LPWAN networks for IoT solutions

This module aims to enhance students' knowledge of the basic concepts of IoT (Internet of Things) communication architecture, covering communication flow management modules and middleware service layer protocols. The skills to be acquired focus on new technologies for low-power WAN (LPWAN) wireless communication networks such as LoRa and SIGFOX, as well as 3GPP MTC profiles (NB-IoT, eMTC and EC-GSM-IoT). Students will be coached through the system design of an IoT solution and the configuration of its various components (smart sensor, gateway and Cloud application).
This module has the following learning objectives:

To raise students' awareness of the technical and business aspects of communication networks for the Internet of Things (IoT) and its ecosystem, with a focus on IoT functional architecture and standard middleware protocols.
Introduce the communication technologies commonly used for IoT, with a particular focus on new low-power WAN (LPWAN) technologies such as LoRa and SIGFOX, complemented by the study of 3GPP MTC profiles (NB-IoT, eMTC and EC-GSM-IoT).
Introduce the basic concepts of IoT architecture, middleware service layers and communication flows as defined by current standards.
Learn the rules of system design engineering for an IoT communication solution, starting with the definition of requirements, followed by the choice of hardware and software bricks, taking security aspects into account.
Explain, for four vertical market applications (healthcare, energy, utilities, transportation), the IoT use case scenario, the IoT actors, the communication/connectivity networks, the system conditions and interactions between the actors and the system
Carry out practical IoT application development work to program a smart node to read and process data from a smart sensor, then transmit the data to a LoRa gateway that exchanges the data with a Cloud application.

Wireless transmission techniques
Network architectures and protocols
Internet network
Embedded C programming
Web technologies

Chapter 1: Introduction to IoT concepts and technologies

IoT solution definition and architecture
IoT communication technologies
IoT protocols
IoT applications and ecosystem


Chapter 2: LoRa LPWAN networks

LoRa transmission technology
LoRaWAN network organization
LoRaWAN network security
LoRaWAN network equipment


Chapter 3: SigFox LPWAN networks

SigFox transmission technology
SigFox network organization
SigFox network equipment
SigFox Cloud Platform


Chapter 4: LPWAN network deployment engineering for IoT solutions

LPWAN network use cases for IoT solutions
LPWAN network sizing considerations
LPWAN network sizing engineering
LPWAN network deployment examples for IoT solutions


TD/TP : Handling an IoT kit to implement an IoT solution that collects data from a smart sensor and then transmits the data through a LoRa Gateway to a Cloud application.

Communication networks

Course material
Tutorial
LoRa network specifications
SigFox network specifications
Tutorial kit user guide