short range communication protocols: from ......e-issn: 2582-5208 international research journal of...

e-ISSN: 2582-5208 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science

Volume:03/Issue:01/January-2021 Impact Factor- 5.354 www.irjmets.com

www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science

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SHORT RANGE COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS: FROM INTELLIGENT

TRANSPORTATION PERSPECTIVE

Misbah Ullah*1, Ali Zeb*2, Shehzad Ayaz*3, Yasir Mehmood*4

*1, 2, 3, 4 Department of Computer Systems Engineering (CSE), UET Peshawar, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT With increasing urbanization, mobility is emerging as the most pressing challenge for attaining smart city

solutions. These urban mobility challenges range from traffic congestions, lost productivity, road accidents and

greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, intelligent transportation solutions are being proposed to provide

smart city solutions. Advancement in compute boards, sensor and cloud platforms have opened avenues for

innovation in intelligent transportation systems based solutions. However with exponential growth in sensed

data, the need to choose appropriate communication protocols are growing in importance. These

communications needs range from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure and infrastructure to cloud

platforms. In this paper, we will present detailed analysis of different short range communication technologies

such as Bluetooth (BLE), Wi-Fi, ZigBee and NRF24L01 from an intelligent transportation system perspective.

The comparative analysis will be carried out in terms of communication range, speed, bandwidth, power

consumption and utilization challenges from an intelligent transportation system’s perspective.

Keywords: Arduino Nano, Intelligent Transportation System, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee.

I. INTRODUCTION According to a UN report, currently the share of urbanites stands at 55% of the worldwide population. In the

same report, urbanites share was projected to increase to 68% by 2050 [1, 2]. With this rapid urbanization,

urban centers are facing different challenges toward forming smart cities. One of these challenges is urban

mobility.

Traffic congestion problem in urban centers is severe around the world. It directly affects the economy and the

natural environment of a country. It badly affects the standard life of the people. Traffic congestion can cause

air pollution by the continued release of Carbon-dioxide and other harmful gases from vehicles. These gases can

cause different respiratory diseases like asthma, pneumonia etc. To overcome these problems it needs serious

and effective plans to decrease the travel time, the lengths of long rows of vehicles, road accidents and also the

emission of harmful gases. The main reason for these problems is the conventional traffic management

systems, whose limited factor is the communication among different vehicles and also with the infrastructure.

Advancement in computer boards, sensors, communication technologies and cloud computing platforms have

opened new avenues to propose solutions for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The main purpose of the

ITS is to develop a smart and intelligent system to ensure safety, mobility and efficiency of a transport network

to avoid traffic congestion and pedestrian fatalities by using digital systems, sensors and different

communication technologies. Sensed traffic data can be employed for calibrating traffic flow models [3, 4, 5].

For this purpose they tried to develop automated vehicles and a system for communication (VACS) [6]. The

OBD-II device monitors the vehicles sensors like vehicle speed, revolution of engine, air to fuel ratio etc. and

uses the Bluetooth module to take data from vehicle sensors and Wi-Fi module for internet connectivity for the

accessing of cloud platforms [7].

The aim of our proposed work is to make the researchers and students better informed about the short range

communication technologies that are used or to be presented in traffic Networks. In this paper, short range

communication technologies used in traffic management systems are compared in terms of communication

range, power consumption, data transfer speed, routing protocols, security and privacy. The energy

consumption of BLE and ZigBee is compared by using a device which has the property of sensing the power

with the help of an output terminal of voltage. The energy consumption is investigated by using real BLE

devices [8]. The Bluetooth and ZigBee are compared in terms of protocols, their application and their

performance [9]. Simulation of ZigBee and Wi-Fi is done by using an Opnet simulator and ZigBee is compared

with Wi-Fi in terms of its different modes, their different methods for the transmission of data and the physical

frames [10]. The Wi-Fi is compared with Li-Fi in terms of Spectrum Range, data transferring medium, data




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transfer rate, frequency, networking topology, cost and security [11]. The ZigBee technology is studied in detail,

its application and compared with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in terms of Bandwidth, transmission range, number of

nodes and power consumption in transmitting of data [12].

