In the 4th generation of mobile technologies, radio technologies that enable IoT devices to have a long operational lifespan with battery power are emerging. In certain cases, this lifespan can exceed 10 years. Two key radio technologies facilitating energy-efficient communication are LTE CAT M1 and NB-IoT.
This research explores how different communication protocols and power-saving mechanisms impact the energy consumption of the communication module GM02S connected to the LTE CAT M1 network. To capture measurements, we developed an energy consumption meter allowing us to measure energy consumption and automatically conduct tests for sending and receiving messages using communication protocols UDP, TCP, and MQTT. The measurements are primarily focused on the behavior of communication protocols in low-signal conditions.
We tested the energy consumption of sending and receiving messages for communication protocols UDP, TCP, and MQTT. The measurements were conducted in good (RSSI = 20) and poor (RSSI = 10) signal conditions. In a good signal, energy consumption measurements were smaller and much less dispersed than in poor signal conditions. The lowest energy consumption for sending and receiving messages occurred with the UDP communication protocol, as expected, as it does not use mechanisms to check message delivery.
The PSM (Power Saving Mode) technology allows the communication module to be in a sleeping state, consuming minimal energy. Upon awakening, there is no need to re-register with the network. We compared the use of PSM technology with the continuous activity of the communication module GM02S. We found that continuous activity consumes 3167 times more energy than in the PSM state.
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