# LoRa Communication Using TVWS Frequencies: Range and Data Rate
## 4 Communication Range and Data Rate for TVWS-Based LoRa
### Range and Data Rate Analysis  
As an SX1276/77/78/79--137 MHz to 1020 MHz low power long range transceiver is considered for this study, the receiver sensitivity and the data rate for this transceiver for a particular combination of _SF_ and _BW_ is known. From this information, the path loss can be evaluated using the link budget in (3). An appropriate path-loss model can then be utilized to estimate the maximum communication range. For the three scenarios studied, free space, outdoor-urban and rural, and indoor, Figures 4-8 depict the data rate and maximum communication range for every combination of _SF_ and _BW_, respectively. Figure 5: **(a)**. Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for outdoor urban—big cities scenario with the Okumura–Hata model. **(b)**. Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for outdoor urban—big cities scenario with LoRaT-PLM model. Figure 6: **(a)**. Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for urban outdoor—small, medium cities scenario with the Okumura–Hata model. **(b)**. Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for urban outdoor—small, medium cities scenario with LoRaT-PLM model. Figure 8: Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for the indoor scenario. Figure 7: (**a**). Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for the rural outdoor scenario with the Okumura–Hata model. (**b**). Data rate and range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for the rural outdoor scenario with LoRaT-PLM model. To understand the variation better, bubble graphs are drawn between four parameters: data rate, communication range, \(SF\), and \(BW\). The size of the bubbles in the graph indicates the data rate, with the bigger size indicating a higher data rate. The four colors of the bubbles depict the four different \(BW\) values, and the seven bubbles indicate the seven different \(SF\) values. The colour gradient for the seven different bubbles of the same bandwidth depicts the variation in \(SF\) values. As the range increases, the size of the bubble decreases, representing a reduction in the possible data rate. It is perceived that the data rate decreases with the increase in the communication range for all scenarios. Although the trend in all the graphs looks similar, the major point of difference is the communication range plotted on the \(x\)-axis for the different scenarios. A. Free Space Scenario  
Although the free space path-loss model evaluation according to (4) and (5) shows that the TVWS-based LoRa signal can achieve an extreme range of 2137.9 km in free space for \(SF\) = 12 and \(BW\) = 62.5 kHz with a data rate of 0.18 kbps as seen in Figure 4, it is a theoretical value that cannot be achieved practically. The maximum data rate of 46.8 kbps is obtained for \(BW\) = 500 kHz and \(SF\) = 6 with a range of 85.1 km. B. Outdoor Scenario  
Evaluation is carried out for the outdoor urban-big cities, small and medium cities, and rural scenarios using the Okumura-Hata and the proposed LoRaT-PLM models. a. Outdoor Urban--Big Cities Scenario  
Figure 5a represents the data rate and communication range characteristics for different \(SF\) and \(BW\) for outdoor urban-big cities scenarios evaluated according to (6) and (8). It is observed that the TVWS-based LoRa signal can achieve a maximum range of 7.25 km in urban outdoor--big cities scenario for \(SF\) = 12 and \(BW\) = 62.5 kHz with a data rate of 0.18 kbps, as seen in Figure 5a. The maximum data rate of 46.8 kbps is obtained for \(BW\) = 500 kHz and \(SF\) = 6 with a range of 1.2 km. Thus, the communication range for the outdoor-big cities scenario evaluated for urban environments varies from 1.2 km to 7.25 km, with data rates varying from 46.8 to 0.18 kbps, as depicted in Figure 5a.