Opportunistic and On-Demand Network Coding-Based Solutions for LPWAN Forwarding.

Area of Science:

• Networking
• Wireless Communication
• Information Theory

Background:

• Low-power and wide-area networks (LPWAN) face reliability and coverage challenges, particularly in urban environments with limited line-of-sight.
• LPWANs often reduce data rates for extended coverage, limiting resource availability for end-devices.
• Deploying additional gateways is costly due to infrastructure requirements like power and internet connectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel forwarding scheme using relays to enhance LPWAN coverage and reliability.
• To address and minimize unnecessary forwarding by relays, which can degrade network capacity.
• To leverage network coding for improved transmission efficiency and reliability in LPWANs.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of an opportunistic and on-demand network coding (OODC) scheme.
• Utilizing multiple-receiving relays effectively to minimize redundant data forwarding.
• Application of network coding at the relay for simultaneous efficiency and reliability gains.
• Employing a header compression technique to mitigate the overhead associated with network coding.

Main Results:

• The OODC scheme demonstrated superior reliability compared to fixed-path forwarding methods.
• In adaptive data rate settings, OODC achieved a packet delivery ratio (PDR) of 92%.
• Fixed-path forwarding achieved a PDR of 84% under similar adaptive data rate conditions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed OODC scheme effectively increases LPWAN coverage and reliability.
• OODC successfully mitigates unnecessary forwarding, preserving network capacity.
• Network coding, combined with header compression, offers a viable solution for efficient and reliable LPWAN communication.