A Comprehensive Study on LPWANs With a Focus on the Potential of LoRa/LoRaWAN Systems

Abstract

This publication offers a comprehensive survey on the topic of Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs). We discuss the scope of LPWAN connectivity and present numerous well-established technologies that can offer such a service. From this presentation, LoRa/LoRaWAN systems emerge as one of the dominant solutions, and hence we offer details about end-to-end LoRa/LoRaWAN-enabled networking. As an area being in its infancy, LPWANs in general and LoRa/LoRaWAN in specific undergo extensive research. We shed light in key contributions, whereas we also provide our findings regarding the main research focus and needs. Simulation studies appear to be a popular choice among researchers, whereas real system implementations are constantly emerging thanks to low deployment and operational cost. For the former, we offer a comparative overview of existing simulators, whereas for the latter we discuss key considerations about the server-side part of a deployed system, which is usually supported by cloud infrastructure. Finally, LPWANs are systems that experience intense data generation, and thus we deliver a presentation of data-related operations which take place in such systems. This presentation revealed a major vertical market that is expected to be served by LPWANs: the Industiral IoT; which embodies concepts like Asset Administration Shell and Digital Twins.