Wide Area Network Research Articles

Effect of additional herbage areas on grazing dairy cows in commercial farms: A GPS and LoRaWAN based case study on herbage intake and milk yield

Although grazing systems are widely used for lactating dairy cattle feed intake is generally lower than in a fully housed system even when the feed quality and animal’s nutritional requirements are similar. Here we investigate whether allocating additional herbage at a time linked to the cow’s behaviour can increase productivity using long range wide area network (LoRa) technology and GPS positioning to track animal activity and position. In particular, we examined whether additional herbage allowance increases daily herbage intake and milk production without compromising grazing efficiency. Fourteen trials were undertaken with commercial dairy herds in 2019, 2020 and 2021 with cows in mid to late lactation. The ‘GrazeMore’ additional grazing was compared to a standard daily herbage allocation. The ‘GrazeMore’ treatment period always followed an initial control period, sometimes with a subsequent control period. The composition of the herds was largely consistent over the duration of each trial, enabling the responses to be compared directly, though with an adjustment made for stage of lactation. Responses to additional ‘GrazeMore’ pasture allocations were inconsistent. Increased intakes during day grazing periods were sometimes balanced by reduced intakes in the following night periods, suggesting that factors other than the quantity of herbage on offer and the timing of its allocation during day grazing were responsible for limiting total 24h herbage intake and milk production. Synchronising additional pasture allocation with grazing behaviour does not always increase herbage intake and milk production.

An IoT-based packet aggregation mechanism for the SDN-based wide area networks

The Internet of Things (IoT) is destined to play a crucial role in our daily lives. Numerous short packets are sent over the networks due to these IoT devices' communication with one another or with the relevant servers via the Internet, which causes an increase in the bps and pps in the network nodes, high overheads, and inefficient performance of the networks. Many packet aggregation mechanisms have been developed and studied to solve these issues. Among them, some works are about the aggregation of the IoT packets in the WAN area; however, they have few studies and discussions about selecting the aggregator nodes and the possible options. In this work, a packet aggregation mechanism is proposed for near-the-edge SDN-based AS networks in the WAN area, which can select the aggregation type and the aggregator nodes among the possible options. The simulation results of the proposed mechanism are presented for different options, and the related discussions and comparisons are made. The results show improvements in the network efficiency for different modes of the proposed packet aggregation mechanism related to the non-aggregation mode and simple/app-level aggregation in all network nodes.

AUTOMATIC AMOUNT CALCULATION SYSTEM - SMART ENERGY METER USING IOT

In today's reality, Automatic frameworks are being favored over manual frameworks. The quick increment in the number of clients of the web over the previous decade has made the Internet an integral part of life, and IoT is the most recent and rising web innovation. Electricity is one of the fundamental necessities of human beings, it is commonly used for domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes. These days, power theft is the main issue, costing electricity boards a lot of money and creating payment issues for customers. In our country, these situations are more often. If these thefts are prevented then a lot of power can be saved. This is done using a Smart EB meter. An energy meter chip is used in SEMs to measure the amount of electric energy used, and wireless protocols are used for data transmission. This project presents an EB meter box via automatic billing system by display. electricity continues to rise, the existing grid faces challenges related to aging infrastructure, poor visibility, and mechanical switches. Additionally, greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity industry and other stressors necessitate grid modernization. The proposed smart energy meter leverages Internet of Things (IoT) technology, enabling two-way data communication over LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network). These are this system's salient characteristics. The meter incorporates theft and tamper detection capabilities. Users receive notifications in case of any unauthorized interference. Key Words: Internet of Things (IoT), Light-dependent resistor (LDR), ESP8266 Microcontroller (NodeMCU), Liquid-crystal display, LoRaWAN, Energy Meter.

Digitalized Radio over Fiber Network-Based Sigma Delta Modulation

ABSTRACT Digital Radio over Fiber (DRoF) technologies end up being the most often used option for the backbone of Wide Area Networks (WAN). The main goal of this paper is to evaluate a DRoF scheme called Sigma Delta Radio over Fiber (SDRoF). Studies have been done on the suggested system performance metrics, such as Error Vector Magnitude (EVM). According to the simulation findings, the suggested model can handle 6.144 Gbps data transfer up to 300 km with zero BER and an EVM of about 4.153%. The proposed system model was found to be superior to the most recent peer-reviewed papers.

