ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Low Throughput Network (LTN); Use Cases and System Characteristics
Low Throughput Network (LTN); Use Cases and System Characteristics
DTR/ERM-TG28-505
General Information
Standards Content (Sample)
TECHNICAL REPORT
Low Throughput Network (LTN);
Use Cases and System Characteristics
2 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Reference
DTR/ERM-TG28-505
Keywords
LTN, radio, SRD, use case
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3 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Modal verbs terminology . 5
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 7
2 References . 7
2.1 Normative references . 7
2.2 Informative references . 7
3 Definitions and abbreviations . 8
3.1 Definitions . 8
3.2 Abbreviations . 9
4 Application Domains . 9
5 Example applications and use cases . 11
5.1 Smart Metering . 11
5.1.0 General . 11
5.1.1 Water & gas metering . 12
5.1.2 Electricity metering. 13
5.2 Smart City . 13
5.2.1 Example Smart City applications . 13
5.2.2 Street parking . 14
5.2.3 Street lighting. 14
5.3 Automotive . 15
5.3.1 Example Automotive applications . 15
5.3.2 Stand-alone antitheft . 15
5.4 Cellular/LTN cooperation . 16
5.5 Asset tracking . 17
5.6 Smart grid . 18
5.6.1 Fault Passage Indication . 18
5.6.2 Low Voltage Network monitoring . 18
5.6.3 Electric network fault monitoring . 18
5.6.4 Multicast load control - Management of Electricity Demand . 19
5.7 Agriculture and environment . 19
5.8 Security Threat analysis . 19
6 Commonalities in LTN use cases . 20
6.1 Introduction . 20
6.2 Criteria for commonality evaluation. 20
6.2.1 Network scale . 20
6.2.2 LTN type . 20
6.2.3 End Point density . 20
6.2.4 Data flow direction . 21
6.2.5 End Points' power mode . 21
6.2.6 Latency . 21
6.3 Table of use cases commonalities . 21
6.4 Conclusions . 22
7 LTN key characteristics. 23
7.1 Network topology . 23
7.2 Traffic and protocol aspects . 23
7.3 Identifiers and Addressing . 23
7.4 Deployment and radio aspects . 23
7.5 Security aspects . 24
7.6 End Point implementation . 24
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4 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Annex A: Capacity Example 1 . 25
A.1 Introduction . 25
A.2 Traffic generated . 25
A.3 Spectrum needed . 26
A.4 Conclusion . 26
Annex B: Capacity Example 2 . 27
B.0 Introduction . 27
B.1 Modelling of connection (i.e. device) density . 27
B.1.1 Method . 27
B.1.2 Inputs to Modelling . 27
B.1.3 Results . 28
B.2 Modelling of traffic and support by LTN system . 29
B.2.1 Method . 29
B.2.2 Base station (BS) capacity . 30
B.2.3 Offered traffic density . 31
B.2.3.1 Method . 31
B.2.3.2 Inputs . 31
B.3 Results . 32
B.4 Variability and other Considerations . 33
Annex C: Change History . 34
History . 35
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5 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio
spectrum Matters (ERM).
The present document contains use cases and system requirements to support the development of an LTN standard.
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Introduction
Low Throughput Network (LTN) is a wide area wireless network technology with specific characteristics compared to
existing radio networks. Deployments of LTN Systems include Base Stations and End Points which communicate over
an air interface. End Points (typically a large number) are arranged predominantly in a star configuration around each
base station, each base station is connected to the core network. In a small minority of cases (e.g. to provide
connectivity in a hard-to-reach location) relays are used.
LTN enables long range data transportation (distances up to 40 km in open field) whilst being suited for mains or
battery powered End Point operation. Typical Use Cases include communicating with underground equipment where
high radio path losses and extremely long operating life from batteries are required, as well as street lighting control
where high densities of End Points are required. LTN systems connect indoor and outdoor End Points, in urban and
rural environments. Furthermore, the low throughput transmission combined with advanced signal processing provides
effective protection against interference. As a consequence, LTN is particularly well adapted for low throughput reliable
machine to machine (M2M) communication.
