Mioty LPWAN – what’s it good for?

Mioty (pronounced “My IoT”) is targeting a wide range of potential application spaces for its low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology. In several cases, it’s intending to supplement or even supplant existing protocols such as WiFi and LoRa, even Ethernet. Mioty is a standardized software-based massive IoT connectivity solution operating in the license-free spectrum. A single mioty gateway can handle up to 100,000 sensor nodes and about 1.5 million messages per day with interference immunity and transmits data with ultra-low power consumption. For more information on Telegram Splitting Multiple Access (TSMA) that is the main invention in mioty technology, check out the first FAQ in this series on “What is mioty telegram splitting LPWAN?”

Mioty brings a unique set of capabilities to the table. It cannot support the transmission of real-time video or other high bandwidth applications. As shown in the previous FAQ in this series: “How does mioty compare with other flavors of LPWAN?” there’s a broad range of bandwidth capabilities, security implementations, quality of service levels, energy efficiency, and other factors that differentiate the various flavors of LPWAN. For example, LoRa lies somewhere between the higher bandwidth and higher energy-consuming technologies such as NB-IoT and mioty. In the short term, LoRa may be mioty’s most direct competitor. The following discussion only covers specific applications being targeted by mioty; it is not intended to be a complete discussion of possible applications for all LPWAN technologies.

Mioty is optimized to support vast arrays of low data rate sensors in the massive IoT. As a result, mioty is targeting a wide range of very specific applications, including mobility, healthcare, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and industry 4.0, smart cities, cold chain monitoring, sports, building automation, logistics, natural gas, and oil production, safety in mines, and smart agriculture. The following are some examples that illustrate the ambitious goals of the alliance.

Sensing at 120kph

Mioty’s ability to transmit data from platforms moving at 120 kph enables use cases such as fleet tracking, toll management, and car-to-x communications. Mioty also enables integrating base stations into vehicles, creating new data analytics, machine learning, and communications opportunities.

• Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) could enable mioty networks in vehicles to receive information about changing conditions in the intended route of travel and inform surrounding infrastructure (and vehicles) of conditions on the vehicle.
• Mioty-based sensor networks could monitor various conditions to help improve the performance of the vehicle’s onboard computer/control system, reduce wiring harness weight, and even detect unexpected motion such as vehicle theft.

Industry 4.0

Mioty aims to add another layer of communications over the top of a core of industrial Ethernet communications in Industry 4.0 applications, especially in use cases where the use of Ethernet is cost-prohibitive and power constraints and/or quality of service concerns prevent the use of other LPWAN technologies. For example, with mioty, one automaker is already setting up a massive factory-wide network of:

• Environmental sensors that track temperature, humidity, and air quality to monitor ambient conditions for sensitive processes such as painting and fluid filling.
• Embedded sensors that monitor condition-based operational parameters of various assets and equipment to support predictive and preventative maintenance.
• Massive numbers of sub-meters monitoring energy consumption across the factory to identify energy waste and opportunities to improve energy efficiency.

Vast distances

Long-range transmission, low power consumption, and long battery life and reliability are several features that enable mioty to support sensor networks across large remote areas such as agricultural fields and grazing lands.

• Remote sensors to track the location and health conditions of individual animals in a herd across large distances.
• Optimize irrigation, water consumption, and allocation based on direct sensor analysis of moisture conditions in specific areas of fields of crops.
• Environmental monitoring of real-time growing conditions, including measurement of humidity or PH value of soils, location of harmful pests that can harm crops, and other localized factors, enabling continuous optimization of fertilizing and pesticide application in addition to maximizing the use of limited resources such as water and labor to manage large farm and ranch operations.

Smart city applications require massive numbers of sensors that can be deployed in scalable network infrastructure at a reasonable cost. Long-range transmission capabilities, large system capacity, mobility, availability of a private base station architecture, and use of free spectrum enable mioty to be used to support smart city applications such as:

• Improve the performance of smart metering, including water and gas, thermal energy, and electric utilities, resulting from mioty’s ability to transmit information over long distances and benefit from deep indoor penetration and good quality of service.
• Real-time monitoring of public transportation infrastructure, including roadways, bridges, railroads, and so on; issuing alerts when unanticipated events occur or when monitored parameters exceed safety thresholds.
• Improve water usage by providing cost-effective real-time means to monitor water delivery infrastructure for leaks continuously.
• Improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gasses in cities by managing parking facilities and sending notifications to vehicles looking for parking about the location of the nearest open parking opportunities, and provide reminders to drivers when parking time is nearing expiration.