Minimizing the Number of Distrustful Nodes on the Path of IP Packet Transmission

One of the important directions for improving modern Wide Area Networks is efficient and secure packet routing. Efficient routing is often based on using the shortest paths, while ensuring security involves preventing the possibility of packet interception. The work is devoted to improving the security of data transmission in IP networks. A new approach is proposed to minimize the number of distrustful nodes on the path of IP packet transmission. By a distrustful node, we mean a node that works correctly in terms of hardware and software and fully implements its data transport functions, but from the point of view of its organizational subordination, we are not sure that the node will not violate security rules to prevent unauthorized access and interception of data. A distrustful node can be either a transit or an end node. To implement this approach, we modified Dijkstra’s shortest path tree construction algorithm. The modified algorithm ensures that we obtain a path that will pass only through trustful nodes, if such a path exists. If there is no such path, the path will have the minimum possible number of distrustful intermediate nodes. The number of intermediate nodes in the path was used as a metric to obtain the shortest path trees. Routing tables of routers, built on the basis of trees obtained using a modified algorithm, provide increased security of data transmission, minimizing the use of distrustful nodes.

Low-Cost, Open-Source, Experimental Setup Communication Platform for Emergencies, Based on SD-WAN Technology

The rapid advancement of communication technologies underscores the urgent need for robust and adaptable emergency communication systems (ECSs), particularly crucial during crises and natural disasters. Although network-based ECSs have been extensively studied, integrating open-source technologies, such as software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) with private long-term evolution (LTE) base stations, is a relatively unexplored domain. This study endeavors to fill this gap by introducing an experimental ECS platform that utilizes a hybrid network, incorporating a VoIP network to enhance open-source and on-premises communications in targeted areas. Our hypothesis posits that a hybrid network architecture, combining SD-WAN and private LTE, can substantially improve the reliability and efficiency of ECSs. Our findings, supported by the open-source OMNeT++ simulator, illuminate the enhanced communication reliability of the network. Moreover, the proposed platform, characterized by autonomous wireless 4G/LTE base stations and an Asterisk VoIP server, demonstrates improved quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE), with minimal data loss. This research not only has immediate practical applications but also bears significant implications for the development of cost-effective, open-source communication networks, optimized for emergencies, critical infrastructure, and remote areas.

Exploring open source and proprietary LoRa mesh technologies

This paper explores low power wide area network (LPWAN) LoRa and its diverse variants, encompassing open-source and proprietary wireless mesh networks, operating over the physical LoRa or LoRaWAN layer. The primary challenge lies in defining an optimal LoRa mesh solution that balances cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency, low latency, long-range capability, and security. This study also comprehensively examines key LoRa mesh solutions from 2017 to 2024, as proposed by various authors. Furthermore, a detailed analysis is conducted to contrast open-source and commercial solutions, considering their applications, limitations, issues, characteristics, and pros and cons of mesh routing protocols. In the current landscape, the proliferation of open-source and proprietary LoRa mesh solutions has been instrumental in facilitating the connectivity of internet of things (IoT) devices. However, these solutions pose challenges related to energy consumption, latency, and suboptimal transmission throughput. These challenges are influenced by various LoRa characteristics such as spectrum factor, bandwidth, and transmission power, which directly impact the transmission range. Our research aims to perform a comparative analysis of existing LoRa mesh solutions by, systematically studying their advantages and disadvantages. This analysis offers valuable insights for making informed choices among these solutions in diverse domains for IoT applications.

Enhancing Reliability in Rural Networks Using a Software-Defined Wide Area Network

Due to limited infrastructure and remote locations, rural areas often need help providing reliable and high-quality network connectivity. We propose an innovative approach that leverages Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) architecture to enhance reliability in such challenging rural scenarios. Our study focuses on cases in which network resources are limited to network solutions such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and a Low-Earth-Orbit satellite connection. The SD-WAN implementation compares three tunnel selection algorithms that leverage real-time network performance monitoring: Deterministic, Random, and Deep Q-learning. The results offer valuable insights into the practical implementation of SD-WAN for rural connectivity scenarios, showing its potential to bridge the digital divide in underserved areas.

Comparison of WebSocket and Hypertext Transfer Protocol for Transfer of Electronic Health Records.