In this paper, Section II contains the Literature review, in Section III we describe the communication technologies (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee and NRF24L01P), their structure, architecture and topologies in detail, section IV describes the comparison of these protocols, and section V concludes the paper.

II. LITERATURE REVEIW In ITS, communication modules can be divided into short and long range communication depending upon the

need for wireless sensor networks (WSN). Short range communication technologies transmit the data over

shorter distances and examples of such technologies are Bluetooth, DSRC, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, RFID, NFC and

NRF24L01. Long range communication technologies are capable of transmitting data over long distances, such

as to various kilometers and examples of such technologies are LoRa, Sigfox and other cellular technologies like

GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G.

Siekkinen et al. [8] studied the comparative measurement of the energy consumption of BLE and ZigBee by

using a device which has the capability of monitoring the power by the use of an output terminal of the voltage

that can be adjusted accordingly. The energy consumption is investigated by using real BLE devices.

Kumar et al. [9] studied the new short range wireless technologies ZigBee and Bluetooth by getting

comprehensive knowledge about their protocols, application of these technologies, and differences in

performance of various devices by the use of these technologies. ZigBee can be used for remotely accessing,

controlling different sensors in radio environments and Bluetooth is used for shorter range communication.

Zemrane et al. [10] compared the IoT protocols ZigBee and Wi-Fi and used the Opnet Simulator for simulation

of these protocols. The comparison is done by studying the ZigBee from different perspectives like, the

structure of the system, its main network topologies, its different types of frames and as well as the ZigBee

protocols and its architecture. The Wi-Fi is studied and compared in terms of its different modes, the different

methods of transmission of data and as well as its physical frames.

Kumar et al. [11] studied Wi-Fi and Li-Fi in detail and compared them in terms of Spectrum Range, data

transferring medium, data transfer rate, frequency, network topology, cost and security. Also came across the

use and consumption of energy in a smart way by working on Smart meters, its importance and applications.

Zhang et al. [12] studied the ZigBee technology, its application, introduced its feature for smart grid and

compared it with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in terms of Bandwidth, transmission range, number of nodes, power

consumption in transmitting data, memory overhead and technical advantages over each other.

Julfikar Ali et al. [13] studied in detail and compared the Wi-Fi and WiMax technologies by discussing their

basics, network architecture, spectrum, working principle, advantages and as well as the limitations,

applications and other properties.

Athanasios Maimaris and G. Papageorgiou [14] reviewed the Intelligent transportation systems and

classified the communication technologies, studied the new developments in these technologies, the effective

use of these technologies in the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). They also studied that there are

different challenges and as well as the issues in the effective usage and reliability of communication

technologies. The issues discussed about communication technologies are about the bandwidth, the data

transmission range, medium access control, data transmission time, the security and privacy.

B. B. Rhoades and J.M. Conrad [15] presented his work in a survey of different methods and techniques that

are implemented in the Intelligent Transportation System. These alternate methods are Wi-Fi based

deployment, smartphone/cellular and ZigBee based deployment in ITS, their advantages and disadvantages

over each other and also the case studies of each technology in ITS.

K. Pothuganti1 and A. Chitneni [16] compared the popular and the mostly used wireless communication

technologies by studying their features, evaluating their behavior regarding several parameters like




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communication period, the coding competence of the data, their complexity and power consumption to benefit

the application engineers to select the most appropriate technology in according to their requirement.

G. D. Putra et al. [17] presented the comparison of the energy usage of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The power usage

of these technologies is noted by using them in a smart building. Bluetooth is used for transmitting of data to

the server and Wi-Fi is used for connection and interaction with the server. It is noted that Bluetooth consumes

30% less energy than Wi-Fi in data transmission.

Nair et al. [18] proposed the Bluetooth Low Energy as minimum power consumption technology by using BLE

to optimize power consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks and compare it with other wireless technologies

used in WSN.

III. SHORT RANGE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

3.1 Bluetooth The short-range communication can be achieved by using Bluetooth. It is a standard of wireless communication

technology, used for establishing Personal Area Network and connecting devices with each other. When the

connection is established between devices, it can send data to each other using short wavelength radio waves. It

enables the user, through the use of an ad hoc network, to transfer data to multiple devices. The Bluetooth can

send the data up to 100m range, with the data sending speed of 1mbps and works in the 2.4 GHz of Industrial

Scientific and Medical (ISM) band.

