Performance Analysis of LoRa Technology in Wireless Sensor Networks

Low-power wide area network (LPWAN) is increasingly used in wireless sensor networks (WSN), especially for the wide data transmission range. A representative technology for LPWAN is LoRa, which, although it has been used for a few years, is still regarded as an emerging technology. LoRa permits data communication within large areas, allowing the elimination of multi-hop data transmission, a transmission type that requires a very precise synchronization. This paper presents a performance evaluation of LoRa technology by considering different values for antenna spreading factor, transceiver power level, area coverage and data time on air. At the same time, for a commercial sensor node, an energy consumption evaluation is performed. The paper finally analyzes the feasibility of a practical application.