A Robust and Lightweight Protocol Over Long Range (LoRa) Technology for Applications in Smart Cities

Abstract

The implementation of Smart Cities requires technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). This paradigm aims to integrate and use in Internet electronic embedded devices like sensors, in order to share information and allowing interaction from anywhere. Standard communication protocols used in IoT for data transmission are based in general on FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) techniques that do not have the range and necessary performance to deal with this new scenery. With this situation in mind Semtech Technologies have developed a new modulation technique called LoRa (Long Range) based on spread spectrum that offer a new communication model for low power and long range networks, impossible to implement with other techniques. In this paper, we describe a new communication protocol implemented over the physical layer of LoRa providing effectiveness, robustness and low power consumption suitable for IoT applications in the context of smart cities. Results obtained related with the coverage analysis confirm the success of the selection of this technology and opens new horizons for developing useful applications in domains like smart cities, e-health, smart factory, remote monitoring and control, etc.