On the Limits and Best Practice for NB-Fi: A New LPWAN Technology

TL;DR

This paper analyzes NB-Fi, a new LPWAN technology, developing a mathematical model to evaluate its performance and provide guidelines for optimal network configuration.

Contribution

It introduces a mathematical model for NB-Fi, addressing rate assignment and performance optimization, which was previously unexplored.

Findings

Developed a model for packet loss, error rate, and delay in NB-Fi.

Provided performance evaluation results for different rate assignment strategies.

Suggested best practices for NB-Fi network configuration.

Abstract

NB-Fi is a new low-power wide-area network technology, which has become widely used for smart cities, smart grids, the Industrial Internet of Things, and telemetry applications. Although many countries use NB-Fi, almost no papers study NB-Fi, and its peak performance is unknown. This article aims to fill this gap by analyzing this technology and studying the problem of rate assignment in NB-Fi networks. For that, this article develops a mathematical model used to find the packet loss ratio, packet error rate, and the average delay for various rate assignment approaches. The performance evaluation results are used to develop the guidelines for NB-Fi configuration to optimize the network performance.