LTN can be applied to autonomous battery operated M2M devices that sends only a few bytes per day, week or month.
The elements provided in the document are intended to identify Use Cases and System Requirements for LTN Systems.
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6 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Clause 4 provides an overview of the main applications foreseen for LTN networks and estimates the numbers of LTN
devices that applications may give rise to.
Clause 5 lists typical Use Cases with their individual characteristics and associated constraints and goes into some use
cases in more detail than Clause 4.
Clause 6 summarizes the key attributes that LTN technology should exhibit to allow the above Use Cases to be realized.
Clause 7 describes characteristics of LTN systems, mainly arising from the use cases analysis.
These LTN system characteristics are expected to be used in the development of the architecture and protocols
specifications of LTN.
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7 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
1 Scope
The present document provides illustrative use cases for LTN Systems and key characteristics of such systems to
support the development of the LTN Standard.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ETSI GS LTN 001 (V1.1.1): "Low Throughput Networks (LTN); Use Cases for Low Throughput
Networks".
[i.2] TALQ: "TALQ Specification Overview".
NOTE: Available at http://www.talq-consortium.org/data/downloadables/2/4/20150318-talq-specification-
overview-white-paper.pdf.
[i.3] Analysis Mason: "Low-powered wireless solutions have the potential to increase the M2M market
by over 3 billion connections".
NOTE: Available at http://www.analysysmason.com/Research/Content/Reports/Low-powered-wireless-solutions-
have-the-potential-to-increase-the-M2M-market-by-over-3-billion-connections/White-paper-PDF/.
[i.4] Energy Saving Trust: "A Guide to Telematics".
NOTE: Available at
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/businesses/sites/default/files/Telematics%2Bguide_WEB%2BONL
Y.pdf.
[i.5] Department of Transport (UK) FBP1042: "Telematics for Efficient Road Freight Operations".
NOTE: Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110615041210/http://www.freightbestpractice.org.uk/catego
ries/3505_551_publications.aspx?filter=69,Guide.
[i.6] IPPR: "Implementing Pay-As-You-Drive Vehicle Insurance".
NOTE: Available at http://www.ippr.org/files/uploadedFiles/events/ToddLitman.pdf?noredirect=1.
[i.7] National Bureau of Economic Research: "Measuring Positive Externalities from Unobservable
Victim Precaution: An Empirical Analysis of Lojack".
NOTE: Available at http://www.nber.org/papers/w5928.
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8 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
[i.8] Insurance Europe aisbl: "European Motor Insurance Markets Nov 2015".
NOTE: Available at https://www.insuranceeurope.eu/european-motor-insurance-markets.
[i.9] ERC Recommendation 70-03 (Annex 1 h1.6): "Relating to the use of Short Range Devices
(SRD)".
NOTE: Available at http://www.erodocdb.dk/docs/doc98/official/pdf/rec7003e.pdf.
[i.10] ETSI EN 300 220: "Short Range Devices (SRD) operating in the frequency range 25 MHz to
1 000 MHz".
[i.11] FCC CFR Part 15.247: "Operation within the bands 902–928 MHz, 2400–2483.5 MHz, and 5725–
5850 MHz".
[i.12] ARIB STD/T108: "920MHz-Band Telemeter, Telecontrol and Data Transmission Radio
Equipment".
[i.13] FIPS PUB 197: "National Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Processing
Standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)".
3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
1-way: user data transmission to/from a specific End Point in either uplink or downlink direction, not both
NOTE: No acknowledgement of message receipt is possible.
1,5-way: user data transmission to/from a specific End Point in either uplink or downlink direction, not both, but where
limited return channel capacity is available for acknowledgement messages to be sent
2-way: user data transmission between a specific End Point and Base Station in both uplink and downlink directions
NOTE: Acknowledgement of message receipt is possible.
