ELGESAT: Enhanced LoRaWAN Gateways for Efficient Transmission in Satellite-Assisted Topologies

The growing demand for digitalization in remote and rural areas highlights the need for reliable, scalable, low-power, and low-cost wireless connectivity. These regions increasingly depend on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for essential applications such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, off-grid energy management, wildfire alerts, livestock geofencing, and pipeline leak detection. However, existing connectivity solutions face major limitations. Terrestrial systems like NB-IoT and LTE-M often suffer from coverage gaps, high energy consumption, and costly infrastructure, while high-throughput satellite services require power-intensive terminals and expensive subscriptions, unsuitable for battery- or solar-powered deployments. Narrowband low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites offer a promising alternative but introduce challenges such as short visibility windows, fluctuating link quality, and limited coverage in obstructed environments. Moreover, LoRaWAN—though energy-efficient—encounters performance constraints in satellite-assisted scenarios due to its ALOHA-based uplink and passive gateways, leading to data collisions and reduced scalability.

Within the ELGESAT project, these challenges are analyzed to establish a foundation for a European grant proposal focused on intelligent, satellite-enabled IoT connectivity. The project explores a novel AI-driven LoRaWAN gateway architecture capable of dynamically scheduling, prioritizing, and optimizing data transmissions to satellites and central hubs. The aim is to enhance reliability, efficiency, and energy performance in rural areas.

ELGESAT investigates the use of deterministic LEO pass predictions to batch or pace buffered traffic, ensuring timely and energy-efficient data delivery. Additionally, AI-based signal processing methods are designed to separate overlapping transmissions, while adaptive control mechanisms analyze collision patterns to issue just-in-time data rate adjustments or defer transmissions intelligently. To further reduce power consumption and costs, the project explores the assignment of optimal bandwidths and multi-hop routes.

ELGESAT serves as a preparatory initiative to define a competitive EU research and innovation project, sharpening its technical focus, strengthening the consortium, and developing a strategic approach for proposal submission. The ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for resilient, low-cost, and intelligent IoT connectivity—supporting Europe’s digital transformation and sustainability in rural and infrastructure-limited regions.

[Photo Credit: Benedikt Lücke | Pageheader]