Electronic health records (EHR) emerged as a digital record of the data that is generated in the healthcare. In this paper the transfer times of EHRs using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol and WebSocket in both local network and wide area network (WAN) are compared. A python web application to serve Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) records is created and the transfer times of the EHRs over both HTTP and WebSocket connection are measured. 45000 test Patient resources in 20, 50, 100 and 200 resources per Bundle transfers are used. WebSocket showed much better transfer times of large amount of data. These were 18 s shorter in the local network and 342 s shorter in WAN for the 20 resource per Bundle transfer. RESTful APIs are a convenient way to implement EHR servers; on the other hand, HTTP becomes a bottleneck when transferring large amount of data. WebSocket shows better transfer times and thus its superiority in such situations. The problem can be addressed by developing a new communication protocol or by using network tunneling to handle large data transfer of EHRs.

THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF SD-WAN TECHNOLOGIES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The concept paper explores the transformative impact of Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technologies on the telecommunications industry. SD-WAN has emerged as a game-changer, offering a more flexible, agile, and cost-effective alternative to traditional Wide Area Network (WAN) solutions. The paper begins by providing a theoretical foundation for SD-WAN, discussing its key principles, architectural components, and underlying technologies. It explores how SD-WAN leverages software-defined networking (SDN) principles to dynamically manage and optimize network traffic across geographically dispersed locations, improving performance and reducing costs. The practical implications of SD-WAN in the telecommunications industry are then examined. The paper discusses how SD-WAN enables organizations to enhance network performance, reduce latency, and improve application performance across their networks. It also explores how SD-WAN can simplify network management, enhance security, and support the growing demand for cloud-based applications and services. Furthermore, the paper discusses the challenges and considerations associated with implementing SD-WAN, such as ensuring compatibility with existing network infrastructure, managing security risks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. It also explores the potential impact of SD-WAN on telecommunications service providers, highlighting opportunities for new revenue streams and business models. Overall, this concept paper provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical underpinnings and practical implications of SD-WAN technologies in telecommunications. It aims to inform telecommunications professionals, researchers, and policymakers about the transformative potential of SD-WAN and its implications for the future of telecommunications. Keywords: SD-WAN, Technology, Telecom, Security.

Scalability and Performance Analysis of LoRaWAN Networks for IoT Implementation: Comprehensive Review and Research Agenda

The surge in IoT devices has created the need for a scalable and high-performance network infrastructure capable of handling massive data flows and diverse application requirements. Among the various wireless technologies available, with long-range communication capabilities, low power consumption, and cost-effectiveness, the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) has emerged as a highly popular choice for numerous applications. This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent developments in scalability and performance analysis of LoRaWAN networks for IoT implementation by reviewing existing research and identifying key challenges and opportunities for the research agenda. In the research on LoRaWAN performance in IoT, five characteristics have been proven and become factors for using LoRaWAN in IoT: low energy power usage, wide coverage, low cost, stable data transmission speed, and system reliability. However, not many have discussed its security. Based on the literature review, LoRaWAN does have some characteristics that make it suitable for large-scale IoT applications. This review will contribute to advancing knowledge in this field, enabling the development of scalable and high-performance IoT systems to meet the demands of the growing IoT ecosystem

TONARI: Reactive Detection of Close Physical Contact Using Unlicensed LPWAN Signals

Recognizing if two objects are in close physical contact (CPC) is the basis of various Internet-of-Things services such as vehicle proximity alert and radiation exposure reduction. This is achieved traditionally through tailor-made proximity sensors that proactively transmit wireless signals and analyze the reflection from an object. Despite its feasibility, the past few years have witnessed the prosperity of reactive CPC detection techniques that do not need spontaneous signal transmission and merely exploit received wireless signals from a target. Unlike existing approaches entailing additional effort of multiple antennas, dedicated signal emitters, human intervention, or a back-end server, this article presents TONARI, an effortless CPC detection framework that performs in a reactive manner. TONARI is developed for the first time with LoRa, the representative of unlicensed low-power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, as the wireless signal for CPC detection. At the heart of TONARI lies a novel feature arbitrator that decides whether two devices are in CPC or not by distinguishing different types of LoRa chirp-based additive sample magnitude sequences. Software-defined radio-based experiments are conducted to show that the achievable CPC detection accuracy via TONARI can reach 100% in most practical cases.

