Challenges of LoRaWAN technology in smart city solutions

A number of technological application factors can be highlighted in smart city solutions, where small data and long-range transmission are of primary consideration. These include monitoring energy consumption, operating a smart waste management system, monitoring, and tracking traffic, having smart parking systems, monitoring public lighting, and even detecting various malfunctions. Such smart city systems use IoT technology for data collection. An essential aspect of urban solutions is to ensure the coverage of large areas, both outdoors and indoors, low energy consumption, as well as modularity and mobility. LPWAN technologies can meet these conditions. LPWAN technologies include LTE-M, NB-IoT, LoRaWAN, and Sigfox. Using LoRaWAN technology can be the right solution for these cases. As with any application, it is crucial to clarify the challenges of the application with LoRaWAN. The present study addresses the categorization of LoRaWAN devices and the challenges of technology in smart city solutions. LoRaWAN products used in smart city solutions can be grouped according to several aspects. This article deals with the creation of classifications that facilitate further testing. Smart city application challenge studies are applied to the specified categories. The challenges of the solutions cover several areas. These include technological aspects, aspects of specifications, and aspects of the nature of the application. Another area represents the information security aspects, which is, however, not addressed by this invention. Based on these aspects, the article describes the challenges of LoRaWAN technology in smart cities.