Cited radio roles · typical order-of-magnitude figures (not a lab cert)
Village metering and EMS need radios at different hops. A LoRaWAN meter uplink is not a cellular backhaul; Wi‑Fi at the pole shed is not Matter in the home; Starlink can carry MQTT northbound but does not replace neighborhood RF. This page is a decision map — band, range class, throughput class, power, and where each tech usually sits — using terms that appear in NIST / IEC metering architecture docs (cited below), not an invented “AMI stack.”
Compare meter/sensor → concentrator, neighborhood mesh / access point, and site → head-end / cloud separately. Mixing “LoRaWAN vs LTE vs Starlink” in one cell without a hop is how RFPs get confused. Empty / “not verified” cells stay empty — do not invent country-specific licenses from memory.
Ranges and bitrates below are typical published classes, not guaranteed field results. Terrain, antenna height, duty cycle, and local regulation dominate. Always confirm spectrum rules with the national regulator before a pilot.
These labels are not IEEE Smart Village inventions. Two legitimate sources use related names; they are not identical:
| Term | Source | Meaning (quoted / paraphrased from source) |
|---|---|---|
| NAN — Neighborhood Area Network | NIST [11] [12] | NIST IR 7761r1: “A network system intended to provide direct connectivity with Smart Grid end devices in a relatively small geographic area… a few blocks… or… several miles… in a rural environment.” NIST project page: last-mile from meters toward AMI head-end may consist of NAN and HAN. |
| HAN — Home Area Network | NIST [11] [12] | Listed with FAN/NAN/WAN as a Smart Grid communications sub-network in NIST IR 7761r1 assessment matrices (indoor premises devices). |
| FAN — Field Area Network | NIST [11] | NIST IR 7761r1 glossary: connectivity to field distribution-automation devices (distinct from meter NAN in that document’s taxonomy). |
| WAN — Wide Area Network | NIST [11]; CEN/CLC/ETSI [13] | Longer-haul / head-end facing network in both NIST wireless guidance and European smart-metering functional architecture. |
| NN — Neighbourhood Network NNAP — Neighbourhood Network Access Point |
CEN/CLC/ETSI TR 50572 [13]; IEC 62056 NN profiles [14] | IEC / European metering architecture: optional Neighbourhood Network covering several premises; access via NNAP (often a gateway / data concentrator). Closest IEC counterpart to NIST “NAN” — different acronym. |
| LN / LNAP | CEN/CLC/ETSI TR 50572 [13] | Local Network within the same premises; Local Network Access Point. |
| Leaf (informal on this page) | — | Not a NIST/IEC acronym here. Plain-language label for battery / Class A style end nodes (e.g. LoRaWAN end-device). Prefer “end device” / “meter” in formal RFPs. |
| ONT | — | Not used on this page. In telecom, ONT usually means Optical Network Terminal (fiber FTTH CPE) — a different industry. Do not treat ONT as an AMI layer name. |
Role tags below map loosely to NIST NAN/WAN (and IEC NN/WAN). They are for comparison columns — not a claim that every ISV pilot implements full utility AMI.
Low duty-cycle uplinks: last-gasp, prepaid events, CT snapshots. Classic: LoRaWAN, sometimes proprietary sub‑GHz. Bluetooth / Matter more often inside a building than on a LV span. (Informal “leaf”; not a NIST term.)
Per NIST: neighborhood connectivity for end devices [11]. Per IEC: Neighbourhood Network via NNAP [13]. Field examples: meter↔DCU RF/PLC, MeshEMS-style pole mesh, TV White Space bridges — verify tech against local regs.
Northbound MQTT/HTTPS: LTE / cellular, fixed wireless, or Starlink when terrestrial WAN is absent. Edge must keep working when WAN dies.
GPS (and other GNSS) gives time/position — not a data backhaul. AM / FM are one-way broadcast; useful for community info, not AMI command paths.
