2.4 GHz LoRa Wireless Technology for Internet of Things: An Experimental Study

Abstract

LoRa is a new low data-rate modulation technology for wireless communication, which uses spread spectrum communications to increase transmission distance. At present, sub-GHz LoRa is mainly used to build LoRaWAN and is applied to the monitoring and data collection of the Internet of Things (IoT). Focusing on the latest 2.4 GHz LoRa technology, this study introduces the characteristics of 2.4 GHz LoRa in the physical layer and experimentally analyzes the basic performance of communication, energy consumption, and ranging. Meanwhile, for the deficiencies of time on air in the evaluation of effective data rate, this study proposes the concepts of time on PHY and time of transmission (ToT). Then, the ToT duration of 2.4 GHz LoRa under different parameter configurations is calculated. Finally, combined with the physical-layer characteristics of 2.4 GHz LoRa, four potential networking topologies of the 2.4 GHz LoRa are listed, and their characteristics and application scenarios are analyzed. Compared with sub-GHz LoRa, 2.4 GHz LoRa is more applicable for building self-organized networks and worldwide IoT solutions.