On the Support of the 2.4 GHz Band in the LoRaWAN Standard

The introduction of LoRa chipsets operating in the 2.4 GHz band paves the way to unprecedented performance enhancements compared to their sub GHz counterparts, attributed to factors such as the absence of duty cycle constraints and higher data rates. Despite its potential benefits for Internet of Thing (IoT) applications, the LoRa Alliance has not yet proposed the integration of this new frequency spectrum into the LoRaWAN standard. Addressing this gap, this article proposes a roadmap for the evolution of the LoRaWAN standard, outlining three stages for seamless integration of the 2.4 GHz LoRa version. These stages are sequenced based on implementation complexity, starting from the current LoRaWAN standard (Stage 0), moving to the coexistence of two separate LoRaWAN networks (Stage 1), and ending with a single LoRaWAN network capable of supporting both sub GHz and 2.4 GHz bands (Stage 2). Additionally, the document enumerates all possible implementation options for each stage and outlines the main modifications required in the documents of the LoRaWAN standard. Through LoRaWAN-compliant simulation results, we demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed multi-band approach over the existing LoRaWAN standard for the first stage of the suggested roadmap. Finally, the article discusses the challenges associated with the proposed roadmap and identifies corresponding research gaps to be addressed in the future.