IoT Protocols Used by Our Sensors

Learn more about the IoT protocols our sensors use.

Low Power & Effective Sensor Protocols

From communication range and type of sensor, to data transmission, and energy consumption, there’s a lot to consider when choosing your Internet of Things (IoT) protocol.

Here at Pressac our sensors use the EnOcean or LoRaWAN® protocols giving you the peace of mind that we have the solution for your smart building.

What is an IoT protocol?

When you install wireless sensors, they need to send their data to the network. An IoT protocol is a communication system to transmit information from sensors to a network. A protocol allows the sensors and receivers to ‘talk’ to each other in the same language. And when multiple devices are connected via the protocol, this forms an ‘IoT network’.

The difference between EnOcean & LoRaWAN®

	EnOcean	LoraWAN®
Energy consumption	Ultra-low power wireless and energy harvesting.	Ultra-low power wireless battery.
Communication range	Short range with 30-100 foot indoor range in line of sight. (Use of strategically placed gateways could maximise this.)	Long range (2-3km).
Data rates and transmission	With a data rate of 124kbps, data goes to a gateway which can send it directly to a cloud.	With a data rate of 50kbps, data goes to a LoRaWAN® network server (often The Things Network) then to an application server/cloud.

EnOcean

EnOcean is a very popular option for IoT device manufacturers, like Pressac. It provides all of the key features (connectivity, range, security) that we look for and, as an open-industry standard, it allows high interoperability.

Energy Consumption

EnOcean leads the way in energy consumption, as it’s geared to wireless sensors with ultra-low power consumption and harvesting energy from their surroundings, such as motion, light or temperature differences.

EnOcean requires about 0.12 μWs to transmit one bit of information over a distance of 30-100 feet indoors. A conventional wireless sensor in a living room would need a solar cell 100 times the size.

Communication Range

The EnOcean Wireless Standard in sub 1GHz is optimised for use in buildings, as a radio range of 30m indoors is possible. It is especially suited for office applications, where devices are located in a smaller area.

Some of the best protocols for many installations are in the sub-1 GHz band. This means the protocol transmits data using radio waves with a frequency of less than one GHz. These waves will penetrate further, reflecting less in a building than 2.4 GHz signals.

Data Transmission

Data goes to a gateway which can send it directly to a cloud, relieving you of any data transmission fees and ensuring greater data governance.

LoRaWAN®

LoRaWAN® (short for ‘Long Range Wide Area Network’) is a proprietary technology, open global standard, defined and controlled by the LoRa Alliance, a non-profit organisation. One of the main differences is that, while EnOcean is a short-range IoT protocol aimed at connecting a number of devices in close proximity, LoRaWAN® focuses on wide-area networks.

Ultra-Low Powered

While LoRaWAN® is ultra-low powered, it does require your sensors to have a battery installed and isn’t energy harvesting energy like EnOcean devices, so maintenance is required at some point.

Communication Range

While LoRaWAN® has an exceptionally long range, LoRaWAN® sends data to a network server, which could impose a subscription cost in order for you to access it. Although this tends to be low, your data may be going to someone else’s cloud first.

Due to its long range, LoRaWAN® is the preferred choice for deploying a large number of sensors at long distances. Its use of unlicensed radio frequencies makes it the perfect choice for city-wide environmental sensors, streetlamp control and monitoring, basic control units for agricultural farms and monitoring of small objects.

Data Transmission

Data is sent to a LoRaWAN® network server first, which could impose a subscription cost in order for you to access it. Although this tends to be low, your data is may be to someone else’s cloud first unless your network server is being locally hosted.