The rapid expansion of urban populations has intensified the demand for efficient, sustainable, and intelligent infrastructure, leading to the widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in smart cities. A critical challenge in large-scale IoT deployments is the design of low-power communication architectures that ensure long-term device operation, scalability, and reliability. This paper presents a comprehensive review of low-power IoT communication architectures for smart city applications. It critically examines layered architectures, communication technologies such as Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN), and enabling paradigms including edge and fog computing, as well as energy harvesting techniques. Performance metrics such as energy efficiency, latency, scalability, and reliability are analyzed. The study highlights that hybrid architectures integrating LPWAN with edge/fog intelligence offer optimal performance. Furthermore, key challenges such as interoperability, security, and energy constraints are discussed, along with future research directions focusing on artificial intelligence integration and next-generation communication technologies.

Less communication → Less energy consumption Smart communication → Higher efficiency Local processing → Faster response Long-range systems → Better scalability Hybrid architecture → Best overall performance

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