Investigating the Impact of LoRa and CW Interference on Sigfox Communication Performance

 Sigfox is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology that enables low-power, long range communication. However, its performance may be affected by interference from signals such as LoRa and Continuous Wave (CW). This study investigates the impact of such interference on Sigfox using MATLAB and Simulink simulations, with Frame Error Rate (FER)as the key performance metric. Key factors considered include interference power, bandwidth, and transmission distance. The results indicate that LoRa significantly affects Sigfox transmission even at a low power level of - 30 dBm, whereas CW interference only becomes impactful when its power exceeds 16 dBm. Additionally,the bandwidth of interfering signals has a minor impact (approximately 1-2 dB), as LoRa’s wide bandwidth overlaps with the Sigfox spectrum. Sigfox can achieve a coverage range of 10 km in an interference-free environment, but this range is reduced to 5 km with CW interference and 4 km with LoRa interference. These findings provide crucial insights for planning and deploying Sigfox networks, particularly in areas where LoRa and CW signals are prevalent.