Experimental Analysis of LoRa Signal in Urban Environment

LoRa (Long Range), is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology that has attracted a huge interest and becomes ones of the most popular candidates for Internet of Things'connectivity solutions. A comprehensive characterization of the signal propagation throughout the deployed environment is required and is expected to establish an efficient network. Based on path-loss modeling, this work covers an empirical study of LoRa signal propagation in urban area, considering both Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR) and proposes a new statistical path loss model for LoRa communications in urban environments. We first review some existing propagation models to determine which the best represents the behavior of LoRa communication signal. Second, we propose to optimize the selected model for LoRa communications. To test and validate the proposed model, we conducted a new series of measurements in a different urban area.