The Bluetooth uses both software and hardware in combination to attain effective wireless communication. The

hardware of the Bluetooth is a radio chip while its control, security protocols and management are executed on

the software level, to attain efficient wireless communication.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is also like Bluetooth is a personal network technology. It is used for

interconnection of devices with one another and monitoring applications. The main difference between

Bluetooth and BLE is that the BLE uses low power. BLE is targeted more towards IoT applications which use

less energy due to which its increasing life of a battery may enable it to work for a long time. It was presented

back in 2010 as part of the Bluetooth 4.0 aspect which is developed and advertised by Bluetooth Special

Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG). It is an innovative technology that uses the standards of Bluetooth and it is not

the updated version of the original Bluetooth. The BLE is mainly used in the Internet of Things or more

specifically the IoT field with the aim of sending the data in small volumes or the transmission of data with slow

speed as compared to Bluetooth [8]. It works in the 2.4 GHz ISM band that is the same spectrum used by

Bluetooth classic. The communication range of BLE is the same as that of Bluetooth classic but slightly different

in terms of power consumption and cost.

3.1.1 Need for Bluetooth The following are the three security facilities of Bluetooth that are described in [9].

a) Authentication: The Bluetooth device has its own address which is used for communication with other Bluetooth devices. By

using this address, Bluetooth verifies the identity of connecting devices. Bluetooth has the property to verify the

native device.

b) Confidentiality: It prevents the intruders from accessing the data and guarantees that only the verified devices can access the

transmitted data.

c) Authorization: It only gives permission to the registered devices to access a service and to have access to resources to use it.

3.1.2 Bluetooth Protocols When the Software and Hardware combines it forms the Protocol Stack. It also determines the procedure for

the devices to interact with each other depending on the standard. There are different parts of a Bluetooth

Stack which is described below.




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a) Bluetooth Radio: It has the information of an air interface which consists of frequency, frequency hopping, the consumption of

power during transmission and also the modulation scheme.

b) Baseband: The main function of baseband is to form connection with a pioneer, packet format, controlling of power and as

well as the timing.

c) Link Manager Protocol: The Link Manager (LM) translates different commands at the baseband level into operations, linking slaves to

Pico nets and assigns the addresses of those members which are active and set up ACL and SCO links. The Link

Manager sets the connections in that mode which consume less power: Hold, Sniff and Park. It is also used to

regulate trial modes. The Link Management Protocol (LMP) is used for the communication among the Link

Managers of different Bluetooth devices [9].

3.2 Wi-Fi Wi-Fi stands for Wireless-Fidelity. It is a short range wireless communication technology which is built on IEEE

802.11 protocol standard and is mostly used for Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) of devices and

internet access. The 802.11 is the protocol standard of IEEE for WLAN. It is one of the world's most widely used

and widespread wireless technologies. It is likely to play an important part in the upcoming-generation of

wireless network technology. The Simplicity, accessibility, cost-effectiveness and the widespread networking

and computing environment in workplaces, hospitals, schools, industries and airports are the key features of

the 802.11 WLAN technology. The range of the Wi-Fi network is up to 50 meters. Wi-Fi is less secure than wired

networks as many devices can join the network. It commonly uses the 2.4 GHz ISM radio bands to transmit the

data between your router which is your Wi-Fi source and your device or the receiver. The 802.11 protocol

standard operates on the Physical and the Data Link layer of the OSI (Open System Interconnection) model. The

IEEE 802.11 protocol standard mentions different versions of Wi-Fi with different radio technologies, which

determine different radio bands. Due to these different radio bands, the different versions of Wi-Fi achieve

maximum ranges and speed. The different versions of 802.11 protocols are given in Table 1.

3.2.1 Wi-Fi Protocols The first two layers which are the lower layers of the OSI model is known as the physical and the data link layer.

The IEEE 802.11 standard specifies the physical and the data link layer of the OSI model. The Data Link which is

the OSI model Layer has further two sub layers which is called the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer and Medium

Access Control (MAC) layer. The 802.11 work-group presented the network model particularly in comparison

with the OSI model is shown in Table 1. One of the eccentricities of this standard is that although the link part is

unified and it provides many deviations at the physical level.

