# Design and Implementation of a Mixed IoT LPWAN Network Architecture
## 5 Case Study and Testing Environment
The results obtained for this deployment seems to indicate that the problem associated with reception is due to the fact that the signal presents a strong attenuation and it is difficult to reach the physical location of the water-meter. Figure 22d shows that the solution with a LoRa-Sigfox Gateway prototype allows to obtain a signal power that allows penetrating and reaching the basement of the building, achieving a reception rate of 100%. Table 1 summarizes the results of the study case for each of the different buildings with acquiring devices attached to water-meters placed on locations where reception rate in the 169 MHz ISM band was less than 25%. According to the received data, it is confirmed that the 169 MHz ISM band continues to present data losses in the reception. Solutions based on Sigfox and LoRaWAN improve reception. The LoRaWAN prototype, with a base station placed closer to the water-meter than Sigfox, presents a higher reception rate, which seems to reinforce the idea that the losses are due to the fact that the radio signal is not able to reach the location of the water-meter. Finally, in the LoRa-Sigfox Gateway solution it is possible to achieve a 100% reception. Consequently, for water-meters located in this range where reception is less than 25%, the LoRa-Sigfox Gateway solution seems to be the most suitable if you want to achieve a reception rate of 100%. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Building** & **169 MHz ISM** & **Sigfox** & **LoRaWAN** & **LoRa-Sigfox Gateway** \\ \hline B01 & 56 (23\%) & 134 (55.8\%) & 213 (88.8\%) & 240 (100\%) \\ B02 & 36 (15\%) & 101 (42.1\%) & 166 (69.2\%) & 240 (100\%) \\ B03 & 32 (13.3\%) & 92 (38.3\%) & 173 (72.1\%) & 240 (100\%) \\ B04 & 41 (17.08\%) & 110 (45.8\%) & 188 (78\%) & 240 (100\%) \\ B05 & 24 (10) & 89 (37.1\%) & 146 (60.1\%) & 240 (100\%) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Reception rates over a period of 10 days (240 samples) with each of the different systems tested in a water-meter with a percentage of received samples ranged lower than 25% over expected in the 169 MHz ISM band. Figure 22: Number of samples received in the case of a building in which the reception rate is below the Q1 quartile (25%). (**a**) In the 169 MHz ISM band, 56 samples were received (23.3%). (**b**) Reception rate with the Sigfox prototype of 55.8% (**c**) Reception rate with the LoRaWan device of 88.8% (**d**) Reception rate with the LoRa-Sigfox Gateway device of 100%. Figure 23 shows a graph with the samples received during the same period of 10 days (240 samples) by each of the different acquisition devices placed in one of the buildings associated with one of the so-called 'critical' water-meters (reception rate within 25%-75%). This water meter is located in the basement of a residential building. The X axis indicates the number of the sample associated with the time at which it was acquired (values between 1 and 240 for the 10-day evaluation period with a sampling time of one hour) and the Y axis indicates the value (litres) measured by the water meter and transmitted by the acquisition device. This figure shows that the samples received with the device operating at the 169 MHz ISM Band, instead of the expected 240, is now 121, which means a reception rate of 50.4%. With the Sigfox prototype, an improvement in the reception rate is achieved, reaching the 218 samples received (90.8%). In this case, both the prototype based on LoRaWAN and the prototype LoRa-Sigfox Gateway presents a signal strength that allows penetrating and reaching the basement of the building, achieving a reception rate of 100%. In this case, it seems that since the LoRaWAN base station is closer to the water-meter than the Sigfox, the LoRaWAN coverage ensures an adequate reception rate. Table 2 summarizes the results of the study case for each of the different buildings with acquiring devices attached to water-meters placed on locations where reception rate in the 169 MHz ISM band was ranged within 25%-75%.