Integration of LoRa Wide Area Network with the 5G Test Network

Abstract

The global communication network is going through major transformation from conventional to more versatile and diversified network approaches. With the advent of virtualization and cloud technology, information technology (IT) is merging with telecommunications to alter the conventional approaches of traditional proprietary networking techniques. From radio to network and applications, the existing infrastructure lacks several features that we wished to be part of 5th Generation Mobile Networks (5G). Having a support for large number of applications, Internet of Things (IoT) will bring a major evolution by creating a comfortable, flexible and an automated environment for end users. A network having the capability to support radio protocols on top of basic networking protocols, when blended with a platform which can generate IoT use cases, can make the expectations of 5G a reality.

Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies can be utilized with other emerging and suitable technologies for IoT applications. To implement a network where all the technologies can be deployed virtually to serve their applications within a single cloud, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Network (SDN) is introduced to implement such a networking possibility for upcoming technologies. The 5G Test Network (5GTN), a testbed for implementing and testing 5G features in real time, is deployed in virtual platform which allows to add other technologies for IoT applications. To implement a network with an IoT enabler technology, LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology can be integrated to test the feasibility and capability of IoT implications. LoRaWAN being an IoT enabler technology is chosen out of several possibilities to be integrated with the 5GTN. Using MultiConnect Conduit as a gateway, the integration is realized by establishing point to point protocol (PPP) connection with eNodeB. Once the connection is established, LoRa packets are forwarded to the ThingWorx IoT cloud and responses can be received by the end-devices from that IoT cloud by using Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. Wireshark, an open source packet analyser, is then used to ensure successful transmission of packets to the ThingWorx using the 5GTN default packet routes.