Table 1: Wi-Fi Layers

OSI Layer2 Data

Link Layer

802.11 Logical Link Layer (LLC)

802.11 MAC

OSI model Layer

1 Physical Layer

(PHY)

FHSS DHSS IR Wi-Fi

802.11b

Wi-Fi

802.11g

WiFi5

802.11a

3.2.2 Topology and Transmission of Data a) Infrastructure:

The infrastructure mode is built on a specific station which is called the Access Point (AP). This mode enables

Wi-Fi devices, through an access point, to link to a network (usually Ethernet). It enables a Wi-Fi station to

connect via their popular AP to some other Wi-Fi device. It is also possible to interconnect a Wi-Fi station which

is connected with another AP as shown in Fig 1. A basic service set is established by all AP radio range stations

(BSS). A 6-byte BSSID (BSS Identifier) recognizes the BSS that corresponds to the MAC address of the AP [10].




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b) Ad-Hoc: The user wireless systems link with each other in an ad hoc network to establish a point-to-point network (peer

to peer), i.e. a network where each device performs both the client role and also the access point role

simultaneously as shown in Fig 2. Several stations combine and form a set which is called Independent Basic

Service Sets (IBSS).

Fig.-1: Infrastructure Topology

The range of the autonomous BSS is defined in an ad hoc network by the scope of each node. This implies that

they would not be able to connect even though they see other stations if two of the network stations are out of

range of one another. [10].

Fig.-2: Ad-hoc Topology

3.2.3 The Methods of Data Transmission

a) Transmission Channels:

The transmission channel is used for sending data which is a narrow band of frequency. The governments

recommend the frequency bands that can be used for free. There are different regulating agencies in different

countries which are responsible for controlling the use of radio frequencies. These agencies are

ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) in Europe, the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC) in the United States, and MKK (Kensa-kentei Kyokai) in Japan. For Industry, Science and Medicine, the

United States published three bands of frequency which is known as ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical).

b) Transmission Methods:

For transmission of data, the radio or infrared waves can be used by the native radio networks. The narrow-

band transmission is the method initially used for sending data through radio waves. In this method of

transmission, different messages are passed over various channels. Therefore, multiple transmission methods

are specified by the physical layer of the 802.11 standard to minimize problems which arise because of

interference. The methods used are the frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), the technique of direct

sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) and Infrared technology.

The method of narrow-band: This is the method in which a particular radio frequency is used for sending and receiving of data. To avoid

interference in neighboring bands, the frequency band used for sending and receiving of data must be as small

as possible.




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Frequency hopping spread spectrum: The Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) method involves the dividing of a large band of frequency into

at least 75 small channels and then transmitting all signals in the cell using a combination of identified

channels. By using the IEEE 802.11 standard of protocols, the 79 channels of 1 MHz can be made in the 2.4 -

2.4835 GHz frequency band. The transmission is carried out by broadcasting consecutively for a short amount

of time (about 400 ms) on one channel and then on another. By doing this, it permits the easily identifiable

signal to transmit on a fixed frequency.

Direct sequence spread spectrum: DSSS [10] is the method in which a stream of characters is transmitted for each bit. An 11-bit sequence of digits

(10110111000) to describe a 1 and its complement (01001000111) represent a 0 as shown in Fig 3. This is

specified by the protocol stack of the 802.11 standard. Each bit of the sequence is called chip or chipping code.

Fig.-3: Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

Infrared technology: The other option of using radio waves is also supported by the IEEE 802.11 standard which is the infrared light.

The use of light waves for sending data is the key feature of infrared technology. Due to which the data is

transmitted in a single direction i.e. unidirectional. A greater degree of protection is given by the non-

dissipative existence of light waves. An infrared technology uses the method of modulation which is called

Pulse Position Modulation (PPM). Because of this modulation method it is possible to achieve the speed from

1Mbit/s to 2Mbit/s [10].