Base Station (BS): radio hub of an LTN system
core network: one or more servers connecting base stations to network applications
downlink: wireless link from the Base Station towards the End Point
end point: leaf node of an LTN system
link budget: maximum tolerable path loss from the transmitter antenna connector to that at the receiver for acceptable
link performance on a static channel
LTN family: instantiation of the LTN standard with tailored technical parameters
LTN standard: technical specifications developed by ETSI which describe the architecture and protocols of LTN
systems
LTN system: high capacity star-based network, with high rejection of interference and noise, dedicated for low power
IoT connectivity over shared spectrum
NOTE 1: The geographical deployment of an LTN system may vary on scale between local and global, including
discontinuous coverage.
NOTE 2: See clause 6.2.1 for the categorization of deployment areas used in the present document.
multicast: downlink communication from a Base Station to multiple End Points
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9 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
relay point: radio node that relays radio packets for a small number of end points
static channel: radio channel with no impairments other than attenuation
EXAMPLE: Channel with no time variance, fading or multipath.
unicast: 1-way, 1,5-way or 2-way communication between a Base Station and a specific End Point
uplink: wireless link from the End Point towards the Base Station
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
rd
3G 3 Generation Cellular
BS Base Station
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
DC Duty Cycle
DL Downlink
DR Demand Response
ECG ElectroCardioGram
EP End Point
EPC Electronic Product Code
ERC European Radio communication Committee
ERP Effective Radiated Power
FCC Federal Communication Commission
FPI Fault Passage Indicator
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GPS Global Positioning System
IHD In Home Display
LPG Liquified Petroleum Gas
LPWA Low Power Wide Area
LTN Low Throughput Network
LV Low Voltage
M2M Machine to Machine
MCL Minimum Coupling Loss
MV Medium Voltage
OTA Over The Air
RFID Radio Frequency Identification
RTC Real Time Clock
RTLS Real Time Location System
SLA Service Level Agreement
UK United Kingdom
UL Uplink
UNB Ultra-Narrow Band
VOC Volatile Organic Compounds
4 Application Domains
A large and varied range of applications is envisaged for LPWA systems, and LTN systems are a subset of LPWA
systems. Analysts see the LPWA market as largely additive to cellular technology [i.3]. This clause provides an
overview of the main applications foreseen and estimates the numbers of LPWA devices to which these applications
may give rise.
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10 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Table 1 sets out some of the application domains in which LTN can be used.
Table 1: Domains of application and use cases
Domain Sub-domain Use case
Water & Gas distribution Collect data 3-4 times daily water and gas usage data
Metering
Electricity distribution Collect data daily or hourly electricity usage data
Water & Gas transportation Water and Gas infrastructure network surveillance (alarm,
metering parameters)
Electricity transportation Electricity transport status monitoring and
command/control
Infrastructure networks Road/traffic management Traffic light control, traffic level monitoring, emergency
gate status control, digital signage status and updates
Pipelines Collect data on Metrics (temperature, pressure), alarms,
leakage, vibration
Drains Collect data on Levels, turbidity ratio
Waste management Collect data on Levels, location
Air pollution monitoring and Collect data on Humidity, temperature, VOC, CO2, CO,
alerting etc.
Acoustic noise monitoring Noise level monitoring
Street Lighting Control of on/off times and dimming profile; monitoring of
electricity usage; support of asset management locations
Environment/Smart City
Parking Management Availability monitoring; support for enforcement and
payment systems
Self Service bike rental Bike & rack availability, status monitoring, location
Digital board monitoring Status, screen display rotation/timeslot control
Water pipe leakage Leakage monitoring
monitoring
Soil quality monitoring Acidity, humidity, nitrogen , landslide prevention
Livestock surveillance Geolocation, health status, wolf prevention
(accelerometer), geofencing, teleguidance
Environment/Country side Cattle & pet monitoring Geolocation
Climate Rain, wind, temperature, humidity (pressure)
Irrigation Leakage
Run off monitoring Landfill liquor, nitrates, phosphates monitoring
House Fire detection, smoke, CO, flood, leakage, intrusion,
temperature, home automation (blinds, etc.)
