Design of a New Multiple-Chirp-Rate Index Modulation for the LoRaWAN

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Abstract
We propose a multiple chirp rate index modulation (MCR-IM) system based on Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences that overcomes the problems of low transmission rate and large-scale access in long-range wide-area network (LoRaWAN) using classical LoRa modulation. We demonstrate the extremely low cross-correlation of MCR-IM signals across different spread factors, showing that the proposed MCR-IM system also inherits the characteristics of ZC sequences modulation. Moreover, we derive an approximate approximate closed-form expression for the bit-error-rate (BER) of the proposed MCR-IM system over Nakagami-m fading channels. Simulation results confirm the accuracy of the derived approximate closed-form expression and demonstrate that the MCR-IM system achieves higher levels of spectral efficiency (SE) compared to existing systems like frequency-shift chirp spread spectrum with index modulation (FSCSS-IM), group-based CSS (GCSS), layered CSS (LCSS), and layered group-based CSS (LGCSS). In this context, assigning multiple chirp rates to each user results in a reduction in the number of parallel channels. To mitigate this issue, we propose a peak detection based successive interference cancellation (PD-SIC) algorithm to accommodate more users. Results further show that the proposed system with the PD-SIC algorithm achieves a lower BER and higher throughput than the orthogonal scatter CSS (OrthoRa) system under collision scenarios, making it a compelling solution for future large-scale, high-throughput Internet of Things network.
Funding Information
  • NSF of Guangdong Province (2025A1515010128)
  • Guangdong Special Support Program for Young Top notch Talents Project (2023TQ07X481)
  • Joint Funds for the Innovation of Science and Technology of Fujian Province (2024Y9304)
  • Science and Technology Special Mission Service Key Industry Chain Special Project of Fujian Province (2024N0070)

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