A study of LoRa low power and wide area network technology

Abstract

LoRa™ is low power wide area wireless network (LPWAN) protocol for Internet of Things (IoTs) applications. LPWAN has been enabling technology of large scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Effective cost, long range and energy efficiency of LPWANs make them most suitable candidates for smart city applications. These technologies offer novel communication paradigm to address discrete IoT's applications. LoRa is a recently proposed LPWAN technology based on spread spectrum technique with a wider band. LoRa uses the entire channel bandwidth to broadcast a signal which makes it resistant to channel noise, long term relative frequency, doppler effects and fading. This paper focuses on the emerging transmission technologies dedicated to IoT networks. Characteristics of LoRa are based on three basic parameters: Code Rate (CR), Spreading Factor (SF) and Bandwidth (BW). This paper provides in depth analysis of the impact of these three parameters on the data rate and time on air.