Extending LoRa networks: dynamic routing protocols and sub-GHz radio technology for very long range mesh networks: student research abstract

Abstract

Sub-GHz radio technologies operating in ISM bands, such as LoRa 1 , have become very popular as the wireless data transmission mechanism for IoT applications. Their great link budget allows nodes to reach several km while keeping power usage low. Most of the diverse network protocols and architectures currently in use enforce a star topology that limits the network operation to single-hop transmissions to a gateway. With the adoption of multi-hop data transmission, these networks could extend farther, and cover very large areas without the need for more gateways. The combination of long-range sub-GHz radio technologies and dynamic Routing Protocols, similarly to how they are used in WiFi Mesh Networks, could provide a sweet spot solution to fulfil the network requirements of IoT deployments covering very large areas without the need for additional centralised gateways infrastructure. This idea can also be applied to other scenarios, like out-of-band management of network equipment, emergency networks, etc.