IoT Communication Protocols

The prime focus of the internet of things is to offer communication between various objects that are not traditional computers. IoT allows these objects to send and receive data over a network. There are various protocols in IOT established to offer this communication. The most popular communication protocols offered by IOT are described in detail below. Let’s start!!

IoT Communication Protocols

1. Bluetooth

Standard communication protocols help in unleashing the full potential of the internet of things. More than one third of Iot devices contain bluetooth connectivity. Bluetooth is a form of wireless technology used for device communication and to make personal area networks(PANs). The latest version is the bluetooth5 and it has features such as high range, speed and data broadcasting.

Bluetooth connects to devices with smaller distances and changes the device interaction. It has some empowering features that support IoT devices. Bluetooth low energy(BLE) supports devices that require less power and ideal for IoT enabled projects.

2. Zigbee

ZIgbee is a WLAN and a wireless technology that aims to support extremely low power devices. It supports these kinds of devices and makes it possible to connect them to the internet. It is an open global standard and works on IEEE 802.15.4 physical radio standards.

IoT devices do not require extra functionality and Zigbee is an ideal protocol for transferring data from one communication point to another. Zigbee makes data flow easy. It is used to send small amounts of data using very less power which is why it is used in machine to machine communication(M2M) and IoT.

3. Bluetooth Low Energy

BLE is a bluetooth that uses less power. It is designed to support the internet of things. BLE is energy efficient and offers better connectivity compared to other forms of technology such as Zigbee or LoRa. BLU fits the need of data transfers as they are the only function that takes place in Iot sensors. BLE is used in the making of smartwatches, medical devices, fitness trackers, beacons and home automation devices. BLE consumes less power and has less bandwidth.

4. Wifi

Wifi is a form of local area network for wireless communication. It is a better option for data transfers as it easily fits into a variety of standards. It plays an important role in IoT communication and intercommunication with other cellular networks such as bluetooth. Wifi supports high bandwidth and low latency.

5. Z-Wave

Z-wave is a wireless messaging protocol to communicate between various IoT devices. It is useful especially in home automation to connect appliances in smart homes. Z-wave offers a two-way mode of communication empowered with mesh networking and message received acknowledgment.

Z-wave is a low-cost technology that eliminates issues caused by Wifi and Bluetooth. The network of Z-wave includes the internet of things devices and control called the primary hub. When z-hub receives a message via a smartphone or tablet it sends this message to the relevant smart home appliance.
RFID(radio frequency identification)

Radio frequency identification system is a technology that supports the identification of objects via radio waves. By connecting the RFID reader to the terminal of the internet, users can identify, monitor and track the object with tags. It was first used in World War 2.

RFID is fast, dependent and does not require physical interaction between the user and the tagged item. It identifies IoT objects by tagging and labelling them. The tag or label replaces the object. RFID is useful to identify, track and monitor remote IoT objects with time and location.

6. Cellular

Cellular connects the devices to anything and everything without the need for smartphones or gateway. This means it connects devices directly to the base station without any intermediaries. These connections are always present even in remote areas. Cellular IoT makes it possible to construct less power-consuming devices that connect to the internet which was not possible before. You can easily send small packs of data through a cellular network. 5G is the latest cellular technology that is taking over Iot devices with rapid speed.

7. Sigfox

Sigfox was the first to introduce LPWAN technologies in the development of IoT projects. It uses a low-power wide area network to intercommunicate between IoT devices via the internet. It supports long-distance communication for sending and receiving small messages.

8. Ethernet

Ethernet is a communication standard that was developed in the early 80s to network between local devices and computers. The local environment is labeled as a local area network(LAN). LAN creates a common environment for devices to receive and share information among one another. Ethernet however offers a wired form of communication. Since it does not offer wireless communication the set becomes a bit costly and is not the ideal option for IoT communication.

9. NFC

NFC stands for near-field communication. It is a wireless technology for short-distance communication. However, the NFC-enabled devices must be in close proximity to each other so that they can communicate via radio waves. One of the devices should be an active device such as a smartphone or tablet and the other device can be passive such as an NFC tag. The active devices require an external power supply while the passive devices do not.

10. LPWAN

LPWAN stands for low power wide area network. It offers wireless communication between devices that consume less amounts of power. It connects these devices to the internet to send and receive messages from devices within the same network. Some examples of LPWAN are sigfox and LoRa.

11. LoRaWAN

Low range wide area network or LoRaWAN is a wide area network protocol. It was constructed to connect objects to the internet and to act as a mode of communication between these objects. These objects could be home automation devices, smart cars, thermostats and so on.

Summary

So in this article, we looked at the various data link communication protocols used in the internet of things. The most popular are BLE, Bluetooth, Wifi, Zigbee, and NFC. we hope our explanation was easy to understand.

TechVidvan Team

The TechVidvan Team delivers practical, beginner-friendly tutorials on programming, Java, Python, C++, DSA, AI, ML, data Science, Android, Flutter, MERN, Web Development, and technology. Our experts are here to help you upskill and excel in today’s tech industry.