Performance Evaluations of LoRa Wireless Communication in Building Environments

Area of Science:

• * Building automation and control systems
• * Wireless sensor networks for smart environments

Background:

• * The Internet of Things (IoT) enables enhanced energy management and occupant comfort in smart buildings.
• * Long-range (LoRa) technology offers a robust wireless solution for IoT deployments due to its long transmission range, low power consumption, and strong penetration capabilities.
• * Effective data acquisition and communication are crucial for realizing the full potential of smart building technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To comprehensively evaluate the coverage and transmission performance of LoRa technology within a multi-story building environment.
• * To quantify key performance metrics, including network transmission delay and packet loss rate, under various operational conditions.
• * To provide empirical data supporting the practical application of LoRa in smart building IoT systems.

Main Methods:

• * Deployment of three LoRa receiver nodes on a single floor and eight nodes across different floors of a 16-story building.
• * Centralized placement of the data acquisition terminal within the building to simulate realistic communication scenarios.
• * Systematic evaluation of LoRa communication performance by varying parameters such as transmit power, communication rate, payload length, and wireless module position.

Main Results:

• * Detailed analysis of network transmission delay and packet loss rate for LoRa in a multi-story building.
• * Quantification of LoRa's coverage and transmission performance based on experimental data.
• * Identification of optimal configurations for LoRa deployment in smart building applications.

Conclusions:

• * LoRa technology demonstrates significant potential for reliable data acquisition and communication in smart buildings.
• * The quantified performance metrics provide valuable insights for the practical implementation of LoRa-based IoT solutions.
• * This research offers foundational experimental data on LoRa's Round-Trip Time (RTT) performance in indoor building environments.