Performance analysis of long-range propagation above 1 GHz for LoRa applications in agriculture

The paper presents the technical setup and results of field tests aimed at verifying the propagation and communication performance of LoRa links in the ISM2400 band. The LoRa technology has spread worldwide in recent years as an effective solution to connect low-power sensors over long distances. Its typical applications occur below 1 GHz, e.g. in the EU868 band in Europe and in the US915 band in the Americas. Very recently, few chips have been made available to run LoRa applications above 1 GHz, specifically in the ISM band between 2.400 GHz and 2.485 GHz, with notable advantages in terms of worldwide portability and absence of duty cycle enforcement. This is particularly promising for agriculture, where time-unconstrained transmissions enable effective implementations of LoRa-based actuators and bidirectional controls. Unfortunately, propagation above 1 GHz is potentially limited, necessitating range verification. Building on our previous success with stable links up to 18 km, we extended our testing to greater distances, achieving excellent performance over 24 km in a different rural area, always under Line-of-Sight conditions. Additionally, we deployed permanent installations to facilitate future outdoor tests over longer periods of time, with multiple terminal nodes at varying distances. The results obtained have been successful, demonstrating the validity of LoRa technology in the ISM2400 band.