FAST-LoRa: An Efficient Simulation Framework for Evaluating LoRaWAN Networks and Transmission Parameter Strategies

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed many industries, and LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network), built on LoRa (Long Range) technology, has become a crucial solution for enabling scalable, low-cost, and energy-efficient communication in wide-area networks. Simulation tools are essential for optimizing the transmission parameters and, therefore, the energy efficiency and performance of LoRaWAN networks. While existing simulation frameworks accurately replicate real-world scenarios by including multiple layers of communication protocols, they often imply significant computational overhead and simulation times. To address this issue, this paper introduces FAST-LoRa, a novel simulation framework designed to enable fast and efficient evaluation of LoRaWAN networks and selection of transmission parameters. FAST-LoRa streamlines computation by relying on analytical models without complex packet-level simulations and implementing gateway reception using efficient matrix operations. Rather than aiming to replace discrete-event simulators, FAST-LoRa is intended as a lightweight and accurate approximation tool for evaluating transmission parameter strategies in scenarios with stable traffic patterns and uplink-focused communications. In our evaluation, we compare FAST-LoRa with a well-established simulator using multiple network configurations with varying numbers of end devices and gateways. The results show that FAST-LoRa achieves similar accuracy in estimating key network metrics, even in complex scenarios with interference and multi-gateway reception, with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.940 $\times 10^{-2}$ for the Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) and 0.040 bits/mJ for Energy Efficiency (EE), while significantly reducing computational time by up to three orders of magnitude.