Firmware Development of a LoRaWAN Multi-Sensor Generic Node : an Industrial IoT Empirical Study

Connectivity is the defining property of the Internet of Things (IoT). Multiple technologies and techniques allow embedded devices to transmit and receive data. The intersection between connectivity demands, physical and environmental limitations is what triggers the use of a specific technology. Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) wireless communication technologies such as LoRa and LoRaWAN are showing practicality and ease of the use in the field of IoT. LoRa modulation ability to provide devices with longer communication ranges make it an attractive choice in multiple IoT use cases. The energy efficiency and scalability aspects of LoRaWAN protocol trigger the research curiosity around the challenges and opportunities of using the technology. In this study, we provide an extensive overview of the firmware development of an industrial LoRaWAN device. An empirical analysis of the device capabilities provides a deeper understanding of the technology potential and the possible areas of improvements. Energy-efficient firmware design practices are explored, analysed and implemented to provide a foundation for future developments in the field. Furthermore, we propose and evaluate a new LoRaWAN application design that explores over the air firmware configuration in runtime a novel micro update scheme. We devise a simple LoRaWAN energy estimation model and apply it to the proposed application. The same model is used to get an indication of LoRaWAN firmware updates over the air (FUOTA) practicality. The applied model highlighted useful energy optimisation techniques for an improved LoRaWAN firmware development

Enhancing LoRaWAN Security through a Lightweight and Authenticated Key Management Approach

Luckily, new communication technologies and protocols are nowadays designed considering security issues. A clear example of this can be found in the Internet of Things (IoT) field, a quite recent area where communication technologies such as ZigBee or IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) already include security features to guarantee authentication, confidentiality and integrity. More recent technologies are Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WAN), which also consider security, but present initial approaches that can be further improved. An example of this can be found in Long Range (LoRa) and its layer-two supporter LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which include a security scheme based on pre-shared cryptographic material lacking flexibility when a key update is necessary. Because of this, in this work, we evaluate the security vulnerabilities of LoRaWAN in the area of key management and propose different alternative schemes. Concretely, the application of an approach based on the recently specified Ephemeral Diffie–Hellman Over COSE (EDHOC) is found as a convenient solution, given its flexibility in the update of session keys, its low computational cost and the limited message exchanges needed. A comparative conceptual analysis considering the overhead of different security schemes for LoRaWAN is carried out in order to evaluate their benefits in the challenging area of LP-WAN