LoRa Traffic Generator Based on Software Defined Radio Technology for LoRa Modulation Orthogonality Analysis: Empirical and Experimental Evaluation  
[PERSON]  
1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (E.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (V.P. )1 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.P. )2 Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; apterariu@eed. Thus, in order to cope with the new challenges and IoT applications, LPWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Network) networks have been created. A new communication paradigm for applications featuring low data rates with low power use has been achieved through the integration of technologies, such as SigFox or LoRa [1], with the goal of ensuring large coverage area, ranging from a few to as much as tenths of square kilometers. Out of the two technologies, SigFox is at a clear disadvantage by being vendor-locked--thus, its implementation is carried out by mobile network operators with the data transfer being done only by using SigFox cloud as middleware. The main protocols for solving the IoT concept challenge are briefly compared in Table 1. It can be observed that LoRa technology has more advantages that other proprietary technologies such as: Its open-source type that eliminates monthly subscription schemes, low cost of devices and great communication ranges going up to tenths of kilometers. The use of a star-type network topology means that each node can communicate directly with the gateway (GW) node, making for a simple and reliable network architecture. In this paper, we focus on the most prominent of the LPWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Network) technologies, pioneered by Semtech, using the modulation called LoRa, the acronym for Long Range. The LoRa modulation technique scheme is an integrated part of the LoRaWAN [9] communication protocol defined by the LoRa Alliance. The main contribution of the paper is the evaluation of the orthogonality for the modulation of LoRa packets modulated with a different spreading factor within the same communication channel. Also, to further open new research directions regarding the scalability of LoRa networks a novel LoRa traffic generator able to emulate and simulate thousands of LoRa sensors without the need of further investments in a manner that is both low cost and effortless is designed and validated. From the authors' best knowledge, an empirical approach backed by experimental results has not been covered