Energy Consumption Model for Sensor Nodes Based on LoRa and LoRaWAN

TLDR

Energy efficiency is critical for extending the battery life of sensor nodes, which must operate reliably over long periods in IoT applications. The study aims to develop an energy consumption model for LoRa/LoRaWAN sensor nodes to enable autonomous operation and optimize energy use. The authors construct a model that assigns power consumption to each task and node unit, then integrates these into a comprehensive LoRa/LoRaWAN energy model. The resulting model enables comparison of LoRaWAN modes to identify the most energy‑autonomous sensor node design.

Abstract

Energy efficiency is the key requirement to maximize sensor node lifetime. Sensor nodes are typically powered by a battery source that has finite lifetime. Most Internet of Thing (IoT) applications require sensor nodes to operate reliably for an extended period of time. To design an autonomous sensor node, it is important to model its energy consumption for different tasks. Each task consumes a power consumption amount for a period of time. To optimize the consumed energy of the sensor node and have long communication range, Low Power Wide Area Network technology is considered. This paper describes an energy consumption model based on LoRa and LoRaWAN, which allows estimating the consumed power of each sensor node element. The definition of the different node units is first introduced. Then, a full energy model for communicating sensors is proposed. This model can be used to compare different LoRaWAN modes to find the best sensor node design to achieve its energy autonomy.