time.

(6) A dedicated communication cable is required.

(7) Laying is difficult and maintenance costs are high. Data needs to be transmitted through power lines. In the later stage, the lines need to be inspected and maintained regularly to ensure their normal operation.

M-Bus

(Wireless here)

Advantages:

(1) Minimal effort to implement in embedded devices (compared to ZigBee, Z-Wave or Bluetooth).

(2) No mesh networking, thus implementing streamlined protocols.

(3) Short or small messages can be delivered,AES-128 Security

(4) Wireless communication addresses are unique

(5) Simple operation, no network installation costs

Disadvantages:

To be continue

4G LTE

Advantages:

(1) Faster Internet Speeds: One of the primary advantages of 4G technology is its ability to deliver significantly faster internet speeds compared to its predecessor, 3G. This enables users to browse the web, stream high-definition videos, download files, and perform online activities with minimal lag or buffering.

(2) Enhanced Multimedia Experience: With 4G connectivity, users can enjoy a seamless multimedia experience. Streaming services, such as video conferencing, online gaming, and high-quality video streaming platforms, benefit from the increased bandwidth and lower latency provided by 4G networks, resulting in smoother and more immersive user experiences.

(3) Improved Network Capacity: 4G networks have a higher capacity to handle a larger number of connected devices simultaneously. This is particularly advantageous in crowded areas or during events where multiple users are accessing the network simultaneously, ensuring a stable and uninterrupted connection for all users.

(4) Advanced Mobile Applications: 4G technology has paved the way for innovative mobile applications that require high-speed connectivity. These applications include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and cloud-based services. With 4G, these applications can function optimally, offering users a wide range of possibilities and experiences.

(5) Economic Growth and Development: 4G connectivity has a positive impact on economic growth and development. It enables businesses to conduct online transactions, access cloud services, and leverage mobile technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency. Additionally, 4G connectivity facilitates digital inclusion, allowing individuals in remote areas to access online education, healthcare services, and job opportunities.

Disadvantages:

(1) Limited Coverage: Despite the widespread adoption of 4G, there are still areas with limited or no 4G coverage. Rural or remote regions may have limited access to high-speed internet due to infrastructure limitations or low population density. This digital divide can hinder equal opportunities for individuals residing in these areas.

(2) Cost: Access to 4G networks often comes with a higher cost compared to older technologies. The need for compatible devices and data plans can be more expensive, making it challenging for some individuals or regions with limited financial resources to embrace 4G connectivity fully.

(3) Battery Consumption: 4G technology consumes more battery power compared to older network technologies. The faster data transfer and increased network capabilities put a higher demand on the device's battery, reducing its overall battery life. Users may need to carry portable chargers or find charging points more frequently.

(4) Network Congestion: In densely populated areas or during peak usage times, 4G networks can experience congestion. This can result in decreased network speeds and performance, affecting the user experience. However, advancements in network infrastructure and the ongoing transition to 5G aim to alleviate this issue.

(5) Compatibility and Device Limitations: Not all devices are compatible with 4G networks. Older or entry-level smartphones may lack 4G capabilities, restricting users from enjoying the advantages of high-speed connectivity. Upgrading devices to ones that support 4G can be an additional cost for some individuals.