Adaptive priority-aware LoRaWAN resource allocation for Internet of Things applications

LoRaWAN is the most adopted communication technology for the Internet of Things (IoT) applications for enabling flexible, cost-effective long-range communication with low power consumption. The deployment of a wide range of IoT devices brings many benefits to many applications, but new challenges arise from the network point of view with this deployment. For instance, IoT applications have different requirements in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) and energy efficiency in dense IoT scenarios. In this context, it is crucial to design an efficient resource allocation mechanism that enables real-time adjustments of radio-related parameters to improve the system's scalability while providing QoS and reducing IoT devices’ energy consumption depending on the application requirements. This article proposes an adaptive priority-aware resource allocation mechanism to improve LoRaWAN scalability and energy consumption in a dense IoT scenario, called APRA. The simulation results show the benefits of APRA in improving the energy consumption by 95% and increasing the battery discharge time of the end device up to 5 years while yielding high packet delivery and low delay to high priority applications.