3.3 ZigBee ZigBee is a technological standard which is developed for control and sense of wireless networks. It is cheap,

more flexible and can be easily installed. To increase the performance of applications the networking and the

routing of messages is used. It is used for short range communication and it is based on the physical layer. The

specifications of ZigBee are to provide security options which facilitate secure and reliable communications. It

is working on the protocol standard of 802.12.4 that is a standard developed by ZigBee Alliance. The ZigBee

protocol is used to create a short range Personal Area Network with low cost, less usage of power and having

slow data transfer speed. The maximum speed that can be achieved is 250 kbps. The low power consumption

of ZigBee is used for longer battery life of sensors, which requires less energy. The ZigBee consumes less power

due to which it limits the transmitting range to a line of sight of 10 to 100 meters.

3.3.1 ZigBee Protocols

The ZigBee protocols [9] are based on the latest algorithms to automatically build an ad-hoc network which

consists of nodes and have low speed. In most large networks, a group of clusters form the network. These

groups of clusters can also form a mesh or a single cluster. The ZigBee technology supports networks allowed

by beacons and non-beacons. Those networks which allow non-beacons, use the CSMA/CA channel

mechanisms. The receiver of the ZigBee router is constantly active and fully alert for receiving data in this type

of heterogeneous networks, which requires an extra robust power supply. The other technologies data

receivers wake up and transmit the data on the detection of an external stimulus.

3.3.2 ZigBee Devices

a) ZigBee Coordinator (ZC) It is the root for the tree type network; it connects the network and acts as a bridge to other networks. It needs

sensible parameters to create a network. It saves the network data and synchronizes up to 8 nodes in any

network combination. The ZigBee Coordinator can also be used for the Communication between computer and

ZigBee. The coordinates are of two types which are AT and API.AT. AT and API.AT use terminals to interact with

ZigBee and those terminals are like AT commands. While for interaction with ZigBee the API uses bytes and




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checksums. It saves trusted network data and directories for data encryption. It is often referred to as a remote

network in which the coordinator is concerned with routers and end nodes are connected with routers.

b) ZigBee Router (ZR) If a network is like the tree, the ZigBee Router acts as a root of the network tree. It connects the network with

other networks and it acts as a bridge. The ZigBee router is used as a source of carrying data from one device to

another. The aim of the router is to expand the data transferring range of the network. The ZigBee routers also

act as ZigBee End Devices. It has two routing techniques, Mesh Routing and Tree Routing. The Mesh Router is

used as a wireless monitor extension to enable monitor readings that are received and then to be transmitted. It

is often used to determine the optimum position for monitors. In order to expand the communication range, it

can combine up to 3 mesh routers. [9].

c) ZigBee End Devices (ZED) ZED is a simple and basic device and it needs minimal resources. The ZED is less expensive and low cost than ZC

and ZR. The main function of ZED is to communicate with the parent nodes. It is accountable for demanding of

the pending messages from its parent node, as well as identifying and accessing the right network. If an old

parent is missing, it also assists in seeking new parents. The other property of ZED is that it is portable. The

simplest type of device on a ZigBee network is ZigBee end devices. It is unable to route information but it can

sleep if it is not sending the data.

3.3.3 ZigBee Topologies

The type of network topology is directly related and has an effect on the number of ZigBee Routers, ZigBee

Coordinators and ZigBee End Devices. The ZigBee network can be installed by using three topologies, according

to IEEE 802.15.4 standard [9].

a) Star topology: The coordinator plays the role of a bridge and enables both the nodes (routers and terminals) to interact with it

in order to send the data from one device to another. The important thing is that the packet which wants to be

sent from one device to another must be directed by the coordinator. The issue with this topology is that there

are no other paths if the connection between the coordinator and the receiving node fails. The other issue with

this topology is that it is necessary for the data packets to pass through the coordinator, which raises the

possibility of traffic on the network.

b) Tree topology: The main responsibility of a "Zigbee coordinator" is to initialize the network. The coordinator can be connected

to some other routers and end devices, the routers can also be linked to other routers and end devices,

resulting in a tree structure that holds the "Zigbee coordinator" at the upper. The issue with this topology is

that there is no alternative route for the data packet to reach the final device if a communication connection is

down and not functioning.

c) Mesh topology: In this topology, the coordinator is connected to other routers and end devices, and these routers can also be

linked to further routers or end devices, enabling these devices for peer to peer communications. The benefit of

this topology is that it enables packets to be efficiently propagated in case of blockage of a link and other

alternate path is used to send packets [9].

