Distance-Aware Bit-Mapping-Based Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for LoRaWAN

Low power consumption is the primary requirement for battery-operated devices during data transmission. Researchers have long sought energy-efficient solutions for LoRa-based network communications to extend the battery life of these devices, which ensures prolonged network operation without energy shortages. The proposed research introduces an energy-efficient MAC protocol designed to extend the battery life of the devices in LoRa communication networks. This protocol, known as the Distance-Aware Bit-Mapping based Energy-Efficient MAC, uses bit-mapping to achieve energy-efficient network communication. It differentiates between critical and normal nodes, prioritizes time-sensitive data transmission, and incorporates a security mechanism at the application layer to adjust transmission power based on the distance of end nodes from the gateways. A probability-based end-node arrangement approach is used to study the impact of distance-based transmission power tuning on total energy consumption. Performance comparisons with standard TDMA and Bit-Mapping-based LoRa approach show that the proposed Distance-Aware approach is more energy-efficient, and confirms its superiority over existing methods.