LORAWAN Internet of Things Network Planning for Smart Metering Services

Abstract

Optimization of energy usage is essential to minimize the waste of energy usage. Smart Metering is a solution to resolve this problem. It can measure, collect, analyze energy distribution and its consumption, and communicate with metering devices on schedule and on-demand, i.e., for electricity, water, and gas services. However, selecting the right Internet of Things (IoT) network connectivity to deploy Smart Metering services is still the main challenge, especially for the dense urban setting. LoRaWAN is one of the most popular Low Power Wide Area technologies consider as a suitable IoT network connectivity for Smart Metering because LoRaWAN has a long battery life, using unlicensed frequency and low cost of deployment. In this research, the LoRaWAN IoT network planning to deliver Smart Metering services was conducted in Jakarta City, as representative of the dense urban setting. The network planning methods are using capacity and coverage analysis as well as radio network planning simulation. It is found that to deploy Smart Metering services in the Jakarta City area, at least 23 gateways are required with Spreading Factor (SF) values of 7, Code Rate (CR) of 1/2/3/4, and can serve at the level of receiver sensitivity > -129dBm. An average received signal level of -78.84 dBm with an average of throughput distribution of 21.69 kbps were obtained based on coverage prediction simulation. Meanwhile the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) simulation generated the highest SNR is 30 dB, and the lowest SNR is -20dB resulting in the average SNR level of the entire region is about -1.05dB.