Investigating IoT-LoRa Technology for The Underwater System Application

This paper reports our initial results of research concerning the feasibility of Internet-of-Things Long-Range (IoT-LoRa) communications technology for the underwater system application. We present the initial testing results of the IoT-LoRa system underwater on three different types of water, i.e., swimming pool water, seawater, and lake water. The experiments are carried out with a depth of 10 cm from the water surface, and distances between the LoRa transmitter and receiver are 2 m, 5 m, and 8 m. Those three types of water signify the variance in water’s turbidity, while RSSI and SNR are the performance parameters to be measured. The results show that the types of water and their turbidity level affect the LoRa signal transmission coverage, while RSSI and SNR values fluctuate underwater. The best RSSI and SNR values were achieved in swimming pool water, while the worst were in the seawater. Subsequently, this paper discusses the potential underwater service application and future research plans.