3.4 RF Communication The NRF24L01 is a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) technology used for short range communication.

It is one chip on which transmission and receiver module: that sends and receives data in both directions is

embedded on it. A baseband protocol processor is also integrated on the chip for those applications which

consume very low power. It works at 2.4 GHz ISM band, and it uses the GFSK method of modulation of sending

data with a speed of 250 Kbps – 2 Mbps with a communication range of 100m. The transmission and receiving

module of NRF24L01 can transmit and receive data using a definite frequency called channels. The two or

more transceiver modules need to be on the same channel for communication with each other. The channel can

operate at any frequency in the range of 2.4 GHz ISM band. This module will use 125 separate channels to

make it possible to provide a network of 125 modems running individually in one location. These separate




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channels have equal to 6 addresses or each unit has the capability of communication with 6 more units

simultaneously [19]. The NRF24L01 communicates with each other wirelessly having two Arduino boards and

is used for sensing the data of the sensor from other places, regulating and directing robots and

computerization of homes etc.

To use any easily obtainable RF transmitter, basic wireless communication can be achieved. The lightweight,

low-cost NRF24L01P is a common option for enthusiasts and students when developing wireless

communication systems. Although the NRF24L01P can be used in WSN, it consumes a lot of power and was not

intended to be energy-efficient. By the use of NRF24L01P, only the software level is used for any routing and

network formation because it lacks any routing or networking algorithms based on hardware [18].

3.4.1 Modes of Operation

NRF24L01P can operate in 5 different modes.

a) Power Down Mode: The radio is disabled in this mode. Just the registers and the SPI interface are kept working and are reading to

take on new configurations. Due to which the power consumption is Minimum is this mode.

b) Standby-I mode: In this mode, some portion of the oscillator circuit is working actively. Due to which this mode takes less start-

up time at the expense of a little higher power than the power down mode.

c) Standby-II mode: This mode is specifically used for the transmission of data at short notice. The Extra clock buffers are triggered

for the transmission of data and the data is to be transmitted after a slight settling delay on its arrival to Tx

buffers.

d) Rx mode: The NRF24L01P is working actively in this mode and continuously listening for packets. The receiver decrypts

signals on the RF channel continuously and tests if a legitimate data packet is received. The usage of power

directly depends on the use of Air data rate and it uses more power with the rise in air data volume.

e) Tx mode: This is the mode in which the data is being actively transmitted by the NRF24L01P. In this mode of NRF24L01P,

the module switches its mode of operation between standby-II mode and TX mode according to the status of TX

buffer. Due to switches of its modes, it has the highest power consumption of any mode. The power

consumption is mainly the transmit power being used.

Table 2: NRF24L01P Power Consumption

Mode of Operation Power Consumption (Vdd = 3v)

Power down mode 2.27 µ W

Standby-1 mode 78 µ W

Standby-2 mode 960 µ W

RX mode (@ 2 Mbps) 41.5 mW

RX mode (@ 1 Mbps) 39.3 mW

RX mode (@ 250 kbps) 37.8 mW

TX mode (@ 0 dBm) 33.9 mW

TX mode (@ -6 dBm) 27 mW




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IV. COMPARISONS We have studied different short range communication technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee and NRF in

terms of their communication range, bandwidth, speed and power consumption. Also, we have studied their

properties, their topologies and their different data transmission techniques and summarized their main

differences in Table 3. NRF is not based on IEEE standard while Bluetooth, ZigBee and Wi-Fi are based on IEEE

standard. Wi-Fi has a higher data rate than Bluetooth, ZigBee and NRF. Bluetooth, ZigBee and NRF is used for

PWAN while Wi-Fi is intended for WLAN.

Fig.-4: Wireless Communications Technologies Comparison

All the wireless communication technologies are compared in terms of their Bandwidth and transmission range

and represented in the form of a graph as shown in Fig 4. As it is obvious from the graph that those technologies

which are nearer to the origin have low range and less bandwidth and those whose range and bandwidth is

high are away from the origin.