Remote monitoring
Building Fire detection, smoke, CO, flood, leakage, intrusion,
(telesurveillance)
temperature, building automation (blinds, heating, air
conditioning, etc.), telesurveillance
Water tank management Water level, leakage, refill management
Asset tracking Location, antitheft
Industrial
Industrial plant condition Generators, compressors, pumps: bearing temperatures,
monitoring oil levels, vibration
Vehicle tracking Location, antitheft
Impact detection Send message when vehicle is stopped abruptly
"Pay As You Drive" Send message to the driver about the driving behaviour
Collect data about driving behaviour
Automotive
Assistance request, Break Send a localization message to request support
down call, Comfort Call
Fault, service interval Send condition and mileage parameters periodically or on
reporting fault
Goods tracking Localization of goods
Off grid fuel delivery LPG, Oil, Biomass, Coal automatic re-supply
Logistics
Refrigerated container Set, control, monitor containers for temperature, low fuel,
monitoring load integrity
Conservation parameters Send message alarms related to temperature/shock for
sensitive products
Patient monitoring Fall down detection, out of area detection, ECG
monitoring, activity monitoring, Alert
Healthcare Home Medical Equipment Control of correct usage of medical equipment and status
status and usage
Attendance tracking Care staff SLA's, compliance and billing data
Conventional Cellular Alarm sending Send alarm message and activation of 3G for sending
Cooperation data (video, etc.)
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11 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Domain Sub-domain Use case
House appliances Pet tracking Localize pets
White goods Usage identification
Preventive maintenance
Personal asset Location of luggage, clothes, satchel, phone (when battery
down), etc.
Truck Tyre monitoring Check pressure and tyre usage
Authentication Additional level of security for exchange
Identification
Identification/authentication data
Analysts predict that the total addressable market for LPWA devices will exceed 12 bn devices by 2020 with
predictions of 1 bn connections by that time. Table 2 shows a forecast of accumulated connectivity revenue [i.3].
Table 2: Forecast connectivity revenues (US$ bns)
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
0,1 0,6 1,3 2,5 3,4 6 8,3 10,7
The estimated number of End Points per 100 M inhabitants for different application domains is shown in Table 3 [i.3].
Table 3: Number of End Points per 100 M inhabitants by application domain
Application Domain 100 M inhabitants basis (see notes)
Water smart meter 30 M
Gas smart meter 16 M
Electricity smart meter 57 M
Waste management 25 M
Air Pollution 200 k
Acoustic Noise 200 k
Public Lighting 1 M
Parking management 4 M
Self Service Bike rental 200 k
Automotive 60 M
Paper Advertising Board monitoring 50 k
Patient Monitoring 1 M
185 M
TOTAL number of EPs
(around 2 per inhabitants)
NOTE 1: The above numbers are based on a population of 100 M inhabitants and estimate the
number of EPs per different use case.
NOTE 2: 100 M inhabitants, 55 % individual houses/45 % apartment buildings [i.1].
NOTE 3: 41 M households with an average of 2,4 people/households [i.1], 23 M residential
house, 18 M apartment buildings, dustbin: 10 % of apartment buildings, 50 000 cities.
NOTE 4: Parking excludes: indoor parking (use wire line connectivity), private parking.
NOTE 5: Self Service Bike Rental: based in France [i.1], Automobile: based in France [i.1].
5 Example applications and use cases
5.1 Smart Metering
5.1.0 General
'Metering' is a broad domain that covers multiple areas including those listed below.
Water and gas metering normally require battery operated End Points while Electricity metering can normally employ
End Points with external power.
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12 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
5.1.1 Water & gas metering
Typical segmentation of the water and gas metering domain includes high end needs with sophisticated features, and
low end needs that are more basic.