Internet of Things: Agriculture Precision Monitoring System based on Low Power Wide Area Network

Nowadays, many people around the world depend mostly on agriculture for their livelihood. In the majority of countries around the world, it is the most significant occupation for many families. Unfortunately, farmers, particularly in oil palm plantations, continue to rely on age-old practices. One of the key elements in achieving high and long-term oil palm production on peat is the adoption of efficient precision water management. In essence, this means maintaining the water table at the necessary depth. Because of the peat's persistently low water table, oil palm productivity has sharply decreased. In this work, an Internet of Things (IoT) for precision agriculture monitoring is developed using a long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) algorithm. Based on an approach point of view, a LoRaWAN is a long-range, low-power, low-bitrate wireless telecommunications system meant to be used as part of the Internet of Things architecture. The end devices link to gateways through a single wireless hop using LoRaWAN. These gateways function as transparent bridges, relaying messages from the end devices to a central network server. The ultimate result is the creation of a precision water management assistance algorithm employing LoRaWAN and IoT that is both affordable and effective.

Lorawan-Based RSSI-Trilateration Model for Node Location: A Simulation Integrating Flora and Omnet++

Abstract This work presents the employing of LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) for location applications through a network simulation to determine a mobile node position. We rely on FLoRa (Framework for LoRa) and OMNeT++ (Objective Modular Network Testbed in C++) simulator, which uses Python feature tools, following the calculation of node placement using the trilateration technique. Our method differs from others in that we calculate the FLoRa power loss and determine different simulation settings using the shadowing feature of the log-distance path loss model. We approached RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) to measure the distance between the LoRa gateways and the nodes, establishing a link between these parameters. Our work aims to promote the integration of open-source tools for verifying signal intensity values based on node distance from gateways. We consider it useful for engineers in predicting signal behaviors according to topology and settings variations. During the experimentation, the network underwent different performances according to the transmission parameters considered during the simulation. This was critical when increasing the number of mobile nodes, leading to consuming computer capacity and resources. Through repetition of tests, we confirmed the lower intensity of the received signal as the node moves to farther positions, reaching consistent power indicators and positioning accuracy. Overall, the results show that LoRaWAN integrated with trilateration techniques can be practical in providing adequate performance for node positioning accuracy and long-distance communication with low power consumption.

Future Industrial Applications: Exploring LPWAN-Driven IoT Protocols.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will bring about the next industrial revolution in Industry 4.0. The communication aspect of IoT devices is one of the most critical factors in choosing the device that is suitable for use. Thus far, the IoT physical layer communication challenges have been met with various communications protocols that provide varying strengths and weaknesses. This paper summarizes the network architectures of some of the most popular IoT wireless communications protocols. It also presents a comparative analysis of some of the critical features, including power consumption, coverage, data rate, security, cost, and quality of service (QoS). This comparative study shows that low-power wide area network (LPWAN)-based IoT protocols (LoRa, Sigfox, NB-IoT, LTE-M) are more suitable for future industrial applications because of their energy efficiency, high coverage, and cost efficiency. In addition, the study also presents an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) application perspective on the suitability of LPWAN protocols in a particular scenario and addresses some open issues that need to be researched. Thus, this study can assist in deciding the most suitable IoT communication protocol for an industrial and production field.

Polling Mechanisms for Industrial IoT Applications in Long-Range Wide-Area Networks

LoRaWAN is a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology that is well suited for industrial IoT (IIoT) applications. One of the challenges of using LoRaWAN for IIoT is the need to collect data from a large number of devices. Polling is a common way to collect data from devices, but it can be inefficient for LoRaWANs, which are designed for low data rates and long battery life. LoRaWAN devices operating in two specific modes can receive messages from a gateway even when they are not sending data themselves. This allows the gateway to send commands to devices at any time, without having to wait for them to check for messages. This paper proposes various polling mechanisms for industrial IoT applications in LoRaWANs and presents specific considerations for designing efficient polling mechanisms in the context of industrial IoT applications leveraging LoRaWAN technology.

