# LaRaWAN Metering Infrastructure Planning in Smart Cities
## 1 Introduction  
The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the way data are transmitted, protocol designs are created, and network services are provided. Therefore, with the development of artificial intelligence, it is considered the next technological revolution. Designers of IoT solutions face the crucial task of assessing the scalability of a particular technology; particularly when it operates on unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) frequency bands. The growth of the Internet of Things network is particularly evident in the urban environment, where smart technologies and data analytics are being added as part of the network infrastructure to optimize urban processes [1]. Governments worldwide prioritize enhancing ecological practices and automating processes to improve physical infrastructure, bolster the economy, enhance energy efficiency, and elevate citizens' quality of life [2]. Smart cities aim to support urban management and quality of life processes with minimal human intervention [3]. Smart sensors and measurement systems can help develop future cities, but there are many challenges, including the need to improve energy efficiency by planning effective and efficient infrastructure. Today, electricity operators and suppliers are showing a keen interest in the possibilities of remote reading, acquisition, and processing of metering data. Electricity meters are electronic devices that record information such as electricity consumption, voltage level, current consumption, and power factor. This information is transmitted to the electric operator for system monitoring and customer billing. They can also be transmitted to the consumer for greater transparency of consumption behavior. Usually, these meters capture real-time energy consumption and regularly transmit the data at frequent intervals throughout the day, utilizing diverse data transmission technologies. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is an integrated system of smart meters, interconnecting communication networks, and data processing systems that allow two-way communication between energy companies and customers. The system provides a range of functionalities that werepreviously not possible or had to be performed manually in Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), such as the ability to automatically and remotely measure electricity consumption, connect and disconnect services, tamper detection, power outage detection, and voltage monitoring. In combination with solutions for dedicated end-user technologies, such as home displays and programmable communication thermostats, AMI also enables the collection of data on customer behavior to adjust electricity tariffs and encourages customers to reduce peak demand and energy consumption. The amount of energy consumed by household electrical appliances is significantly influenced by the behavior and habits of customers. The test results showed that the savings measures reduced daily energy consumption by 15.88%. On the other hand, weekly energy consumption decreased by 6.43%. During the three months of observation, there was a 33.77% decrease in energy consumption [4]. Such savings not only limit related expenses but also help to achieve one of the key sustainability objectives, i.e., limiting carbon dioxide emissions caused by coal and gas power stations. Communication from the metering devices to the network can take place using a variety of wired and wireless technologies. The native method of wired communication offered by the operator is undoubtedly _Power Line Carrier_ (PLC). In contrast, common wireless communication solutions include many more options: mobile cellular communication, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Wi-SUN (Smart Utility Networks), wireless ad hoc networks over Wi-Fi, wireless mesh networks, and, finally, Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs). The basic requirements for data transmission technologies in the Internet of Things are low power consumption, low cost, and low complexity of end nodes with the capability to transmit data over long distances.