LoRa-Hybrid: A LoRaWAN Based Multihop Solution for Regional Microgrid

Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), such as LoRaWAN, has become the most fast-growing Internet of Things wireless solution in recent years. In April 2018, the city of Newcastle in Australia has rolled out a smart city initiative by adopting LoRaWAN. With its long-range, low power and low-cost features, it is ideal for a regional smart grid as an extension of the smart city project. Whereas, LoRaWAN single-hop topology hinders its further expansion because this mode would require more gateway installation to extend network coverage. It is foreseeably cost-effective if the message can be relayed by end devices while not sacrificing the performances. In this paper, we present a novel architecture by utilizing LoRaWAN MAC (media Access control) layer and application layer to overcome obstructions, such as buildings and hills, extending radio coverage. During our field test, we receive encouraging performance outcome when putting the system to test in a simulated grid environment.