This full text paper was peer-reviewed at the direction of IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society prior to the
acceptance and publication.
Enabling wireless technologies for Industry 4.0:
State of the Art
Francesco Bonavolontà
University of Napoli Federico II
Dept. of Inform. Technology and Electrical Engineering,
Naples, Italy
francesco.bonavolonta@unina.it
Rosario Schiano Lo Moriello
University of Napoli Federico II
Dept. of Industrial Engineering
Naples, Italy
rschiano@unina.it
Abstract—The current revolution of the manufacturing sector,
usually referred to as Industry 4.0, is deeply modifying the
traditional production paradigms. The availability of cost-
effective sensing and/or computing elements as well as ad-hoc
communications protocols are, in fact, making it possible to
provide the whole supply chain with a global awareness about the
production process. Selecting the most adequate protocol results
fundamental to assure the best integration of the industrial
machines with the current de-facto information framework, i.e.
Internet of Things.
Stemming from their past experiences on wireless
communication and distributed measurement systems, the authors
will provide hereinafter a proper roadmap between the different
and most common communication protocols according both to the
wireless operating range and industrial requirements.
Keywords—Industry 4.0; LoRa; LoRaWAN; WAN; Sigfox;
6LoWPAN; WSN; IoT.
I. INTRODUCTION
The term Industry 4.0 is directly linked to the so-called
Fourth Industrial Revolution. This new revolution, made
possible by the availability of low-cost sensors and efficient
wireless connections, is associated with an increasingly
pervasive use of (i) data and information, (ii) computational
technologies and data analysis, and (iii) new materials,
components and systems that are fully digitized and connected
among them [1]. The paradigm of Industry 4.0 requires solutions
to: (i) optimize production processes; (ii) support industrial
automation processes; (iii) foster business collaboration through
advanced distributed planning techniques, integrated logistics
management, and interoperability of information systems.
The benefits expected from the application of the Industry
4.0 paradigm refer mainly to: (i) greater flexibility, which should
allow the realization of few goods as cheaply as large-scale
978-1-5090-5679-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
Annarita Tedesco
National Research Council
Inst. for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage
Montelibretti (Rome), Italy
annarita.tedesco@itabc.cnr.it
Antonio Tufano
Pegaso Telematic University
Dept. of Law Sciences
Naples, Italy
antonio.tufano@unipegaso.it
production; (ii) greater speed, allowing passage from prototype
to serial production through innovative technologies (e.g. 3D
printing); (iii) greater productivity, thanks to shorter setup times,
reduced errors and stops; (iv) better quality and consequently
less waste due to the use of sensors for real-time production
monitoring; (v) greater product competitiveness, by integrating
more functionality [2]. In other words, future production plants
must be smart, i.e. production control must be entrusted to the
machines (distributed production), which can autonomously and
automatically schedule operations according either to the state
of production or external inputs. As an example, the production
chain acquires the capability of reconfiguring itself to face a
suspended machine without blocking all production as it had
been in the past [3].
In this context, three levels of information exchange can be
defined that turn out to be fundamental to implement the
Industry 4.0 model:
1. information exchange between the product and the
machines;
2. information exchange between the machines involved in
the production process;
3. information exchange between machines and outside
world interacting with the production system.
With reference to the first level of information exchange, the
product (the good) must be aware about operations that it has
already undergone and those that it still must receive, starting
from raw materials up to the completion of the finished product
leading to exit from the production loop. As an example, in the
assumptions that a specific machine is unavailable since it is
busy in some operations or for periodical/extraordinary
maintenance or for updating the operating process, the product
that needs to be machined receives the signal of unavailability

Fig. 1 - Levels of information exchanged
from the machine and proceeds in the loop to other operations
or machines.
In this case, the busy machine can interrogate the other ones
involved in the production cycle to retrieve the availability at
working the product that has been momentarily refused (second
level “machine-to-machine” information exchange). The
product will thus be directed to alternative operation paths
(routing) to undergo further processing and successively return
to the original machine when it will have finished its previous
tasks. Thanks to the first two levels of communication,
distributed intelligence mechanisms that completely overwhelm
the traditional production paradigm can be implemented.
Finally, the third level of information exchange includes the
ability of the production process to exchange data with the
outside world as a warehouse, customers, suppliers, other smart
factories and all Supply Chain Management (SCM).