Asset tracking, logistics, and healthcare

Intelligent logistics systems are expected to also benefit from the massive numbers of sensors, supported by the energy-efficient long-distance mioty technology. In dense and large installations such as airports and seaports, mioty will enable new cost-effective tracking paradigms. And for long-distance shipping of goods, mioty sensors and base stations can simplify the management of intelligent asset tracking.

• Support of finer granularity is possible due to the low cost of mioty based location sensors. That can be used to communicate delivery times and anticipated destinations, monitor the condition of sensitive goods such as those needing cold transport, and reduce the time for locating goods in warehouses and other locations.
• Improved inventory management can reduce costs by supporting a closer tracking of inventory levels and enabling reordering on a timely basis, and maximizing the efficiency of inventory investments.
• Provide cost-effective tracking of vehicles, including trucks, material handling equipment, even robotics, and maximize the effectiveness of scheduling and movements of goods within as well as to and from facilities.

Mioty aims for a variety of healthcare applications that can benefit from the technology’s deep indoor penetration, robustness, and large scalability. Massive sensors are envisioned improving asset utilization and allocation, monitoring indoor environmental conditions, and providing faster emergency response times.

• Maintain a real-time map of all critical movable assets across multiple facilities such as defibrillators, infusion pumps, ventilators, and endoscopy equipment in addition to beds and wheelchairs.
• Continuous monitoring and real-time reporting of critical health parameters of patients in hospitals, even when they are moving around a facility.
• Monitor patients in assisted living facilities to track timely administration of medications, report activity levels of seniors, and alert staff to falls and other potentially harmful events.

Sensors deep into buildings

Smart buildings need a network infrastructure that balances cost-effectiveness and power efficiency with high reliability and good quality of service. Mioty is counting on its low infrastructure requirements, battery life of up to 20 years, support for massive sensor deployments, and ability to penetrate deep into buildings to enable it to win in applications such as intelligent HVAC controls, air quality monitoring, and fire protection and leak detection.

• Increases numbers and deeper penetration of environmental sensors in buildings can help improve HVAC management, reducing energy costs and environmental impacts.
• Wireless access control systems can reduce costs and, at the same time improving security by initiating alerts to centralized monitoring locations.
• Detection of first, leaks, even broken windows, providing alerts and, when appropriate, initiating actions such as closing fire shutters.

mioty commercialization

The commercialization of mioty technology is already moving forward. Companies such as Agvolution, Behr Technologies, comtac, Diehl, Lasen Wireless Building Technology, Murata, radiocrafts, Ragsol, Sentinum, STMicroelectronics, Swissphone, Texas Instruments, WEPTECH elektronik, and Wittra have already launched a variety of commercial moity modules and software. Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, one of the initial developers of mioty technology, offers support for developing mioty systems and provides reference designs and documentation. Fraunhofer also offers consulting services connected to the usage of the mioty technology.

At the time of this writing, STMicroelectronics had become one of the newest mioty members. A protocol stack from ST Authorized Partner Stackforce allows designers to create mioty devices using the STM32WL wireless system-on-a-chip (SoC). The STM32WL SoC integrates both a general-purpose microcontroller and a sub-GHz radio on the same chip. STM32WL microcontrollers support multiple modulations including LoRa, (G)FSK, (G)MSK, BPSK to ensure flexibility in wireless applications with LoRa, Sigfox, W-MBUS, mioty, or any other suitable protocol. Texas Instruments is also working with the mioty stack from Stackforce.

And partnerships are emerging: Behr Technologies has partnered with Counsel Group Frankfurt (CGF) to enable automakers around the world to improve production efficiency through the implementation of robust, scalable, and cost-efficient private IoT networks based on mioty technology. Texas Instruments and ST Microelectronics are working with Stackforce. Murata, with technology partner Sentinum, has introduced a multi-stack development kit for LPWAN implementations. The Murata/Sentinum Yamori dev kit features an array of wireless modules that support various IoT-related LPWAN RF and cellular protocols, including: LoRa, NB-IoT, Cat M1 (LTE-M), and voice over LTE (VoLTE). In addition, NFC connectivity and GNSS functionality are also encompassed, and firmware upgrades support Sigfox and mioty.

Summary

Mioty operates in the license-free spectrum. It is a standardized software-based massive IoT connectivity solution optimized for low data rate applications. A single mioty gateway can handle up to 100,000 sensor nodes and about 1.5 million messages per day with interference immunity and transmits data with ultra-low power consumption. While mioty is a new technology, commercial applications have already started to appear. In the near term, LoRa may be mioty’s most direct competition.

References

6 Leading Types of IoT Wireless Tech and Their Best Use Cases, Behr Technologies
mioty alliance, mioty
mioty – The Wireless IoT Technology, Fraunhofer