ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF PUBLIC LoRaWAN NETWORK COVERAGE IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

This study presents an analysis and performance evaluation of a public LoRaWAN network deployed in the urban environment of Köthen, Germany. The research focuses on assessing network coverage and communication reliability under real outdoor conditions using different radio transmission parameters. An end device based on an Arduino Mega 2560 and a Dragino LoRa GPS Shield was configured and connected to The Things Stack (TTS) to transmit georeferenced test packets from multiple measurement points across the city. The experimental evaluation considered key communication metrics, including Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and Packet Delivery Rate (PDR), for several spreading factors from SF7 to SF12 and different transmission power levels. Based on the collected data, coverage heatmaps were generated to visualize the spatial distribution of signal quality and identify stable, weak, and marginal reception zones. The results show that higher spreading factors significantly improve coverage and delivery reliability, while lower transmission power reduces network performance, especially in obstructed urban areas. The findings provide practical insights into the optimization of public LPWAN deployments and can support future planning of LoRaWAN infrastructure in urban environments.