Internet of Things Node with Real-Time LoRa GEO Satellite Connectivity for Agrifood Chain Tracking in Remote Areas

This work presents an Internet of Things (IoT) node based on Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite communications. The work addresses the issues of low-power agrifood chain tracking in remote areas, where long range terrestrial communications are either denied or impaired. The novelty of the work is the development and characterization of the IoT node with a dedicated radio modem unit providing GEO satellite connectivity. This enables real-time tracking and sensing. As preliminary design, an IoT node conceived for cattle tracking is assembled and tested. The node is equipped with a microcontroller unit, controlling the radio-mode unit and a suitable sensor set installed in the IoT node itself. The set of sensors is capable to acquire position coordinates, acceleration, temperature, humidity, and intensity of solar radiation. The radiating features of radio-modem unit, embedded in the IoT node plastic enclosure, were characterized and exhibits a maximum transmitting effective isotropic radiated power of 27.5 dBm . The experiments measured the average charge drained by the radio-modem unit per cycle, resulting in 356 mC. Considering a battery pack composed of four 2500 mAh AA NiMH, the estimated number of cycles is approximately 25,000.