Wireless Network Simulator for Advanced LoRa Applications

The communication Long Range (LoRa) protocol and LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) layer have recently experienced rapid adoption and development for Internet of Things (IoT) communications. The development and analysis of network communication can be accelerated by efficient and accurate network simulations. In this paper, we present a wireless network simulator for various advanced LoRa applications. The described approach is based on independent modules connected via the simulator core, which emulates radio layer and air interface. The modules represent LoRa devices and gateways and runs their actual firmware, with the lowest layer replaced by the interface to the simulator. This abstraction allows for accurate network simulations and limits a development work when the communication protocol is being improved – the changes are made directly the actual firmware and simultaneously tested in the simulator. At the same time, the designer can effectively debug the firmware locally. We demonstrate the simulator’s function on a simple scenario of a linear LoRaWAN network. The presented simulator is provided online with open source.