The use of satellites to connect IoT devices is nothing new. Historically this has been focused on the tracking of high value assets in remote areas where there are no options for using terrestrial cellular networks. In recent years the technology capabilities have evolved significantly and the cost to serve highly geographically remote use cases has fallen, resulting in a continued growth in the adoption of satellite IoT. However, such an assessment misses the immense diversity. There is a wide array of different IoT applications that might be effectively addressed with satellite connectivity, each with their own characteristics. At the same time there are also a diverse set of technologies and propositions that are delivered via satellite.
In this report, sponsored by Globalstar, Transforma Insights explores the evolving satellite IoT landscape, and how it is critical to rethink the segmentation of the market based on two key dimensions: application characteristics and vendor propositions to address them. Any assessment of the space must take account of this application/proposition fit.
The report comprises the following sections:
Satellite networks are increasingly seen as a critical component in enabling the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT). Their ability to deliver connectivity to remote and underserved regions makes them especially valuable for use cases where terrestrial coverage is limited, intermittent, or impractical to deploy. While the exact requirements differ across applications, several clear sectors are emerging where satellite IoT will play an essential role.
The report starts by examining the diverse use cases that comprise satellite IoT, including agriculture, logistics, mining, transportation, and energy.
In order to determine the best approach to addressing the key use cases identified in the previous section, it is important to consider the deployment characteristics of the application. Different use cases making use of satellite will have different requirements. The report identifes a series of characteristics of those use cases that dictate how they are best addressed, including geography, data volumes, latency, cost and energy efficiency.
As a counterpart to the previous section the report then considers the capabilities of satellite propositions, spanning subjects such as protocol types, spectrum access, constellations, architectures (including consideration of the bent-pipe architecture as a platform for innovation) and maturity of propositions. In so doing it identifies which characteristics of satellite connectivity propositions are most critical for addressing the requirements of the IoT applications, and thus ensuring application/proposition fit.
In the context of satellite communications, bent pipe architectures are often seen as simple or limited compared with regenerative designs. A bent pipe payload is essentially a transparent repeater: it receives a signal from the ground, amplifies it, shifts frequency, and re-transmits it back to Earth without onboard processing. At first glance, this might seem less sophisticated. However, when examined as a platform for innovation, bent pipe offers distinctive advantages, particularly for IoT and emerging non-terrestrial network (NTN) services. This section explores that potential.
The report then presents four case studies from Globalstar exploring the diversity of satellite use cases across logistics, energy and agriculture:
A webinar on the 11th November (and subsequently available on-demand) will also explore these issues. More details can be found here: Webinar - Rethinking satellite IoT: how spectrum, architecture and technology define addressable markets.
