Performance Evaluation of the LoRa Wide Area Network Technology
Name: MENNO JAN FABER
Publication date: 17/07/2020
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| CELSO JOSE MUNARO | Internal Examiner * |
| EVANDRO OTTONI TEATINI SALLES | Internal Examiner * |
| JAIR ADRIANO LIMA SILVA | Advisor * |
| MARCELO EDUARDO VIEIRA SEGATTO | Co advisor * |
| RODOLFO DA SILVA VILLACA | External Examiner * |
Summary: The Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 markets will probably range amounts between $2.7 to $6.2 trillions by 2025, worldwide. In Brazil, these markets will generate $3.29 B by 2021. Wireless transmission techniques will play a signicant role in these markets, despite the fact that most of the current wireless transmissions techniques are expensive and energy inecient. One of the techniques that have become a front runner in such markets is long range (LoRa). Beyond the robustness against interference, multipath fading, and the Doppler eect, LoRa is able to transmit over distances that can reach 10 Km
in open areas and 3 Km in urban areas, at data rates that can reach 27 kbps. A theoretical study and an experimental evaluation of the performance of the LoRa technology are described in this work. Its performance in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels is addressed, through numerical simulations, to elucidate its communication capabilities in negative signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Because of the importance of forward error correction (FEC) codes in the performance of modern systems, we propose an analytical bit-error-rate (BER) expression that considers the in uence of the code rate parameter. The agreement between the theoretical and the numerical results of a Hamming coded system validated the proposed closed-form BER, evaluated in terms of SNR in AWGN channels. Moreover, experimental setups with o-the-shelf LoRa wide area network (LoRaWan) equipment were prepared to demonstrate the feasibility of this promising technology, as well
the impact of the channel codication on the performance. Communication in urban and open areas with distances up to ≈ 3 and ≈ 10 km, respectively, were achieved, according to measurements of the average received signal indicators (RSSIs) around −100 dBm for an average SNR ≈ 5 dB. Additionally, feasible communication between a central oil-producing process used to monitor several oil wells, located in a rural area, was achieved at distances
up to ≈ 2.7 km, according to measurements of the average RSSIs around −100 dBm for an average SNR ≈ 5.6 dB. It is possible to conclude from the experimental results that, LoRaWAN is a suitable long-range and low power wide area network for smart monitoring in oil Industries.
