Abstract
The large-scale behaviour of LoRaWAN networks has been studied through mathematical analysis and discrete-time simulations to understand their limitations. However, current literature is not always coherent in its assumptions and network setups. This paper proposes a comprehensive analysis of the known causes of packet loss in an uplink-only LoRaWAN network: duty cycle limitations, packet collision, insufficient coverage, and saturation of a receiver’s demodulation paths. Their impact on the overall Quality of Service (QoS) for a two-gateway network is also studied. The analysis is carried out with the discrete-event network simulator NS-3 and is set up to best fit the real behaviour of devices. This approach shows that increasing gateway density is only effective as the gateways are placed at a distance. Moreover, the trade-off between different outage conditions due to the uneven distribution of spreading factors is not always beneficial, diminishing returns as networks grow denser and wider. In particular, networks operating similarly to the one analysed in this paper should specifically avoid SF11 and 12, which decrease the average overall PDR by about 7% at 10% nodes increment across all configurations. The results of this work intend to homogenise behavioural assumptions and setups of future research investigating the capability of LoRaWAN networks and provide insight on the weight of each outage condition in a varying two-gateway network.
Highlights
Vidal and Jasone AstorgaThe Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that defines electronic systems with sensors and actuators which are connected wirelessly
Key metric to quantify the Quality of Service (QoS) of a LoRaWAN network is its Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), which provides an estimate of the quantity of data that is successfully transmitted and decoded, with a higher PDR meaning a network where fewer packets are dropped
Increasing the network radius decreases the overall PDR across all configurations, with nodes having to switch to higher spreading factors to stay within reach of a gateway, increasing the chance of collision
Summary
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that defines electronic systems with sensors and actuators which are connected wirelessly. Due to the mathematical complexity of modelling a thoroughly accurate network, most research dealing with stochastic geometry limits the scope of the analysis to simpler, less realistic configurations, usually by reducing the number of variables None of these studies tries to compare their results with discrete-time packet level simulations, such as the ones performed with NS-3 or LoRaSim. We have developed a model for the discrete-time simulator NS-3 to assess the relative impact of each of the known outage conditions on a two-gateway network. We have developed a model for the discrete-time simulator NS-3 to assess the relative impact of each of the known outage conditions on a two-gateway network This was achieved by evaluating the Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) of various network configurations upon varying parameters, such as the number of nodes deployed, the area they are deployed over, and the distance between the two gateways used.
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