4G

• 4G stands for the fourth-generation mobile communications standard that was introduced in 2014 with LTE Advanced and on which various international criteria have been agreed. 4G is a placeholder for International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced.
• LTE/LTE-A (Long Term Evolution – Advanced) is a “fourth generation” (4G) technology recognized by the ITU/ITU-R (At the ITU, two technologies have been recognized for the fourth generation of mobile communications, LTE-A and Wimax-A, see recommendation ITU-R M-2012). LTE/LTE-A operates according to the OFDM method (OFDM), thus the standard offers great flexibility and is very powerful.
• Source: hwww.bundesnetzagentur.de

5G

• The 5G standard promises more throughput, capacity and at the same time decreasing operating costs.
• “Massive Internet of Things”: among other things, high number of end devices (e.g. with sensors) with as little complexity as possible.
• There is also to be significant progress in latency, for which a value of 1ms (end-to-end) could be achieved under certain conditions (important for time-critical applications). Other aspects include, for example, improved energy efficiency or a higher number of terminals/km².
• Source: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/

LTE-M / LTE CAT-M

• Long Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M) is a new mobile communications technology that brings the Internet of Things to life. LTE-M scores particularly well precisely where somewhat higher data throughput and lower latency times are required.
• LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) transmission technologies are the logical conclusion for many IoT applications, especially when building penetration, battery life of the IoT devices and, most importantly, cost play an important role. There are basically two standardized mobile technologies available for such IoT applications: NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE for Machine Type Communication (LTE-M).
• Long battery life, Improved building penetration, Low device cost, Wide range of devices, Larger data volumes, Mobile applications.
• Source: https://www.magenta.at

NB-IoT

• NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) is a low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology with low energy requirements and high building penetration and coverage, providing a cost-effective solution for the narrowband Internet of Things. NB-IoT radio technology is one of the most promising innovations in the field of IoT communication.
• For most IoT applications in the public and consumer sectors, the low bandwidth is perfectly sufficient. NarrowBand IoT also convinces with its reliable and optimal coverage.
• Low cost & minimal overhead, 3GPP industry standard: 3rd generation, Deep building penetration, Long battery life & billions of terminals.
• Smart parking solutions that can check whether a parking space is occupied and direct drivers to the nearest available space are particularly easy to implement with NB-IoT. Due to the high number of networked sensors, low costs and long battery runtimes, the technology is perfect for this.
• Real-time data is not always needed. NB-IoT thus offers itself as a cost-effective solution for tracking containers, where an hourly report of the current location is sufficient.
• Source: https://www.magenta.at

Sigfox

• Sigfox is the initiator of the 0G network and the world’s leading IoT (Internet of Things) service provider. Sigfox’s global network makes it possible to easily connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible.
• Low power for long battery runtimes
• Low cost for mass use
• Source: https://sigfox.de/

LoRa

• LoRa is a wireless transmission method on the physical layer. It is asymmetric and designed for energy efficiency for ranges over 10 km for uplink communication (i.e. sending from the terminal to the network).
• The LoRaWAN® specification is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery-powered “things” to the Internet on regional, national, or global networks, and targets key Internet of Things (IoT) requirements such as bidirectional communications, end-to-end security, mobility, and localization services.
• IoT Applications: Agriculture, Buildings, Cities, Industry, Logistics and Utilities.
• Source: https://lora-alliance.org und https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Wide_Area_Network

WiFi

• A radio network based on the IEEE 802.11 standard that is compatible with other WiFi devices.
• Source: https://www.wi-fi.org/

3G*

*Currently only as backup, shutdown expected in 2025.

• The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third-generation (3G) mobile communications standard that enables significantly higher data transmission rates (up to 42 Mbit/s with HSPA+, otherwise max. 384 kbit/s) than the second-generation (2G) mobile communications standard, the GSM standard (up to 220 kbit/s with EDGE, otherwise max. 55 kbit/s with GPRS).
• Source: www.wikipedia.org

2G*

*Currently only as backup, shutdown expected in 2025.

• The GSM networks use a digital transmission method. Digital means that the location signal is converted into a logical sequence of numbers (zeros and ones) – similar to a computer.
• The signals resulting from the digital positioning conversion are “packaged” into a high-frequency electromagnetic wave that serves as a transport medium from antenna to antenna.
• Source: www.informationszentrum-mobilfunk.de