Virtualizing LoRaWAN Nodes: a CoAP-based Approach

In the near future, Internet of Things (IoT) will play a relevant role in people’s lives and one of the main challenges will be the integration of heterogeneous networks. Among widely adopted network technologies, the development of the so-called Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs), in particular Long Range WAN (LoRaWAN) is attracting a significant interest from both academic and industrial worlds. The integration of LoRaWAN with other communication technologies represents a fundamental requirement for a successful rapid and large-scale diffusion of IoT paradigms, such as Smart Farming, Smart Factory, and Smart City. The aim of this paper is two-fold: we propose (i) a mechanism for automatic discovery of the sensors a LoRa device is equipped with; and (ii) a novel networking architecture, based on cloud computing and node virtualization, to enable the interaction of LoRaWAN end-nodes with other IP-based IoT devices. Our solution does not impact LoRaWAN networking and enables a seamless interaction between LoRaWAN end-nodes and other Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)-based nodes.