II. INTERNET OF THINGS BASICS
The implementation of Industry 4.0 is therefore guided and
favored by the development of some key enabling technologies
such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Additive Manufacturing
(AM). The IoT is a neologism related to the extension of the
internet to the world of objects such as sensors, actuators and
microcontrollers. Thanks to IoT, these devices can interact and
co-operate autonomously with other traditional internet services
and devices (such as personal computers, Web Services,
Smartphones, Tablets, etc.) through a uniquely assigned address
scheme to implement smart apps to improve users’ quality life
and experience [4].
From the home refrigerator capable of ordering goods when
they are going to finish to smart meters supporting energy saving
policies, to parking systems communicating to drivers the
presence of free parking spaces, the IoT applications that can be
realized and that make smart vehicles, buildings, cities, logistics,
production, transports are innumerable. Almost all researches on
the development and dissemination of IoT highlight a strong
growth in the market for devices connected to the network. Due
to the strong demand for innovation in all the considered
application fields, it has been estimated that by 2020 there will
be between 20 and 30 billion of networked devices.
III. IOT WIRELESS ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
The fundamental component of IoT is the network
infrastructure that needs to guarantee very different needs
compared to the traditional internet network [5-10]. Currently,
this network is designed to transfer data such as text, images,
video, etc. through a client-server connection model. For
example, if we take into consideration a home or office, we find
networked devices such as PCs, smartphones / tablets generally
associated with a user, in a roughly one-to-one relationship. That
is, each of us typically uses one or more devices to send e-mails,
surf the web, download videos, etc. We therefore have a few
complex devices which however deal with a high amount of
information each (4 billion devices in 2016). In the IoT,
however, we have an upturned situation. This time, in addition
to the PC, at home we will have sensors that monitor a particular
physical parameter such as temperature, humidity, brightness,
and consumption of each electrical load in different rooms /
rooms; And other actuator devices which will perform lighting
control, air conditioning, rolling shutters etc. Therefore, in this
case, the amount of information that each device has to exchange
is much smaller than that of traditional PC-Server connections
(only a few bytes corresponding to a parameter's measurement).
By contrast, the number of connected IoT devices is
significantly larger than those currently connected to the Internet
and is growing as the complexity of applications (30 billion in
2020). Since devices connected to the IoT are therefore
becoming ever larger, in order to ensure the economic feasibility
of implementing smart applications, the cost of each IoT device
must be very low (a few tens of euros). Fortunately, since each
device must not perform complex operations but few repetitive
operations such as: (i) acquiring a value from a sensor; (ii) carry
out small processing on the acquired data so that it can be
transmitted according to the established protocol; (iii) transmit
the data; You can use as a core of the IoT device a low cost
microcontroller (embedded system). Thus, generally, an IoT
device is small in size and consists of a sensor / actuator part, a
microcontroller, a generally wireless network interface, and a
battery powered power supply. The latter aspect is important
because a Wireless connection coupled to a battery power
facilitates the spread of IoT devices, as they reduce the wiring
needed to implement the network.
A. IoT network protocols
One of the application level protocols most widely used for
transferring information to the web is HTTP. This protocol is an
ASCII protocol, purely textual, based on the request / response
pattern but which tends to transfer too much "outline"
information, such as headers, in relation to the actual
information content included. Since the amount of data to be
transmitted and processed is a problem for an embedded system
where hardware resources are limited (computational capacity
and reduced memory) and power is on battery (these devices
have typical power ups of some hundreds of mAs in
Transmission and reception, while the order of microAs being
processed), in order to preserve these resources, the adoption of
HTTP protocol for these devices may not be the best choice.
Consequently, the IoT requires to reduce as much as possible the
size of the packets of data exchanged. A lightweight application
protocol that allows devices to communicate effectively
asynchronously is the MQTT [11]. The protocol is based on a

Fig 2 – MQTT protocol
Publisher / Subscriber mechanism that exploits a Broker, a
messaging server that deals with matching between Subscriber
and Publisher with subsequent dispatching of the message. In
practice, the publisher sends a message on a subject to the
broker. The subscriber is a consumer who subscribes to
messages posted on a specific topic and receives them from the
broker. This communication model greatly simplifies the
communication protocol and is being established as the main
application layer protocol of the IoT [12]. However, the MQTT
protocol replaces HTTP, but as the latter is still based on a TCP
/ IP transport connection. Among the embedded devices most
used to build MTT applications based on MQTT, there is the
ESP8266 chip that integrates a microcontroller and a Wifi
transmission module with TCP / IP stack. This implies that the
device needs a public or private WiFi network to be able to
broadcast over the Internet and has a maximum coverage of
about 100 meters. Moreover, Wifi modules suffer from an
excessive power consumption for these applications.
