By Victor Lopez, Charter Communications; Mohamed Daoud, Charter Communications; Hossam Hmimy, Charter Communications
Charter Communications designed and deployed a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and smart building solution at one of its offices located in North Carolina (location 2), with the goal of enhancing employee comfort and improving operational efficiencies. The solution includes environmental monitoring and room occupancy sensors across four floors. In this paper, we describe the methodology used to deploy the end-to-end solution, therefore, we outline the goals and various components of a smart building solution. Second, we describe the radio frequency (RF) design and dimensioning for network deployment. Third, we show the parameters of the propagation model which were utilized to calibrate the design tool. Fourth, we explain the method of optimization and monitoring the live solution. The entire process is shown in Figure 1. Last, our experimental results also describe the network performance testing (coverage and quality) and best practices to deploy in a high-rise building based on Charter’s experience. As Charter evaluates emerging technologies to expand our wireless network portfolio, LoRa technology has been selected to enable many use cases for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.