Smart-Hop: Low-Latency Multi-hop Networking for LoRa

Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) provide the Internet of Things (IoT) with energy-efficient, low cost, and long-range networking. LoRaWAN is one of the most widely deployed and studied LPWAN technologies due to its license-free operation and open standard, which has enabled 3rd parties to deploy millions of networks worldwide. LoRa allows transmission range and speed to be traded off by configuring the Spreading Factor (SF) setting. By tuning this parameter, the performance envelope of the network can be configured to favor a higher speed or longer range. While the SF of LoRA provides a simple and elegant means to tailor performance, at the highest spreading factor, maximum throughput drops to a few bits per second, dramatically increasing data extraction times. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing Smart-Hop, a novel multi-hop MAC layer protocol for LoRa which implements low-overhead routing. In contrast to prior work, Smart-Hop exploits the variable range afforded by different SFs to eliminate much of the complexity and overhead of traditional multi-hop mesh networking. Smart-Hop reduces the number of end-devices operating at high SFs while implementing low overhead routing in order to reduce data extraction times. These improvements are achieved while preserving the maximum range offered by LoRa in its highest SF configuration.