Benchmarking of Narrowband LPWA Physical Layer Ranging Technologies

Accurate radio signal based geolocalization for Low Power Wide Area networks is a key-enabler to various Internet of Things applications. However, localization with narrowband signals remains challenging in multipath environments. Sequential coherent multi-channel ranging improves temporal resolution while being compatible with narrowband transmissions. New radio chipsets integrate proprietary ranging functions. This paper compares a proof-of-concept implementation for coherent multi-channel ranging with narrowband signals to the Time-of-Flight ranging function of the LoRa 2.4GHz radio chip. Benchmarking results for different configurations and propagation scenarios are discussed, illustrating the precision scalability of multi-channel ranging.