A novel solution for energy-saving and lifetime-maximizing of LoRa wireless mesh networks

Abstract

This paper presents an energy-saving and lifetime-maximizing solution for the LoRa wireless mesh network (WMN). Energy dissipation is a crucial factor affecting the usability of the LoRa WMN. In the worst cases, in systems without electric mains, the life of a sensor node battery may last for only a few hours. Two proposed solutions are characterized as energy-saving due to the use of deep sleep in the ESP8266-12F microcontroller. This allows the optimization of duty cycling, which refers to the ratio between active and inactive periods of sensor nodes power-gating the node, i.e. turning off all circuitries. This solution benefits applications using active power-hungry sensors sampled many times daily. Notably, reducing power consumption during idle time increases the optimal battery life by up to hundreds of times. As a result, the automatic uptime of a LoRa WMN can increase from days to months or even years, depending on usage. Therefore, energy-saving must be optimized if the node is to be installed in locations without a grid or renewable energy source. Experimental results show that the proposed energy-saving solution is more effective than those introduced by previous studies.