Enabling large-scale low-power LoRa data transmission via multiple mobile LoRa gateways

Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) enable large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) applications. LoRa is a promising LPWAN technology, but LoRa nodes are battery-powered, so their lifetime depends on energy efficiency. In practice, LoRa nodes have short battery life because long transmission distances to gateways incur high energy costs. With expensive battery replacement, particularly in large networks, it is crucial to reduce LoRa nodes’ energy consumption. Existing low-power transmission techniques focus on static or single mobile gateways, consuming substantial remote node energy unfit for large-scale networks. This paper proposes integrating LoRa with mobility to minimize node energy use by shortening transmission distances. We design the first large-scale mobile LoRa system, MLoRaDrone, using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with LoRa gateways flying near nodes. First, we present a low-power mechanism for reliable node sensing and UAV communication. Next, we develop a LoRa transmission parameter assignment strategy encompassing a distributed ADMM-based optimal transmission policy and a 3/2-approximation channel allocation. Moreover, we propose a UAV trajectory scheduling scheme with a 4-approximation minimizing node energy and UAV flight paths. Evaluations on varied scales verify MLoRaDrone effectiveness for different node counts and UAV paths. Compared to baselines, MLoRaDrone reduces 3000-node energy consumption by up to 35.56× within 25 km². © 2023 Elsevier B.V.