面向LoRaWAN开发的工具支持：仿真与模拟的对比视角

摘要

本文探讨了在设计与评估物联网网络时，各类远距离无线区域网络（LoRaWAN）仿真与模拟工具的使用。仿真工具因成本较低、易于对大规模网络建模而在研究者中广受欢迎，可便捷、快速地检验各种协议与行为的可扩展性；但它们往往难以体现真实部署中固有的不可预测性。模拟工具与云端工具弥补了这一不足：凭借其灵活性，它们能够更真实地逼近实际性能表现，并更便于与真实的网络硬件基础设施对接；不过其成本通常更高，且往往受制于使用者的技术水平。

Abstract

This paper explores the use of various long range wireless area network (LoRaWAN) simulation and emulation tools when designing and evaluating IoT networks. Simulation tools are often popular with researchers because they are less costly and can easily simulate large-scale networks, allowing for easy and faster tests of the scalability of various protocols and behaviors. However, they often lack the unpredictable nature of real deployments. Emulation and cloud-based tools fill this gap, but with their flexibility they provide a more realistic approximation of real-world performance and allow easier interfacing with actual network hardware infrastructure, although they generally incur a higher cost which is often controlled by technical skill level use.