There are many fields impacted by Internet of Things (IoT) innovation, from industry to Smart cities, from logistics to utilities, up to infrastructure monitoring and Smart Buildings. There are now several billions of connected devices in the world, but how can data integrity, security and resistance to interference be guaranteed?
0G technology guarantees security and signal robustness
Within the Low Power Area Network (LPWA) cluster, 0G technology based on Sigfox protocol has brought life to a new era in the Internet of Things sector in terms of security and communication robustness.
0G technology was designed to address the requirements of “massive LoT”, focusing on energy efficiency to ensure long battery life, wide communication range, high network scalability, as well as simplicity and short time to market. It integrates distinctive technical features with a global business model, with the aim of connecting the physical world gathering data from connected devices with ease and efficiency, especially when self-powered.
High resistance to interference and jamming
With the growth of applications diffusion, the topic of security in the IoT sector takes on a central role to ensure the integrity and reliability of the solutions adopted. However, talking about security along an extended value chain as the IoT one requires to address various aspects that vary from the device to the final software application, passing through the communication network. And it is precisely on this last aspect that the UNB (Ultra Narrow Band) wireless communication protocol of 0G Sigfox technology provides several advantages compared to traditional communication networks.
The UNB protocol, in fact, due to its intrinsic characteristics and design, appears to be particularly resistant to interference; the signal can therefore be used from an “anti jamming” perspective as it is not influenced by common frequency jammers. The effort necessary to disturb the network to the point of completely denying its service is in fact infeasible as it would require military technologies.
This characteristic is given by the combination of:
- Asynchronous communication: By design, a Sigfox device is never directly connected to Internet and do not communicate using the internet protoco. In fact, Sigfox devices have a built-in behavior. When this behavior requires that data is transmitted to or received from the internet, the device broadcasts a radio message. The burden of receiving the data is therefore completely upon the network. If the device requires a response, the IoT application has the opportunity, during a limited time window, to deliver the response to the device through the Network. While on the one hand this feature ensures the security of the device which is therefore shielded from the internet by a very strict firewall, on the other hand it makes it difficult to inhibit the transmission of data.
- Redundancy and special diversity: every message sent as described above is received by every base station in the communication range. This redundancy in reception, together with the sending of multiple copies of the same message, makes it very difficult and expensive to inhibit reception.
Moreover the Ultra narrow band protocol makes the signal more “robust” and able to overcome a higher noise threshold compared to other LPWA protocols.
These characteristics, together with message authentication and replay avoidance measures, with the possibility of implementing secure elements at device level or for example the verification of the integrity of the message, ensure high resistance and robustness of communication.
EIT Smart is the only Sigfox operator in Italy
EIT Smart, a company of the El Towers Group, is the only Sigfox Operator in Italy, and manages a cutting-edge network infrastructure based on 0G technology which allows to cover efficiently wide areas. EIT Smart is able to guarantee international interoperability by integrating seamlessly into the networks of other operators who use the same 0G Sigfox communication standard. EIT Smart also ensures interoperability with other LPWA technologies through convergence.
Discover the network’s live coverage: https://eitsmart.eitowers.it/0g-network-operators/.
