Comparing BLE and NB-IoT as Communication Options for Smart Viticulture IoT Applications

Choosing the appropriate communication technology for outdoor applications has been a challenge over years and let to many different options. This makes it difficult for designers and users to chose the best option for their setup as each option has unique pros and cons. In this paper, we evaluate and compare Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) regarding their applicability for a smart viticulture scenario. We study how the node density and system energy consumption varies for various configurations and are thus able to highlight challenges in deployments as well as tradeoffs between the technologies.