Internet of Things (IoT) using LoRa technology

LoRa is the new communication technology under the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). It emphasizes on the long-range communication with the high receiving sensitivity ability which allows it to work under the noise interference or noise floor effectively. The range of communication has become the critical part on most of the IoT system, especially in Wi- Fi and Bluetooth-based IoT system. With the emergence of LoRa technology, further improvements to applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) can be realized. By using a single receiver in the LoRa network, it is able to handle many nodes at multiple locations within the area, unlike Wi-Fi-based system which needs to have many access points to increase the coverage area. The combination of LoRa and Wi-Fi technology reduces the cost of deployment of the IoT system. In this paper, the actual deployment of IoT system using LoRa technology with the combination of Wi-Fi technology. Besides, this paper presents the performance and the actual coverage area of the LoRa network in both the indoor and outdoor condition. For the indoor condition, a different set of LoRa parameter including Spreading Factor and Bandwidth is tested at different locations. As a result, the quality of the LoRa network does not only depend on the distance from the gateway but also the effect of path loss due to the structural element. Moreover, a single LoRa gateway located at the middle floor of the building is able to handle the LoRa end-devices at any location within the campus with Spreading Factor of 9. A better indoor coverage can be improved by adding an additional LoRa gateway in the campus. While for the outdoor condition, the maximum coverage area in the LoRa network for Spreading Factor of 12 is 330 meters with an indoor gateway deployment.