Table 4: High-expectation metering characteristics
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
N/A
Consumption sampling (log) 4/hour to 1/hour N/A
(local storage)
10 bytes (one log)
Index transmission 4/day to 1/day, periodic 200 bytes + header 1-way 1,5-way
(optional)
Downlink command (valve, tariff
1/month to 1/year 5 to 50 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
modification, etc.)
Firmware upgrade (OTA) 1/year to 1/device life time Several kBytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Alarm transmission Occasionally 6 to 25 bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
Connectivity (check-alive) 1/hour to 1/day At least 1 byte 1,5-way or 2-way
Real Time Clock (RTC) update 1/day to 1/week Up to 10 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Battery status update 1/day to 1/month Up to 10 bytes 1 or 1,5-way
Encryption key update 1/day to 1/year 2-way
In-Home Display (IHD) 1/hour 10 bytes
1 or 1,5-way
communication (see note 1) 200 bytes
to 1/day
Maintenance 1/day to 1/year 10 bytes to 1 kByte 1,5-way or 2-way
NOTE 1: A fast update, fully featured, In Home Display (IHD) is considered to be part of a separate Home Area
Network not suitable for implementation with LTN technology. A low update rate remote display of a meter
reading is the Use Case envisaged here.
NOTE 2: 'Communication mode' describes the direction of application information flow; 1,5-way describes a flow which
is mainly uplink but also requires a lower level of DL flow.
Table 5: Low expectation metering characteristics
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
N/A
Consumption sampling (log) 1/hour to 1/day N/A
(local storage)
10 bytes (one index)
Index transmission 1/day to 1/month, periodic 200 bytes + wake up 1-way 1,5-way
preamble (optional)
Downlink command (valve, tariff
1/month to 1/year 5 to 50 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
modification, etc.)
Firmware upgrade Over-The-Air
Optional 1,5-way or 2-way
(OTA)
Alarm transmission Occasionally 6 to 25 bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
Connectivity (check-alive) 1/day to 1/month At least 1 byte 1,5-way or 2-way
Real Time Clock (RTC) update 1/day to 1/month Up to 10 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Battery status update 1/day to 1/month Up to 10 bytes 1 or 1,5-way
Encryption key update Optional 2-way
In-Home Display (IHD) 10 bytes
1/day (optional) 1 or 1,5-way
communication (see note) 200 bytes
Maintenance 1/month to 1/year 10 bytes to 1 kByte 1,5-way or 2-way
NOTE: A fast update, fully featured, In Home Display (IHD) is considered to be part of a separate Home Area
Network not compatible with LTN technology. A low update rate remote display of a meter reading is the
Use Case envisaged here.
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13 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
5.1.2 Electricity metering
Electricity metering has a similar segmentation as the tables above, with high expectation and low expectation
requirements.
Table 6: High expectation electricity metering characteristics
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
N/A
Consumption sampling (log) 1/min to 1/hour N/A
(local storage)
several hundreds of bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
Index transmission 6/hour to 1/day, periodic
+ header (optional)
Downlink command (contact,
1/month to 1/year 5 to 1 kBytes 1-way, 1,5-way
tariff modification, etc.)
Firmware upgrade Over-The-Air
1/year to 1/device life time Several kBytes 1,5-way or 2-way
(OTA)
Alarm transmission occasionally 6 to 200 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Connectivity (check-alive) 1/hour to 1/day At least 1 byte 1,5-way or 2-way
Real Time Clock (RTC) update 1/day to 1/week Up to 10 bytes 1 or 1,5-way
Encryption key update 1/day to 1/year N/A 2-way
In-Home remote meter display
1/hour to 1/day 10 to 200 bytes 1-way or 2-way
(see note)
Maintenance 1/day to 1/year 10 to several kBytes 2-way
Pre-pay credit management 1/day to 1/month Several hundred bytes 2-way
NOTE: A fast update, fully featured, In Home Display (IHD) is considered to be part of a separate Home Area
Network not compatible with LTN technology. A low update rate remote display of a meter reading is the
Use Case envisaged here.
