D2D communications in LoRaWAN Low Power Wide Area Network: From idea to empirical validation

Abstract

In this paper we advocate the use of device-to-device (D2D) communications in a LoRaWAN Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). After overviewing the critical features of the LoRaWAN technology, we discuss the pros and cons of enabling the D2D communications for it. Subsequently we propose a network-assisted D2D communications protocol and show its feasibility by implementing it on top of a LoRaWAN-certified commercial transceiver. The conducted experiments show the performance of the proposed D2D communications protocol and enable us to assess its performance. More precisely, we show that the D2D communications can reduce the time and energy for data transfer by 6 to 20 times compared to conventional LoRaWAN data transfer mechanisms. In addition, the use of D2D communications may have a positive effect on the network by enabling spatial re-use of the frequency resources. The proposed LoRaWAN D2D communications can be used for a wide variety of applications requiring high coverage, e.g. use cases in distributed smart grid deployments for management and trading.

A Framework for Planning LoRaWan Networks

“…Similar experimental assessments of LoRa performance are proposed in [8] and [9]. Always with a practical approach the work in [10] "measures" the performance of LoRa in indoor environments with a focus on healthrelated applications, whereas [11] reports on experiments carried out with device-to-device LoRa transmissions.…”

Experimental Validation of Peer-to-Peer Distributed Voltage Control System

“…However, D2D communications is not the exclusive domain of cellular networks and generally relates to the ability of peer devices to directly communicate with one another without having to relay the actual data through a central coordinator device, as e.g., used in [32,33]. The paper [31] presents a survey of the current state of the art for cellular D2D communications and points out that cellular D2D communications are much more efficient than communications on unlicensed spectrum as the communication interference is controllable at the licensed spectrum.…”

“…This applies to smart grids in particular as LPWA technologies offer unique sets of features including wide-area connectivity for low power and low data rate devices, not provided by legacy wireless technologies. As an example, [33] proposes a gateway assisted D2D communications solution utilizing Long Range Wide-area network (LoRaWAN) technology and the work is a basis for the D2D communications scheme used in this paper. The work in [33] and the communications solution of this paper are not the same though; the work in [33] is similar to the second category whereas the solution applied in this paper is similar to the fourth category of cellular D2D communications, both using LoRaWAN technology.…”

Performance Analysis of LPWAN Using LoRa Technology for IoT Application

“…Altogether, ten channels with various data transfer capacities are accessible for LoRa in the EU 868-870 MHz ISM band [6]. A standard MAC layer and reporting on-the-air activation is used by LoRaWan in which it enables the node to join a current system [7]. These guidelines empower one-bounce interchanges scaling from 2 km in thick urban with buildings and moving objects environments to 30 km in rural area with nothing but trees.…”