Design of a Low Complexity Interference Detector for LPWA Networks

International audienceMany Internet of Things applications are deployed over shared ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) radiofrequency spectrum bands. With the recent development of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) wireless networks, the probability of interference and frame collisions has significantly increased. In this context, real-time interference monitoring is essential to provide precious information for network planning, base-station installation site selection, congested area detection, etc. This work presents a novel, low complexity interference detector for mobile LPWA nodes that is designed using a set of experimental data acquisitions. A first classifier is used to detect the presence of interference and shows a detection accuracy of 94%. If interference is detected, a second classifier is used to classify the interference's relative strength into ten classes with a correct classification rate up to 97%. The detector also provides an estimation of the interference's duration with an average relative error of 2% for medium to strong interference levels