UAV Detect and Avoid from UTM-Dependent Surveillance

A hierarchical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) traffic management (UTM) system has deployed 45 ground transceiver stations (GTS) for UAS services in Taiwan. This UTM system covers most areas for UAV-dependent surveillance using ADS-B Like technology. UTM Controller can monitor all UAV flights under transparent surveillance in low airspace. Controller-initiated UAV “detect and avoid” (DAA) mechanism assists UAV separation to ensure flight safety on UTM for small multirotor UAVs. From similar concept to traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) for the manned aircraft system, the UTM software executes DAA functions to generate approach alerts to UTM Controller. Conflict is detected by heading arrow extrapolation from multiple approaching UAVs by their time to conflict (TTC) on icons. Traffic advisory (TA) and resolution advisory (RA) are pronounced on UTM console to controllers. The less priority UAV pilot will receive the controller-pilot communication (CPC) to perform avoidance resolution. In UTM, the surveillance data period is broadcasting at 5~8 seconds on LoRa (long-range wide-area network) chip. Referring to TA=48 seconds and RA=24 seconds, the signal delay in ADS-B Like system to UTM server is about 0.5 seconds and CPC response is measured about 3~5 seconds. From real flight tests, the RA is enough for the less priority pilot to maneuver UAV for avoidance. From real flight tests, the proposed DAA mechanism based on UTM-dependent surveillance is feasible to resolve multiple approaches. The developing UTM system using ADS-B Like technology is also examined of high availability with redundant reliability and performance stability for flight safety.

A hybrid convolutional neural network-transformer method for received signal strength indicator fingerprinting localization in Long Range Wide Area Network

In recent years, low-power wide area networks (LPWANs), particularly Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology, are increasingly being adopted into large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) applications thanks to having the ability to offer cost-effective long-range wireless communication at low-power. The need to provide location-stamped communications to IoT applications for meaningful interpretation of physical measurements from IoT devices has increased demand to incorporate location estimation capabilities into LoRaWAN networks. Fingerprint-based localization methods are increasingly becoming popular in LoRaWAN networks because of their relatively high accuracy compared to range-based localization methods. This work proposes hybrid convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-transformer fingerprinting method to localize a node in a LoRaWAN network. CNNs are adopted to complement the strengths of the Transformer by adding the ability to capture local features from input data and consequently allow the Transformer, through the attention mechanism, to effectively learn global dependencies from the input data. Specifically, the proposed method works by first learning the local location features from the input data using the CNNs and passing the resulting information to the transformer encoder to learn global features from the input data. The output of the transformer encoder is then concatenated with information learned at the local level and then passed through the regressor for the final location estimation. With a localization performance of 290.71 m mean error achieved, the proposed method outperformed similar state-of-the-art works in the literature evaluated on the same publicly available LoRaWAN dataset.

Lora Based Coal Mine Safety Monitoring and Security System Using Smart Helmet

The process of removing coal from the earth is called coal mining. Coal is used as fuel by the steel and cement industries to extract iron from iron ore and to make cement. The category that includes the underground mining business includes all factors that require routine monitoring, including methane gas, high temperatures, fire accidents, and so on. The safe production level of coal mines is still low, and frequent tragedies there result in significant losses of life and property. It is crucial to keep an eye on the working conditions in coal mines since the variety of work done there and the complexity of the mine environment are the main causes of disasters. The coal mine based on LoRa Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology is used by the Safety Monitoring and Security System to improve security and safety in coal mines. This system incorporates cutting-edge sensors to continuously monitor the surrounding environment, gas concentrations, and worker welfare. LoRa enables seamless communication and quick identification of potential risks because to its long range capabilities.

An Integrated Smart Metering System Using LORA Technology

Precise meter readings are essential for effectively regulating residential energy systems in India's smart city context. However, due to the high number of users and the absence of daily consumption monitoring, standard meter reading methods are expensive and time-consuming, which causes consumer unhappiness. The suggested approach to address this issue is to put in place an integrated wireless smart energy system that makes use of smart metering technologies. The way utilities manage energy could be completely changed by this method. The integrated system is intended to take the place of the traditional digital energy meters, which are primarily used to record meter readings properly for payment purposes. This allows for automatic meter readings without the need for frequent travels to the location where the meters are located. Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) technology, which is renowned for its low power consumption, cost-effectiveness, long-range coverage, and efficient penetration, are used in this technology to enable the transfer of accurate and secure data on energy usage in real-time. The experiments that resulted from the trials allowed the energy to successfully communicate and documented reliable readings. By providing users with real-time usage data and guarding against overloaded scenarios, the system also benefits consumers. Additionally, the device reports electricity theft to the utility company. The shortcomings of the conventional systems and design difficulties are addressed by the suggested system.