Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems

We introduce a novel LoRa-based multi-hop communication architecture as an alternative to the public internet for earthquake early warning (EEW). We examine its effectiveness in generating a meaningful warning window for the New Zealand-based decentralised EEW sensor network implemented by the CRISi...

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Main Authors: Vinuja Ranasinghe, Nuwan Udara, Movindi Mathotaarachchi, Tharindu Thenuwara, Dileeka Dias, Raj Prasanna, Sampath Edirisinghe, Samiru Gayan, Caroline Holden, Amal Punchihewa, Max Stephens, Paul Drummond
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-09-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/18/5960
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author Vinuja Ranasinghe
Nuwan Udara
Movindi Mathotaarachchi
Tharindu Thenuwara
Dileeka Dias
Raj Prasanna
Sampath Edirisinghe
Samiru Gayan
Caroline Holden
Amal Punchihewa
Max Stephens
Paul Drummond
author_facet Vinuja Ranasinghe
Nuwan Udara
Movindi Mathotaarachchi
Tharindu Thenuwara
Dileeka Dias
Raj Prasanna
Sampath Edirisinghe
Samiru Gayan
Caroline Holden
Amal Punchihewa
Max Stephens
Paul Drummond
author_sort Vinuja Ranasinghe
collection DOAJ
description We introduce a novel LoRa-based multi-hop communication architecture as an alternative to the public internet for earthquake early warning (EEW). We examine its effectiveness in generating a meaningful warning window for the New Zealand-based decentralised EEW sensor network implemented by the CRISiSLab operating with the adapted Propagation of Local Undamped Motion (PLUM)-based earthquake detection and node-level data processing. LoRa, popular for low-power, long-range applications, has the disadvantage of long transmission time for time-critical tasks like EEW. Our network overcomes this limitation by broadcasting EEWs via multiple short hops with a low spreading factor (SF). The network includes end nodes that generate warnings and relay nodes that broadcast them. Benchmarking with simulations against CRISiSLab’s EEW system performance with internet connectivity shows that an SF of 8 can disseminate warnings across all the sensors in a 30 km urban area within 2.4 s. This approach is also resilient, with the availability of multiple routes for a message to travel. Our LoRa-based system achieves a 1–6 s warning window, slightly behind the 1.5–6.75 s of the internet-based performance of CRISiSLab’s system. Nevertheless, our novel network is effective for timely mental preparation, simple protective actions, and automation. Experiments with Lilygo LoRa32 prototype devices are presented as a practical demonstration.
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spelling doaj-art-06ac13e6f86b460989653418dce4bce52025-08-20T01:55:51ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202024-09-012418596010.3390/s24185960Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning SystemsVinuja Ranasinghe0Nuwan Udara1Movindi Mathotaarachchi2Tharindu Thenuwara3Dileeka Dias4Raj Prasanna5Sampath Edirisinghe6Samiru Gayan7Caroline Holden8Amal Punchihewa9Max Stephens10Paul Drummond11Department of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaDepartment of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaDepartment of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaDepartment of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaDepartment of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaJoint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, Wellington 6021, New ZealandDepartment of Computer Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Ratmalana 10390, Sri LankaDepartment of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa 10400, Sri LankaSeismoCity Ltd., Wellington 6023, New ZealandADP Consultancy, Palmerston North 4410, New ZealandCivil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New ZealandCanterbury Seismic, Christchurch 8442, New ZealandWe introduce a novel LoRa-based multi-hop communication architecture as an alternative to the public internet for earthquake early warning (EEW). We examine its effectiveness in generating a meaningful warning window for the New Zealand-based decentralised EEW sensor network implemented by the CRISiSLab operating with the adapted Propagation of Local Undamped Motion (PLUM)-based earthquake detection and node-level data processing. LoRa, popular for low-power, long-range applications, has the disadvantage of long transmission time for time-critical tasks like EEW. Our network overcomes this limitation by broadcasting EEWs via multiple short hops with a low spreading factor (SF). The network includes end nodes that generate warnings and relay nodes that broadcast them. Benchmarking with simulations against CRISiSLab’s EEW system performance with internet connectivity shows that an SF of 8 can disseminate warnings across all the sensors in a 30 km urban area within 2.4 s. This approach is also resilient, with the availability of multiple routes for a message to travel. Our LoRa-based system achieves a 1–6 s warning window, slightly behind the 1.5–6.75 s of the internet-based performance of CRISiSLab’s system. Nevertheless, our novel network is effective for timely mental preparation, simple protective actions, and automation. Experiments with Lilygo LoRa32 prototype devices are presented as a practical demonstration.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/18/5960earthquakemulti-hopbroadcastdelayPLUMEEW
spellingShingle Vinuja Ranasinghe
Nuwan Udara
Movindi Mathotaarachchi
Tharindu Thenuwara
Dileeka Dias
Raj Prasanna
Sampath Edirisinghe
Samiru Gayan
Caroline Holden
Amal Punchihewa
Max Stephens
Paul Drummond
Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
Sensors
earthquake
multi-hop
broadcast
delay
PLUM
EEW
title Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
title_full Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
title_fullStr Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
title_full_unstemmed Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
title_short Rapid and Resilient LoRa Leap: A Novel Multi-Hop Architecture for Decentralised Earthquake Early Warning Systems
title_sort rapid and resilient lora leap a novel multi hop architecture for decentralised earthquake early warning systems
topic earthquake
multi-hop
broadcast
delay
PLUM
EEW
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/18/5960
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