Adjacent LoRa-based Network Analysis for Dense Application

LoRa modulation is gaining more attention recently in the field of IoT. The implementation of this modulation allows robust packet transmission while inducing safe levels of interference towards other technologies utilizing the ISM band. Smart cities and many urban applications can highly benefit from these capabilities. In not too distant future, innovations through this communication protocol will continue to grow until a congested LoRa-based network is realized. A potential case where this congestion could arise is when two large LoRa-based network exists nearby each other. Since they share an unlicensed band, they both may potentially introduce interference towards each other and cause performance degradation. The behavior of this type of degradation may not yet be thoroughly understood and methods of alleviating its effects still remain a question. In this paper, a simulation through industrial-grade NS3 was conducted to analyze the performance of two adjacent dense LoRa-network. Results show that the two dense networks reduce the expected performance of the networks. Additionally, low-spread factors are recommended for dense applications rather than high-spread factors.