On the Performance of LoRa-Enabled Backscatter Communication

The wireless networks of the future are evolving to enable reliable communication for resource-constrained, miniaturized internet of things (IoT) devices, which will place stringent demands on future sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks. These demands include low cost, very low latency, improved spectrum, and power efficiency, higher reliability, and significantly improved data rates. Emphasizing that these devices have limited functionality and may be placed in inaccessible locations, replacing or recharging batteries can be a daunting task, so energy-efficient solutions should be developed to ensure uninterrupted, seamless wireless communication for the power-constrained IoT devices. In this paper, we consider the integration of long-range (LoRa) modulation into backscatter communications (BackCom), and we develop a mathematical framework in order to investigate the error rate performance of the considered system model. In particular, we derive novel exact and approximated closed-form expressions for the symbol error rate (SER), under the assumption of canceled radio-frequency (RF) interference. The obtained analytical results, corroborated by numerical results, confirm the advantages of integrating LoRa into BackCom system as a low-complex technique in order to extend the transmission distance in power-limited backscatter devices.