Sigfox
Sigfox is a network operator dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The Sigfox network is using the UNB (Ultra Narrow Band) and allows devices to communicate with low power on a wide area.
Overview
Through its global LPWA network and rich ecosystem of expert partners, Sigfox delivers out-of-the box, two-way, secured communication services.
Sigfox provides a standard way of collecting data from sensors and devices with a single, standard-based set of APIs.
The Sigfox Network
The Sigfox network has been designed to facilitate effective communication over low power consumption. Low power consumption ensures that remote devices runs for long with minimal battery charging or maintenance.
Sigfox enables IoT communication over long distances making it possible to transmit with minimal base stations.
The Sigfox network uses cellular style approach to enable the remote nodes to use internet to communicate with base stations. This facilitates remote control and data collection from the Sigfox nodes over a wide geographical area as long as there is internet connectivity.
Features of Sigfox
Sigfox is highly being used as a communication standard to connect low-power devices like smart electricity meters, smart watches due the following features:
- High network capacity: Sigfox has a high capacity that allows it to scale up to billions of objects, this is because of the ultra-narrow band modulation that accommodates resistant and resilience to interference. The Sigfox infrastructure uses random access that facilitates frequency and time diversity. The use of uplink and downlink bandwidth allows consistency regardless of the radio link used.
- High energy efficiency: The Sigfox network architecture does not execute message synchronization between the devices and the base station before conducting data transmission, this means there is no paring required. Lack of pairing between the devices and base station accommodates long battery life and gives Sigfox advantage over other technologies. Sigfox consumes only a few nano amperes when idle, this rate of power consumption is negligible further enhancing efficiency.
- Long range: The deployment of Sigfox covers a large geographical area with minimal number of base stations. The radio frequency range (RF) is estimated by the data rate meaning for every output, long range is achieved with low data rate.