Applied Network Calculus for Optimization of LoRaWAN Communication using Insights from Real-world Measurements of Energy Harvesting Performance
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-05-31
Abstract
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) use cases require fit-and-forget wireless sensors for scenarios where maintenance is not possible. Such sensors must operate indefinitely using Energy Harvesting (EH). However matching variations in EH productivity with reliable wireless transmissions is non-trivial, as time characteristics are not well captured by the average energy produced and consumed. In this work a method for providing the best approximation for achievable reliable throughput of a wireless system, for a given energy source, in this case a solar cell, is found using Deterministic Network Calculus (DNC). The method is validated using real-world measurements on communication reliability and energy harvesting, through the implementation of an EH wireless sensor node, which is used to perform an accelerated measurement campaign. The sensor node emulates multiple LoRaWAN devices, in order to test multiple communication parameters at the same time. The measurement campaign revealed that a specific LoRaWAN configuration outperforms when taking a fixed reliability and the energy consumption into consideration, it is also shown that longer packets weren't necessarily better as they were prone to collisions in the ISM band. Using flows for energy harvesting and energy consumption the system was analyzed using network calculus to provide maximum throughput.
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