LoRa technology MAC layer operations and Research issues

Abstract

LoRaWAN is a wireless technology for Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). Today, it is considered as one of the most serious alternatives for IoT thanks to its low cost, low power consumption equipments and its open business model. LoRaWAN specifications proposes interesting solutions regarding Medium Access Control (MAC) layer operations to deliver the best communication performances to connected things. Despite its crucial impact on the overall performances, few researches consider the LoRaWAN MAC layer. This paper presents LoRaWAN MAC layer operations and services based on the LoRaWAN Alliance technical specifications. In addition, it proposes an overview of recent studies related to LoRaWAN performances and stands out the major challenges to be addressed in order to enhance the performance of data exchanges.