Throughput / range = order-of-magnitude class. “—” = not the primary use or not verified here. Role tags use NIST NAN / WAN where that match is reasonable.
| Technology | Typical bands | Range class | Throughput class | Power / duty | Village role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LoRaWAN Leaf | Sub‑GHz ISM (e.g. 868 / 915 MHz regional) [1] | km-class LOS; less in clutter | ~0.3–50 kbps class (SF / BW) | Deep sleep; Class A uplink-first | Leaf meters, last-gasp, sparse telemetry | Star topology via gateway; not a high-rate mesh. ISV Heltec leaf firmware pattern fits here. |
| TV White Space NAN | UHF TV gaps (~470–698 MHz region-dependent) [2] | km–tens of km NLOS-friendly | ~Mbps class (channel / std) | Always-on CPE / BS typical | Rural NAN / village–town bridge | Needs geolocation DB / license rules. Strong for foliage; availability varies by country. |
| Z-Wave Leaf | Sub‑GHz (region SKU) [3] | ~10–100 m indoor class | ~40–100 kbps class | Battery sensors common | In-building / compound IoT | Mesh inside premises — not LV feeder span. |
| Matter Leaf | IP over Thread / Wi‑Fi / Ethernet; BLE for commissioning [4] | Room / building (Thread mesh) | App-level; radio underlay varies | Border router usually mains | Smart-home / building edge | Application layer — not a WAN. Useful when customer premises devices must interop. |
| Bluetooth (Classic / LE) Leaf | 2.4 GHz ISM [5] | ~10–100 m class (LE long-range variants longer) | kbps–Mbps class by PHY | Very low for LE sensors | Commissioning, local HMI, BLE beacons | Poor through walls at distance; not feeder backhaul. |
| Wi‑Fi (802.11) NAN | 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz [6] | ~10–100+ m; mesh extends | Mbps–100s Mbps | Mains AP / CPE | Pole shed LAN, workshop demos, short NAN | High throughput; higher power and congestion vs LoRa. MeshEMS dashboards often over Wi‑Fi LAN. |
| LTE WAN | Licensed operator bands (FDD/TDD) [7] | Cell radius km-class | ~Mbps–10s Mbps typical rural | Modem always / duty-cycled | Primary terrestrial WAN | SIM, coverage, and cost dominate. Cat‑M / NB‑IoT variants for low-rate IoT. |
| Cellular (2G–5G umbrella) WAN | Licensed MNO spectrum | Coverage-map dependent | From kbps (2G) to 5G broadband | Modem + antenna budget | WAN / fallback WAN | “Cellular” is a family — specify generation + IoT category in RFPs. 2G sunset risks exist in many markets. |
| Starlink WAN | Ku / Ka user terminal (LEO) [8] | Sky view → global service footprint | ~10s–100+ Mbps class (service-dependent) | Dish + PoE / DC; not leaf-battery | Site WAN when terrestrial absent | Great northbound pipe; still need edge autonomy. Import / power / policy constraints apply per country. |
| GPS (GNSS) PNT | L1 (~1575 MHz) + modernized signals [9] | Sky visibility (not a “range” link) | Navigation message — not user backhaul | Receiver-only (user) | Time sync, geotag assets, TVWS DB | One-way from space segment. Pair with NTP/PTP strategy; spoofing/jamming awareness for OT. |
| AM broadcast Bcast | MF ~530–1700 kHz (regional plans) [10] | 10s–100s km skywave/groundwave | Audio — not packet AMI | Transmitter site (utility / broadcaster) | Community info / emergency audio | One-way. Do not plan meter control over AM. |
| FM broadcast Bcast | VHF ~87.5–108 MHz [10] | ~10s km LOS class | Audio (+ limited RDS data) | Transmitter site | Community radio / alerts | RDS is low-rate side-channel — not a substitute for DLMS/MQTT. |
| Need | First look | Usually avoid as sole link |
|---|---|---|
| Battery leaf, km hop, tiny payload | LoRaWAN | Starlink dish per meter; AM/FM |
| Foliage / beyond-LOS village bridge | TV White Space (where legal) | 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi alone |
| In-home appliance interop | Matter / Thread / Wi‑Fi / BLE | Cellular SIM per bulb |
| Cloud MQTT from remote site | LTE / cellular; else Starlink | Bluetooth; GPS |
| Workshop demo map + dashboard | Wi‑Fi LAN + local ESP32 AP | Production reliance on demo AP SSID |
| Public emergency audio | FM / AM community radio | Using broadcast as AMI command path |
Tag key: V = vendor / SDO primary · I = industry regulator · ISV = internal note (none on this page yet).