Table 7: Low-end electricity metering characteristics
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
N/A
Consumption sampling (log) 1/min to 1/hour N/A
(local storage)
several hundreds of bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
Index transmission 6/hour to 1/day, periodic
+ header (optional)
Downlink command (contact,
1/month to 1/year 5 to 1 kBytes 1-way, 1,5-way
tariff modification, etc.)
Firmware upgrade Over-The-Air
Optional N/A N/A
(OTA)
Alarm transmission Occasionally 6 to 200 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Connectivity (check-alive) 1/hour to 1/day At least 1 byte 1,5-way or 2-way
Real Time Clock (RTC) update 1/day to 1/week Up to 10 bytes 1 or 1,5-way
Encryption key update Optional N/A N/A
In-Home Display (IHD) 1/hour
10 to 200 bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
communication (see note) to 1/day
1,5-way or 2-way
Maintenance 1/day to 1/year 10 to several kBytes
(local)
NOTE: A fast update, fully featured, In Home Display (IHD) is considered to be part of a separate Home Area
Network not compatible with LTN technology. A low update rate remote display of a meter reading is the
Use Case envisaged here.
5.2 Smart City
5.2.1 Example Smart City applications
Example Smart City applications are listed in Table 8.
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14 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Table 8: Smart City Applications
Communication
Need Period Payload (see note)
mode
1/min to 1/hour, depends on
Street Parking traffic. ~30 s Uplink latency bytes 1-way or 2-way
required
2/day Uplink (event log + meter
reading); downlink commands
Street Lighting 100 to 200 bytes 2-way
as necessary (none if
everything is operating OK)
pH Level monitoring 1 day 1 to 15 bytes 1 or 1,5-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Bicycle rental 1/day to 20/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Smart garbage collection 1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Watering/irrigation 1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
Traffic Management
1-way, 1,5-way or
Sewage management 1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
Flood Management (incl. 1-way, 1,5-way or
1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
highway gully monitors) 2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Pollution monitoring 1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Tracking dust storms Occasionally 10 to 100 bytes
2-way
Weather monitoring to prevent 1-way, 1,5-way or
1/day to 20/day 1 to 15 bytes
icy roads 2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Automated safety alert networks Occasionally 10 to 100 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Networked road barriers 1/day to 5/day 1 to 15 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Infrastructure safety e.g. bridges 1/day to 5/day 10 to 100 bytes
2-way
Tracking prisoners on parole 1/day to 20/day 1 to 15 bytes 1,5-way or 2-way
Gunshot monitoring Occasionally 10 to 100 bytes 1-way or 1,5-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Earthquake monitoring Occasionally 10 to 100 bytes
2-way
NOTE: These payload figures are application payloads optimized for LTN - type networks.
More details on two important examples are given below.
5.2.2 Street parking
Street parking monitoring systems monitor the state of parking spaces equipped with sensors typically embedded into
the road in the parking space. Each sensor communicates whether the space is occupied or not. Such systems may also
involve communication with tags placed in the car and given to disabled drivers or residents. These systems are used in
conjunction with street signs or mobile applications to guide cars to empty spaces. They can also be used for
enforcement of illegal parking by guiding enforcement officers to cars which have over-stayed in a place or parked in a
space in which they are not authorized. The determination of whether a car is allowed to park in a space may involve
the use of radio tags to identify the car, but other solutions are possible for this. If the reliability of the parking sensors is
high then such systems can be used to support parking payment.
5.2.3 Street lighting
Street lighting central management systems monitor the performance of street lights for electricity consumption and
lamp performance. They also allow the (re-) configuration of the profile of light level over the day. Such systems aim to
reduce the power consumption of the street light by only having them on when necessary. They also control the light
level to be at that necessary to provide sufficient illuminance on the road below taking into account the time of day, the
season. Other factors such as the weather and traffic conditions can also be used to affect the lighting time profile. For
more information see for example [i.2].