4.1 Power Consumption Comparison 4.1.1 NRF24L01P: The NRF24L01P's power consumption information is based on data given in [18]. As it is obvious from Table 5,

that during active service, the NRF operating power is a few tens of mW and the power consumption is in the

order of 1 μW which is even the lowest power consumption in power down mode. As compared to other

technologies mentioned below, the power consumption of NRF is significantly greater than others.

4.1.2 Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is built for a longer connection and requires a large power source for devices. The power consumption of

Wi-Fi is higher than other technologies because of its higher data rates and transmission range. Therefore Wi-Fi

is used for high data rate applications like surveillance of Audio/ Video etc.

4.1.3 BLE: If we look at the overall power consumption of BLE it is lower than other technologies. Also, it establishes the

connection much quicker than NRF and ZigBee [18]. Since the BLE wakes up earlier, it can spend a long period

of time in its sleeping mode and because of which it saves the power. But if we look at Table 5, we can see that

the overall power consumption of BLE is lower than other technologies and also the performance of BLE is

improved over them.

4.1.4 ZigBee: A variety of studies have been performed on the contrast of Zigbee and BLE power consumption [23] [24]. The

ZigBee demonstrates a slight elevation in the sleep power. However, this margin of power consumption is

compensated by the lower active transmission power. The power consumption of ZigBee in its different modes

is shown in Table 5. The values of the Power consumption of ZigBee are provided under test conditions and in

[18] [23] [24][25].

The values of the power consumption of ZigBee are slightly better than NRF but as compared to BLE, it is still

poor. The key drawbacks of both NRF and Zigbee are the long wake up times necessary to restart the

connection after sleep.




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Table-3: ITS Short-Range Communication Technologies Comparison

Standard Bluetooth Wi-Fi ZigBee NRF24L01P

IEEE Protocol

Standard 802.15.1 802.11 802.15.4

Versions 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.0 802.11a, 802.11b,

802.11n ZigBee and ZigBee pro

NRF24L01,

NRF24L01P

Type Simplex Duplex Duplex Duplex

Network Range 1 to 100 m 50 to 125 m 70 to 400m ≈ 100 m

RF Spectrum 2.4-2.45Ghz 2.4GHz,

5.8GHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz

Speed 1 Mbps 2 to 100 Mbps 250 Kbps 250 Kbps – 2 Mbps

Modulation

Technique GFSK BPSK, QPSK

BPSK (+ ASK),

O-QPSK GFSK

Spreading FHSS DSSS, OFDM DSSS FHSS

Number of nodes 7 32 25400 3125

Battery Type

Projected for

Regular

Recharging

Not Rechargeable Not Rechargeable Not Rechargeable

Data Protection 16-bit CRC 16-bit CRC 32-bit CRC 32-Bit CRC

Application area Used instead of

wires

Accessing data

wirelessly Sensing and regulation

Sending and

Receiving data

wirelessly

4.2 Effects of Sleeping Time: Due to the sleeping time, these technologies are able to save power. If a node remains in sleeping mode for a

long period of time, it will consume less power and will be in a low power state, due to which it saves power. If

monitoring in real time is not a necessity, then it allows the transceiver to sleep for a longer period of time. It

receives the data and collects it during sleeping duration. When it wakes up, then it transmits the collected data

in a single burst.

Table-5: Power Consumption Comparison

Modes of Working Power Consumption

BLE Wi-Fi ZigBee NRF24L01

Down Mode




[754]

V. CONCLUSION The current Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) technologies use the wireless networks which are based on RF or

ZigBee. These technologies have high speed and also transmit the data to a long distance that is their

transmission range is high. That’s why these technologies consume more power. Nevertheless, emerging

technology such as Bluetooth Low Energy for ultra-low power applications will reduce the power consumption

and enhance the network functionality. As the BLE not only consumes less power in its operational mode, the

other benefit of the BLE is that it connects faster. This makes it possible for BLE for longer durations to remain

in low power mode, that is in the sleep mode and still able to attain the same transmission rate as existing

wireless technologies. The use of BLE can help to solve the problems arising with monitoring of an event and

send its data in real time. The BLE can be used in sensor networks, its main benefit is that it avoids us from

installing additional hardware, because it extends the sleeping time of the sensor node. Due to which it

decreases a significant amount of power consumption by ensuring the real time monitoring of data is carried

out only when needed.

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