{"title":"A Survey of LoRaWAN-Integrated Wearable Sensor Networks for Human Activity Recognition: Applications, Challenges and Possible Solutions","authors":"Nahshon Mokua Obiri;Kristof Van Laerhoven","doi":"10.1109/OJCOMS.2024.3484002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Long-Range Wide Area Networks (LoRaWAN), a prominent technology within Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), have gained traction in remote monitoring due to their long-range communication, scalability, and low energy consumption. Compared to other LPWANs like Sigfox, Ingenu Random Phase Multiple Access (Ingenu-RPMA), Long-Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), LoRaWAN offers superior adaptability in diverse environments. This adaptability makes it particularly effective for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems. These systems utilize wearable sensors to collect data for applications in healthcare, elderly care, sports, and environmental monitoring. Integrating LoRaWAN with edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT) frameworks enhances data processing and transmission efficiency. However, challenges such as sensor wearability, data payload constraints, energy efficiency, and security must be addressed to deploy LoRaWAN-based HAR systems in real-world applications effectively. This survey explores the integration of LoRaWAN technology with wearable sensors for HAR, highlighting its suitability for remote monitoring applications such as Activities of Daily Living (ADL), tracking and localization, healthcare, and safety. We categorize state-of-the-art LoRaWAN-integrated wearable systems into body-worn, hybrid, objectmounted, and ambient sensors. We then discuss their applications and challenges, including energy efficiency, sensor scalability, data constraints, and security. Potential solutions such as advanced edge processing algorithms and secure communication protocols are proposed to enhance system performance and user comfort. The survey also outlines specific future research directions to advance this evolving field.","PeriodicalId":33803,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10726628","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10726628/","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Long-Range Wide Area Networks (LoRaWAN), a prominent technology within Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), have gained traction in remote monitoring due to their long-range communication, scalability, and low energy consumption. Compared to other LPWANs like Sigfox, Ingenu Random Phase Multiple Access (Ingenu-RPMA), Long-Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), LoRaWAN offers superior adaptability in diverse environments. This adaptability makes it particularly effective for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems. These systems utilize wearable sensors to collect data for applications in healthcare, elderly care, sports, and environmental monitoring. Integrating LoRaWAN with edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT) frameworks enhances data processing and transmission efficiency. However, challenges such as sensor wearability, data payload constraints, energy efficiency, and security must be addressed to deploy LoRaWAN-based HAR systems in real-world applications effectively. This survey explores the integration of LoRaWAN technology with wearable sensors for HAR, highlighting its suitability for remote monitoring applications such as Activities of Daily Living (ADL), tracking and localization, healthcare, and safety. We categorize state-of-the-art LoRaWAN-integrated wearable systems into body-worn, hybrid, objectmounted, and ambient sensors. We then discuss their applications and challenges, including energy efficiency, sensor scalability, data constraints, and security. Potential solutions such as advanced edge processing algorithms and secure communication protocols are proposed to enhance system performance and user comfort. The survey also outlines specific future research directions to advance this evolving field.
期刊介绍:
The IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (OJ-COMS) is an open access, all-electronic journal that publishes original high-quality manuscripts on advances in the state of the art of telecommunications systems and networks. The papers in IEEE OJ-COMS are included in Scopus. Submissions reporting new theoretical findings (including novel methods, concepts, and studies) and practical contributions (including experiments and development of prototypes) are welcome. Additionally, survey and tutorial articles are considered. The IEEE OJCOMS received its debut impact factor of 7.9 according to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) 2023.
The IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society covers science, technology, applications and standards for information organization, collection and transfer using electronic, optical and wireless channels and networks. Some specific areas covered include:
Systems and network architecture, control and management
Protocols, software, and middleware
Quality of service, reliability, and security
Modulation, detection, coding, and signaling
Switching and routing
Mobile and portable communications
Terminals and other end-user devices
Networks for content distribution and distributed computing
Communications-based distributed resources control.