ETSI
15 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
5.3 Automotive
5.3.1 Example Automotive applications
Automotive telematics applications vary greatly in their communications requirements. The subset of applications best
supported by LTN is given in Table 9, [i.4], [i.5], [i.6] and [i.8]. Typically LTN is deployed as an 'after market'
installation for vehicle fleet management, "Pay As You Drive" insurance, or remote assistance where the small
equipment size, long life from batteries, improved signal penetration into garages, basements, and low radio signal
emission levels are required by the applications.
Table 9: Automotive Applications
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
Geo-location assistance Occasionally 250 to 1 kbytes 1,5-way or 2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Shock detection Occasionally 10 to 100 bytes
2-way
1-way, 1,5-way or
Driver profiling 1/day to 4/day 250 to 1 kbytes
2-way
Exception reports Weekly 100 to 200 bytes 1-way or 2-way
Out of hours driving Occasionally 100 to 200 bytes 1-way or 2-way
Remote vehicle diagnostics/fault
1/week to 1/day 100 to 750 bytes 1-way or 2-way
reporting
"Pay As You Drive" insurance 2/day to 4/hour 100 to 500 bytes 2-way
Fuel efficiency monitoring Daily 100 to 500 bytes 1-way or 2-way
Car share management Hourly 100 to 500 bytes 2-way
Likely technologies for LTN will limit the vehicle speed at which LTN communication is reliable. Therefore the use
cases above should be viewed with this in mind.
5.3.2 Stand-alone antitheft
Automotive antitheft applications rely on a concealed installation of an End Point on a vehicle, trailer, container,
generator or other movable asset. The systems can typically be set to detect unexpected motion, or be activated
remotely once theft has been detected to enable vehicle recovery. Typical use cases involve activation of a beacon
signal on theft to allow location via suitable detectors used by law enforcement agencies and give rise to the traffic
shown in Table 10, Alternative implementations augmenting LTN with GPS and/or cellular to accurately and constantly
send the location of the stolen vehicle are also possible.
LTN stand-alone anti-theft systems require a small and therefore physically easy to conceal End Point. These are also
hard to detect through local oscillator, intermediate frequency stage or other radio frequency emissions. They operate
with challenging link budgets typical of the high penetration loss into garages, car-parks and shipping containers and
may be vehicle or internally powered.
A very large number of LTN devices may be installed for antitheft applications. [i.6] indicates 2 % of vehicles may be
fitted with stand-alone antitheft devices in 5 years. [i.7] states that there are 334 m road vehicles in Europe. Together
they indicate the European 5 year stand alone antitheft market to be over 6 m devices.
Table 10: Stand-alone anti-theft
Communication
Need Period Payload (raw data)
mode
1/min to 1/hour, depends on
Stolen Vehicle Recovery/stand-
traffic. ~30 s Uplink latency 10 to 20 bytes 1-way or 2-way
alone anti-theft
required
ETSI
16 ETSI TR 103 249 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
5.4 Cellular/LTN cooperation
Cellular and LTN have different capabilities, and a number of use cases could benefit from combining the two
networks, by using LTN as a back-up to cellular network to carry small critical packets when the cellular network is out
of reach, or accidently out of service, or as a default network for small payload traffic.
Figure 1 shows a hybrid solution for Mobile Carriers that could complement their existing mobile network services with
a LTN network solution.
Figure 1: Cellular collaboration with LTN
The following scenarios could be envisioned, providing a bidirectional LTN network:
• Battery saving: 3G back end sends command to LTN to wake up the gateway 3G modem to send data via 3G.
• Keep alive: LTN is used for low power keep alive; 3G is used for data transmission, etc.
• Wake up device via LTN alarms, then transmit via 3G (i.e. video).
• E.g.: call flow.
• Sensor => Gwy => LTN back end "OK".
• Sensor => Gwy (alarm) => activate cellular modem => send data via cellular.
• Sensor => Gwy (alarm) => back end => activate cellular modem => Send data via cellular.
• Redundancy: send data via both LTN and cellular (secured services).
• Security: LTN to collaborate with
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