Improving Scalability of LoRaWAN Networks by Spreading Factor Distribution

Long Range (LoRa) technology is receiving increasing attention in recent years for addressing the challenges of providing wireless connections to a large number of end devices in the field of Internet of Things (IoT). This is due to its long transmission range, low power consumption, and large network capacity. Despite these benefits, LoRa networks may not be able to achieve their full potential unless additional improvements are achieved in the network scalability. Specifically, the probability of success under heavy network traffic loads or large number of end devices needs to be improved. This paper explores the possibility of reducing the number of collisions in LoRa networks by allocating multiple spreading factors within the same network zones. We demonstrate that an optimum allocation of spreading factors increases the average probability of successful packet transmission to the gateway. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can substantially improve the network performance even for dense LoRa networks.