Figure 2 : LoRaWAN Star Network Diagram
LoRaWAN is a mature technology and is widely adopted around the world . It is also officially approved as a standard by the International Telecommunication Union ( ITU ). Users should keep in mind that different countries have different regional parameters to meet local regulations . ( i . e . a solution developed in the US or China cannot be simply deployed in Malaysia .)
One of the challenges we have had in deploying LoRaWAN in Malaysia is obtaining a suitable location for the gateway installation . As it has a star network topology , it needs a clear line of sight ( LoS ) for optimum performance . In cities like Putrajaya , we have had a great experience working with Perbadanan Putrajaya deploying LoRaWAN as it was able to obtain permissions to install the devices on tall apartment buildings , thereby simplifying installation as power and lightning protections are already built in ; giving us large coverage with low infrastructure costs . In other cities , finding suitable installation sites is not trivial . Renting telco towers significantly increases
Figure 3 : 6LoWPAN Network Diagram
operational costs and threatens project viability , especially in its nascent adoption stage .
To address this problem , we developed devices that work with the mesh network instead . We selected 6LoWPAN for its ability to operate in sub-GHz frequency and we expect it to gain wide acceptance .
As street lights are connected to a constant and reliable source of power , a 6LoWPAN smart street light is appealing as it can potentially serve as a constant packet forwarder for batterypowered devices such as parking sensors and waste collection sensors that only wake up to send updates and goes back to energy saving mode .
A mesh network is also simpler to deploy as we can install the router on street light feeder pillars .
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