A Model for a Dense LoRaWAN Farm-Area Network in the Agribusiness

In this work, modeling, simulation, and experimental measurements of a LoRaWAN network aimed at implementing a dense farm-area network (FAN) in the agrifood industry are presented. First, the network is modeled for a farm of the future, with as many sensors as would be useful, for the four main productive chains in Uruguay as a study case: livestock, timber, agriculture, and dairy industries. To this end, a survey of commercial sensors was conducted, a few farms were visited, and managers and partners in agrocompanies were interviewed. A LoRaWAN network with a single gateway was simulated to estimate the efficiency (related to data packets lost), in the case of a 1000 ha cattle field with more than 1500 sensors and some cameras sharing the network. Finally, the network efficiency was measured, using 30–40 LoRa modules @ 915 MHz, transmitting at pseudorandom times to emulate up to thousands of LoRa sensor nodes. The simulated and measured results are very similar, reaching > 92% efficiency in all cases. Sites bigger than 1000 ha on the four main productive chains were also simulated. Additionally, energy consumption and transmission distance measurements of LoRaWAN modules are presented, as well as an overview of the economic aspects related to the deployment of the network to corroborate them fit the requirements of a FAN in the agribusiness.