ZBMG-LoRa: A Novel Zone-Based Multi-Gateway Approach Towards Scalable LoRaWANs for Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) applications are rapidly adopting low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology due to its ability to provide broad coverage for a range of battery-powered devices. LoRaWAN has become the most widely used LPWAN solution due to its physical layer (PHY) design and regulatory advantages. Because LoRaWAN has a broad communication range, the coverage of the gateways might overlap. In LoRa technology, packets can be received concurrently by multiple gateways. Subsequently, the network server selects the packet with the highest receiver strength signal indicator (RSSI). However, this method can lead to the exhaustion of channel availability on the gateways. The optimisation of configuration parameters to reduce collisions and enhance network throughput in multi-gateway LoRaWAN remains an unresolved challenge. This paper introduces a novel low-complexity model for ZBMG-LoRa, mitigates the collisions using channel utilisiation, and categorises nodes into distinct groups based on their respective gateways. This categorisation allows for the implementation of optimal settings for each node’s subzone, thereby facilitating effective communication and addressing the identified issue. By deriving key performance metrics (e.g., network throughput, energy efficiency, and probability of effective delivery) from configuration parameters and network size, communication reliability is maintained. Optimal configurations for transmission power and spreading factor are derived by our method for all nodes in LoRaWAN networks with multiple gateways. In comparison to adaptive data rate (ADR) and other related state-of-the-art algorithms, the findings demonstrate that the novel approach achieves higher packet delivery ratio and better energy efficiency.