LoRaWAN Versus NB-IoT: Transmission Performance Analysis Within Critical Environments

This article focuses on the comparison of transmission performances within critical environments (i.e., underwater, within metal enclosures and underground) for two of the most adopted enabling technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT): 1) the long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) protocol and 2) the narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) standard. After a literature review, the two technologies are surveyed and compared. Then, the most exploited path-loss models for the aforesaid application scenarios are presented. In order to assess and compare performances, a multiprotocol wireless sensor node prototype exploiting both the technologies for transmitting is described. Such prototype is then employed within field tests which consisted of underwater, through metal and underground broadcasts with the aim of measuring losses only ascribed to the media. Eventually, tests results are analyzed and compared with the theoretical models.