This section will explore three relevant wireless personal area networks in the IoT space. A good portion of this section will be dedicated to Bluetooth as it provides a significant number of features and has a very deep presence in the IoT ecosphere. Additionally, Bluetooth 5.0 adds many features and abilities not seen before in the Bluetooth specification and provides range, power, speed, and connectivity that make it the strongest WPAN solution for many use cases. Zigbee, Z-Wave, and IEEE 802.15.4-based networks will also be investigated.

It is also helpful to know that the term WPAN is overloaded. Originally, it was to be a literal body and personal area network on a specific individual connected to wearable devices, but it has now extended its meaning.