RF System for Concurrent Polarization Control and Beam Steering in IoT Sensors in LoRa Networks
Disciplines
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Abstract (300 words maximum)
LoRaWAN is a communication for long range, wide area networks, that can communicate at much greater distances than WiFi or Bluetooth with less power consumption. Potential applications include improved network communication reliability for 5G/6G networks, and improved reliability at extended distances for Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors deployed at remote distances.
The problem is that current LoRaWAN gateways use monopole antennas with gain of 5 to 7 dBi, which is too low to reach distances of 10 miles or more.
This project is on using antenna arrays and designing an RF system to control the beam steering and match the polarization with the receive antenna to maximize the signal power to the receiver IoT sensors.
For outdoor applications, the motivation is to extend the distance between LoRa gateway and IoT sensors to beyond 10 miles to 30 miles or more.
The RF system was designed using Keysight SystemVue and simulated via phased array analysis. The system is comprised of a TX phased array RF chain with the antennas co-located for dual polarization simulation. Algorithms created in the onboard script editor are used to construct 3D beam plots and beam polarization graphs.
For indoor applications, an alternate approach is investigated using Bluetooth IoT sensors. A 4x4 array antenna is used to determine the direction of each IoT sensor using angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD). On the transmitter's side, the protocol packets are modified for locating purposes in low signal strength environments. The antenna array is used to find differences in the phase to locate the transmitting device. The benefits for indoor applications are to locate IoT sensors that are hidden, hard to see, and/or reach.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Electrical and Computer Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Hoseon Lee
Additional Faculty
Ahyoung Lee, CCSE - Computer Science, alee146@kennesaw.edu
RF System for Concurrent Polarization Control and Beam Steering in IoT Sensors in LoRa Networks
LoRaWAN is a communication for long range, wide area networks, that can communicate at much greater distances than WiFi or Bluetooth with less power consumption. Potential applications include improved network communication reliability for 5G/6G networks, and improved reliability at extended distances for Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors deployed at remote distances.
The problem is that current LoRaWAN gateways use monopole antennas with gain of 5 to 7 dBi, which is too low to reach distances of 10 miles or more.
This project is on using antenna arrays and designing an RF system to control the beam steering and match the polarization with the receive antenna to maximize the signal power to the receiver IoT sensors.
For outdoor applications, the motivation is to extend the distance between LoRa gateway and IoT sensors to beyond 10 miles to 30 miles or more.
The RF system was designed using Keysight SystemVue and simulated via phased array analysis. The system is comprised of a TX phased array RF chain with the antennas co-located for dual polarization simulation. Algorithms created in the onboard script editor are used to construct 3D beam plots and beam polarization graphs.
For indoor applications, an alternate approach is investigated using Bluetooth IoT sensors. A 4x4 array antenna is used to determine the direction of each IoT sensor using angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD). On the transmitter's side, the protocol packets are modified for locating purposes in low signal strength environments. The antenna array is used to find differences in the phase to locate the transmitting device. The benefits for indoor applications are to locate IoT sensors that are hidden, hard to see, and/or reach.