Simulations of the MAC Layer in the LoRaWAN Networks

The Internet of Things is changing the approach to data transmission, protocol design and network services. The challenge faced by designers of IoT solutions is to determine the scalability of a given technology, with a particular emphasis placed on unlicensed frequency bandwidth (ISM) transmission in highly urbanized areas. Because the design and implementation of a wireless network for the Internet of Things, relying on each of the presented technologies, is expensive and time consuming, it must be preceded by a performance assessment based on computer simulations. The literature contains various approaches to modeling the mechanisms of the MAC layer of LoRa technology and to its implementation in LoRaWAN networks. The article provides an overview of major LoRa MAC network simulators. It presents and comments on the most important research results obtained by the authors of the aforementioned software.