LoRa Signal Survey Device

Abstract

Finding a suitable location for installing the LoRa node or gateway is quite challenging. The accurate signal quality measurement for LoRa communications is essential. Typically, the signal surveying equipment is quite large and may need to connect with the computer or mobile phone to operate and display the results, which is difficult to carry and work in the field. This paper has developed the LoRa signal survey device with a small form factor. The device can operate in two modes. For the Survey mode, the device keeps monitoring the signal quality and location, which can be analyzed if needed. Meanwhile, the device can act as a transmitting device for the Sender mode that periodically broadcasts the GPS location for testing. To make the survey easy, the device has been designed with a monitoring screen and audio module to show the different levels of the received signal. Testing results show that the device works functionally well and can last for two days, with a GPS location drift of around 3.2 meters.