Poster: DSME-LoRa – A Flexible MAC for LoRa

Abstract

LoRa is a popular technology that enables long-range wireless communication (kilometers) at low energy consumption. The transmission exhibits low throughput and underlies duty cycle restrictions. Long on-air times (up to seconds) and range are susceptible to interference. In parallel, common LoRa-devices are battery driven and should mainly sleep. LoRaWAN is the system that defines the LoRa PHY, MAC, and a complete vertical stack. To deal with the above limitations, LoRaWAN imposes rigorous constraints, namely, a centralized network architecture that organizes media access, and heavily reduced downlink capacity. This makes it unusable for many deployments, control systems in particular. In this work, we combine IEEE802.15.4 DSME and LoRa to facilitate node-to-node communication. We present a DSME-LoRa mapping scheme and contribute a simulation model for validating new LoRa use-cases. Our results show 100% packet delivery and predictable latencies irrespective of network size.