B. Personal Area Network
Another interesting protocol that is affirming as a protocol
for the IoT and which allows instead of realizing larger meshes
is the 6LoWPAN, which allows the transmission of IPv6 packets
through IEEE 802.15.4-compliant sensor networks. 6LoWPAN
offers an optimized header and encapsulation format for sending
and receiving IPv6 packets over low power radio
communication networks, reducing packet header overhead.
The local 6LoWPAN network can therefore easily interfaced
with the Internet and send data to Cloud platforms as it has the
same level of TCP / UDP transport on the Internet; To connect
local area nodes to the Internet, you only need a edge router to
change the physical level on which the information from the
local network (RF 868 MHz) travels to the Internet (Ethetnet,
Wifi). Although these types of network can potentially reach an
important extension in mesh configuration, especially when
using the SUB-GHz (868 MHz) physical level that allows
200/300 meters open field open between single nodes, their use,
however, is limited to smart building applications [13]. This
limitation is due to the fact that large distances can only be
reached by disseminating many nodes in the local network that
make routers and carry packets of the other nodes to the edge
router. However, these nodes dissipate greater power than the
endnodes, since they handle packet routing, and they need to
provide network power. In addition, since in indoor
environments the signal flow drops drastically, many routing
nodes need to be provided, resulting in drastically increased
network infrastructure costs that are all borne by the user.
Although the 6LoWPAN network protocol is a major evolution
compared to proprietary networks such as ZigBEE,
WirelessHART, Wireless-MBus, which need a Gateway to
exchange data over the Internet, its adoption cannot be
considered a solution Valid and general for all situations.
C. Low-Power Wide Area Network
To overcome the limitations described above, recent
technological developments are introducing new long-range
communication and low power dissipation protocols to Machine
to Machine (M2M), enabling the spread of large-scale IT
applications (application of Smart city, smart metering). Among
the available Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)
protocols, SigFox and LoRa are the ones that are most successful
among the operators and manufacturers of IoT devices,
recording a rapid diffusion of various applications based on
these protocols [14]. The topology of the two types of networks
is the same as that used by cellular telephony technologies - that
is the star of star type with Gateways in the middle that are
actually the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) stations.
Specifically, the Gateway is a transparent bridge for messages
between Devices and the Cloud-based Network Controller.
Gateways are connected to the Cloud-based Network Controller
service through an IP-based connection; While the Devices use
single-hop wireless communication to one or more Gateways.
The various Application Servers then receive the data sent by
the various sensors on the LPWAN network from the Cloud-
based Network Server. Communication can also be bidirectional
for controlling actuators. Traditional approaches to wireless
connectivity suggest that a network device should not be able to
operate at reduced power while simultaneously transmitting on
long distances. Unlike 3G or 4G systems, an LPWAN network
adopts a modulation scheme that "penalizes" the throughput rate
in order to provide greater tolerance for interference and signal
attenuation. In this way, the output power (output) may be very
low. At the same time technology requires receivers
characterized by a very high sensitivity in order to maintain a
connection in the presence of relatively weak input signals. In
other words, unlike a mobile network, an LPWAN network is
optimized for use in M2M and IoT applications that require low
power consumption and reduced data transfer rates. As a result,
a LWPAN cell can guarantee a broad coverage, potentially even
higher than that of a mobile cell (11-15 km in open field, 2 km
in urban environment), using a lower power. Both new LPWAN
technologies operate at frequencies included in licensed ISM
bands. Unlike mobile network operators, therefore, LPWAN
network operators do not have to buy expensive licenses for
radio spectrum bands. By appropriately distributing gateways
within urban and non-urban settlements, large public networks,
similar to GSM networks, can be built. In this way, the user who
executes his smart intelligent IM application must purchase only
the endpoint measurement nodes and can exploit the existing
network by sharing the costs for the implementation and
maintenance of the IoT network infrastructure with other users.
This can be an indisputable advantage over the proprietary
wireless networks used up to this point. The SigFox public
network covers France, Spain, Great Britain and the
Netherlands, and since July of the year, several field tests have
been conducted in many cities around the world, while a
nationwide network installation has been launched in Portugal,
Denmark, Belgium and the United States.
