Design of a Gateway-based relay node for LoRaWAN multihop networks

LoRaWAN is one of the protocols responsible for connecting devices to the IoT ecosystem. The protocol provides connectivity with low energy consumption and a large coverage area. However, many scenarios impose difficulties on the transmission, and sometimes it is necessary to increase the coverage using a multihop approach. The objective of this work is to introduce a gateway-based relay device for a multihop LoRaWAN network. The called relay-gateway is an intermediate device capable of receiving data from many sources due to its hardware capabilities. It is reliable in terms of energy consumption because it uses a fixed energy source. The experimental evaluation conducted at the university campus shows that the relay solution is suitable for extending the network and providing connectivity to remote areas. The results show a 50% increase of packet delivery for some places using the relay solution compared with direct transmission using SF7.