What is sub-1GHz band?
Sub-1GHz is (i.e. the frequency is below 1GHz, 27MHz~960MHz) one of the important fields of wireless communication, the application covers consumer electronics, automotive, industrial and medical, etc.
Such as TV/STB/VCR/DVD/audio equipment remote control, high-end infinite toys, garage door remote control switch, lighting control, door remote control switch, wireless health monitors, wearable monitoring devices, etc. The applications are very wide.
Sub-1GHz is ideal for long-range and low-power communication.
Sub-1GHz refers to a radio frequency less than 1GHz, and there are many bands in the Sub-1GHz band that is exempted from authorization, such as ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) bands allocated by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) (e.g. 6.780MHz, 13.560MHz, 27.120MHz, 40.68MHz, 433.68MHz, 433.68MHz and 433.68MHz). 40.68MHz, 433.92MHz, 915MHz, etc.).
Various wireless technologies based on Sub-1GHz have been widely used in various industries, such as RFID, NFC, Wireless M-BUS, and so on.
The development of radio technology has promoted the development of IoT applications, and Sub-1GHz wireless technology has certain advantages in the use of IoT applications.
Compared with wired technology, wireless connection technology is easy to install and convenient to use. And compared with the 2.4GHz band, Sub-1GHz has the features of long transmission distance and strong obstacle penetration ability.
What is Sub-1GHz range?
What is the range of the Sub-1GHz ISM band of ITU?
The ISM band is a certain band that countries set aside mainly for industrial, scientific, and medical institutions to use. No license or fee is required to use these bands, only a certain transmitting power (usually less than 1W) and no interference to other bands.
China Radio Sub-1GHz Frequency (ISM)
According to the “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Radio Frequency Division”, the frequency bands corresponding to the ISM band are divided as follows:
6765-6795 kHz (center frequency is 6 780 kHz).
433.05-434.79MHz (center frequency is 433.92MHz)
61-61.5GHz (center frequency is 61.25GHz), and
122-123GHz (center frequency of 122.5GHz), and
244-246GHz (center frequency of 245GHz) is designated for industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) use, subject to special approval by the authorities concerned in agreement with those authorities whose radio communication operations may be affected.
When invoking this provision, the competent authority shall take into account the relevant ITU-R latest proposal.
13 553-13 567 kHz (center frequency 13 560 kHz),
26 957-27 283kHz (center frequency of 27 120kHz),
40.66-40.70MHz (center frequency is 40.68MHz),
902-928MHz (center frequency of 915MHz),
2400-2500MHz (center frequency is 2 450MHz),
5 725-5 875 MHz (center frequency of 5 800 MHz), and 24-24.25 GHz (center frequency of 24.125 GHz) are also designated for industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) use.
Radiocommunication operations operating in these bands must withstand harmful interference that may arise due to these applications. ISM equipment operating in these bands shall comply with the provisions of paragraph 15.13.
In Germany, Austria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, and Switzerland, the 433.05-434.79 MHz band (center frequency 433.92 MHz) is designated for industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) use.
Radiocommunication operations in the above-mentioned countries operating in this band must withstand harmful interference that may be generated by these applications.
Hong Kong, China, and Macao, China have designated ISM bands in the radio frequency classification, which is consistent with the ITU-designated Sub-1GHz band in Region 3.
The ISM band is not uniform across countries, and most ITU-Region 3 countries have no designated ISM application band in the 100MHz-1GHz band.
In mainland China, the ISM band mentioned above is actually also divided for the use of related radio services, and the use of related frequency bands needs to follow the relevant regulations of radio management in China.
What are the types of radio transmitting equipment of Sub-1GHz?
In accordance with the “Radio Regulations of the People’s Republic of China,” Article 44, in addition to micro-power short-range radio transmitting equipment, production or import in the domestic sales, use of other radio transmitting equipment, should apply to the state radio management agency type approval. The radio transmitting equipment type approval directory is published by the State Radio Administration.
China radio transmitting equipment mainly has the following types.
Public mobile communication equipment
Wireless access system
Private network equipment
Microwave equipment
Satellite equipment
Broadcast Equipment
2.4GHz/5.8GHz wireless access equipment
Short-range radio equipment
Radar
Other radio transmitting equipment
Sub-1GHz is ideal for long-range and low-power communication. Wireless propagation is inversely proportional to frequency, and sub-1GHz RF is more advantageous in low power consumption, long-range communication, or wall penetration capability.
For many applications, 433MHz becomes a global alternative to 2.4GHz (but Japan does not allow it to be used for wireless applications).
Designs based on 868MHz and 915MHz are available for the US and European markets. There are many available brands that do not require licensing or need to be licensed for system integrators to either choose to optimize performance in certain specific areas or to work with utilities to design systems over a wide area.
In this diversity, the sub-1GHz band spectrum has less interference than the 2.4GHz band. A band with less interference improves the overall performance of the network and reduces the number of retransmissions in transmission.
What are the characteristics of Sub-1GHz?
Sub-1GHz communication has five distinctive features.
Long distance
Sub-1GHz is the frequency below 1GHz, i.e. 27MHz~960MHz, which is the same frequency band as our daily use of car keys.
Low power consumption
Using the frequency band below 1GHz means that the power used by sensor nodes is much less than the 2.4 GHz equivalent power.
Combined with smart power management technology, coin cell batteries have a lifetime of over 10 years. This makes sub-1GHz communication very suitable for sensor nodes located in dispersed and remote areas such as weather stations and smart meters.
Strong anti-interference ability
Today, the air is full of signals from cell phones, computers, and IoT devices. Even a microwave oven can cause interference in the 2.4 GHz range. By using a spectrum that is less used by existing products, Sub-1GHz is less susceptible to interference from devices using Bluetooth, WiFi, or 2.4Ghz ZigBee.
IEEE 802.15.4 Compatible
Using popular protocols such as Zigbee, TI 15.4 stack, or 6LoWPan, we can quickly implement a secure star or mesh network without having to create a network layer from scratch, significantly reducing development time.
Low Cost
Since Sub-1GHz has been widely used in many industrial fields, the integration of chipsets is becoming more and more feature-rich, which greatly reduces the cost of the solution. The cost of building Sub-1GHz sensor nodes is not high.
The sub-1GHz band is good for IoT wireless connectivity applications, but it has not yet formed a unified band worldwide, and its band application varies with different national or regional radio specifications. In contrast, telecom networks are generally mostly dedicated frequency bands, such as NB-IoT, with relatively less spectrum interference and unified standards that are relatively easy to achieve device access to the network.
In China, different Sub-1GHz bands correspond to different radio services and cannot be used across industries or equipment types, and different radio transmitting equipment bands require different specifications, but they can still be used in some industries on a large scale, such as meter reading applications.
In addition to micro-powered short-range radio equipment, Sub-1GHz band there are some dedicated communication bands, such as 230MHz band wireless power network, etc., that can realize the national scale of the device network access.
IoT innovation is always in continuous development, Sub-1GHz wireless connection can be formed into wireless local area networks, and the integration of basic network facilities and Internet connection, the mutual integration of broadband and narrowband, telecommunication network, and non-telecommunication networks will continuously push the development of IoT application innovation.
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