LoRa Gateway Placement at the University of Zululand: A Case Study

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the merging of the physical and cyber worlds. IoT end node devices rely on gateways to connect to the Internet for data transmission and gateways need to be optimally placed to ensure coverage for the end node devices. However, the optimal placement of IoT gateways is dependent on the characteristics of the target area such as topography and physical infrastructure. This study explores the gateway placement problem in the context of the University of Zululand's main campus. Existing gateway placement algorithms are used to provide candidate locations for the optimal placement of an IoT gateway. These optimal locations are chosen such that the number of buildings covered is maximized. Furthermore, simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of a network created by an IoT gateway at the selected site. Network performance is measured based on throughput, delay, and latency metrics. The results show that the chosen gateway placement methods improve the random placement method.