If you checked out the Bluetooth LE range or the ZigBee range articles, you know the story of the obstacle course building, engineering entrepreneurs. If not, here’s a quick recap:
In order to offer a better experience for contestants at their obstacle courses, the founders want to show data like top speed, time elapsed, route taken, and more. As electrical engineers, they want to test out if they can build this system themselves. They’ll need to start by testing out wireless technologies to use, and today they’re looking at 6LoWPAN.
What is the expected 6LoWPAN range from their second-floor antenna?
6LoWPAN Range Expectations:
Antenna: Second floor within a block-wall building
Receiver: One meter off the ground in the parking lot
| 6LoWPAN | |
| TX Antenna Height (m) | 6 |
| TX Power (dBm) | 3 |
| TX Antenna Gain (dB) | 0 |
| Frequency (MHz) | 2400 |
| RX Antenna Height (m) | 1 |
| RX Antenna Gain (dB) | -6 |
| Structure Loss (dB) | 11 |
| Sensitivity (dBm) | -101 |
| Margin (dB) | 20 |
| Range | 116 |
(Note: 11dB structure loss consistent with propagation through an 8" masonry block wall)
With one antenna on the second floor, the expected 6LoWPAN range is 116 meters. That’s not enough to cover all of the obstacle courses they have set up in the parking lot. They check into the other options:
- Bluetooth LE Range Use Case: What Can You Expect From Bluetooth Low Energy?
- ZigBee Range: A Basic Use Case Calculation
Want to learn more about LPWAN? Check out this article.
Want to learn about what we’re building at Link Labs? Click below to learn about the system with 2594 meters of range (using the same assumptions).
