Adaptive LPWA Networks Based on Turbo-FSK: from PHY to MAC Layer Performance Evaluation

Abstract

In order to meet the contradictory requirements of long range, low power consumption and adaptive throughput, LPWA networks require a decision module based on cognitive functionalities to select the most appropriate RF/PHY configuration and to cover the large variety of LPWA applications. In this paper, we define a new adaptive LPWA network exploiting the flexibility of the Turbo-FSK waveform. The most relevant configurations are selected from the PHY and MAC layers point of view. At the PHY layer, a trade-off between data rate, spectral efficiency, energy consumption and range is considered while the MAC layer deals with the reliability, the latency, the network capacity, the multi-user access (number of users, traffic intensity) to adapt the network. Hence, thanks to this selection, several strategies switching between available selected configurations are defined to adapt the communication to the context and according to the criteria to optimize. The performance for each configuration is evaluated by simulation when all the users select the same configuration. To tackle the three requirements (i.e. range, network capacity and energy consumption), appropriate configurations are identified.