SigFox's goal is to cover national coverage in more than 60
countries by 2020. SigFox uses Ultra-narrowband technology
that uses a very narrow portion of the spectrum. This choice
minimizes the effect of noise and allows you to use simpler
endpoints but requires the most complicated and expensive
Gateway / BTS usage. In a SigFox system, the number of daily
transmissions is limited to 140 uplink messages, each consisting
of a maximum of 12 bytes, and only 4 downlink messages,
consisting of a maximum of 8 bytes. The latency is in the order
of 3-5 ms. Based on these features, SigFox is suitable for use in
applications that occasionally transmit small data packets,
whereby the system remains for a long period of time in a power-
down state in order to preserve the duration of the battery.
Counters for consumption accounting are a good example of a
typical application of a SigFox network. To develop its IoT
network, SigFox signs exclusive agreements with local partners
(For example, in Italy, the service is offered by NetTrotter). The
user who intends to use SigFox will confine himself to the design
/ installation of the device / sensor compliant with the protocol
and will not be able to install any type of gateway. If you want
to develop a SigFox network you will have to do so with SigFox
or your partners. It is therefore not possible to create private
SigFox networks. Therefore, in order to use the SigFox network
you will need to pay a monthly subscription of about 1 Euro per
month for a single device (including 140 packets of 12 bytes in
transmission and 4 8-byte messages in reception). Conversely,
the LoRa protocol, whose specifications are defined by the LoRa
Alliance, is an open protocol and its use is free for anyone who
respects the protocol specifications. In fact, there are no
constraints: access points can be freely installed by mobile
operators, as well as by private companies. If you use your
Gateways there are no limitations on data traffic, packet size,
and no subscription to support. LoRA modulation is based on
the Chirp Spread Spectrum technique and the protocol can vary
the length of the so-called spreading factor (between 7 and 12
bits) and the bandwidth according to the bit rate (i.e. the number
of bits Transmitted per second) required in the range between
20bit / s and 41kbit / s.
IV. IOT VERSUS IIOT
When the IoT is applied to the industry, it becomes Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT), or more simply Industrial Internet (II).
The term IIoT therefore identifies a multitude of devices (smart
sensors), connected to the latest ICT communication
technologies, and software tools (machine learning, data
analytics) that enable the deployment of new, efficient business
models based on 'artificial intelligence. Specifically, with the
IIoT you can increase the production capacity of a plant, you can
make predictive diagnostic systems (which allow you to get
significant savings), management decision support systems,
intelligent systems for logistics and supply Chain, etc. This
transformation of the industry can bring organizational and
operational benefits that thus result in significant financial
benefits. However, considering the IIO as a mere transposition
of the ItoT into the industrial world, one makes a serious
mistake. The IoT tends to enclose consumer devices such as, for
example, fitness devices, heart rate monitoring, or smart home
appliances, etc. These are intelligent applications that can
increase comfort and improve user's life experiences, but that do
not generally create emergency or danger situations in the event
of malfunctions or malfunctions, but only the unavailability of
the services. On the contrary, in industry (especially in industries
such as heavy industry, oil, electricity generation or rather
healthcare), where there is more to play than a mere
unavailability, failures or events may occur unplanned that can
endanger people's lives. There is therefore a different sensitivity
and reliability that the IIoT applications must possess that is not
usually required for the IoT. These requirements need to be
taken into account when designing and implementing IIoT.
Moreover, a highly-reliable and connected network that secures
against failures and hacking is crucial for deployment of
intelligent machines and devices on factory floor.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, by exploiting recent technological advances
of IoT, Industry 4.0 promises innovation of the entire
manufacturing flow. To this aim, equipping machines with
sensors and connectivity is a key aspect which has to be taken
into account. The last issue is very interesting, to such an extent
that industry experts and researchers are working hard, in order
to define suitable protocols for different situation met in
Industry. In this paper authors, starting from their background in
the field of sensor networks, have addressed considered
problems from an instrumentation and measurements point of
view. Comparison between IoT protocols highlights that all of
this protocol could be effectively adopted to achieve smart
industry. There is no one protocol which can be defined better
than others, but the choice of the optimal one depend on many
factors and on the specific levels of information that has to be
implemented. However, the general idea is that still much
remains to be done to make these protocols fit for industrial use.
We are just at the dawn of the so-called “Industry 4.0.”
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