Evaluación del rango de transmisión de LoRa para redes de sensores inalámbricos con LoRaWAN en ambientes urbanos

Abstract

LoRa is part of the LPWAN networks, which is characterized by its low cost, sensitivity and ease of implementation. This technology is suitable for applications that require transmitting information without the need for high speeds, a concrete example is the wireless reading of electricity or water meters. This document proposes a study of the LoRa technology and the LoRaWAN network protocol using the LoRa 900 evaluation kit from Microchip; whose purpose is to obtain an empirical model of path losses based on the RSSI values, which were obtained in the measurement campaigns. The measurements were made in three representative sectors of the city of Cuenca: Historic Center, Totoracocha and Oro Verde. It was demonstrated through a statistical analysis, that it is not necessary to vary the path loss model according to the transmission configurations, since they are related. In addition, as previous work it was found that for values lower than -110 dBm of RSSI, these are not reliable. The results show that the Historic Center sector has reliable coverage up to 200 meters; while in the other sectors the maximum reliable range was approximately 500 meters. The performance of LoRaWAN depends on several factors such as: elevation difference, type of obstacles in the signal path and distance between the transceiver and receiver