MUMBAI, India, Aug. 31 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202641101764 A) filed by Madhankumar C; Mrs. G. Sandhya Rani - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And Technology For Women; Mrs. A. Rajini Devi - Vignan'S Institute Of Management; Mr. S. Chandra Shekhar - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And Technology For Women; Mrs. B. Archana - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And Technology For Women; and Mr. K. Giridhar - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And on August 23, 2026, for Energy-Aware Adaptive Mac Protocol For Mixed Lorawan And Nb-Iot Coexistence In Smart Cities.
Inventors include Mrs. G. Sandhya Rani - Vignan'S Institute Of Management; Mrs. A. Rajini Devi - Vignan'S Institute Of Management; Mr. S. Chandra Shekhar - Vignan'S Institute Of; Mrs. B. Archana - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And Technology For Women; and Mr. K. Giridhar - Vignan'S Institute Of Management And Technology For Women.
The application for the patent was published on August 28, 2026, under issue no. 35/2026.
Abstract: Energy-Aware Adaptive MAC Protocol for Mixed LoRaWAN and NB-IoT Coexistence in Smart Cities ABSTRACT The present invention relates to an Energy-Aware Adaptive Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol for Mixed LoRaWAN and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Coexistence in Smart Cities, designed to provide efficient, reliable, and energy-conscious communication among heterogeneous low-power IoT devices operating over shared or adjacent wireless infrastructure. Smart city deployments typically integrate different communication technologies to support applications such as smart parking, intelligent street lighting, waste management, environmental monitoring, traffic monitoring, public safety, and utility management. However, the simultaneous operation of LoRaWAN and NB-IoT devices may result in inefficient channel utilization, communication interference, energy consumption, packet collisions, and reduced network reliability when conventional access mechanisms are used independently. The proposed invention provides an adaptive MAC protocol that dynamically coordinates medium access between LoRaWAN and NB-IoT devices according to network conditions, device energy levels, traffic characteristics, channel utilization, interference levels, data priority, and quality- of-service requirements. The system comprises a plurality of LoRaWAN end devices, NB-IoT devices, gateways or base stations, an energy monitoring module, a channel sensing module, an adaptive MAC controller, a traffic classification module, an interference estimation module, a scheduling and resource allocation module, and a network management interface. The energy monitoring module continuously evaluates the remaining energy and communication activity of connected IoT devices. The channel sensing and interference estimation modules determine channel occupancy, communication congestion, collision probability, signal quality, and interference conditions. Based on the collected parameters, the adaptive MAC controller dynamically selects suitable transmission opportunities, access parameters, scheduling intervals, duty-cycle configurations, transmission priorities, and communication resources for heterogeneous devices. The proposed protocol further classifies IoT traffic according to parameters such as emergency priority, periodic sensing requirements, delay sensitivity, data volume, and energy constraints. High-priority traffic may be assigned preferential access, while non-critical traffic may be scheduled during suitable low-congestion periods. The resource allocation mechanism coordinates LoRaWAN and NB-IoT communication activities to reduce unnecessary collisions and improve spectrum utilization. An energy-aware decision mechanism determines communication strategies according to residual device energy and expected transmission cost. Devices having lower available energy may be assigned energy-efficient transmission configurations, reduced communication frequency, or optimized scheduling opportunities, while devices having sufficient energy may support higher communication activity when required. The protocol thereby balances communication reliability with energy consumption across heterogeneous IoT nodes. The invention further incorporates an adaptive feedback mechanism that continuously evaluates network performance parameters including packet delivery ratio, latency, channel utilization, collision rate, energy consumption, throughput, and communication reliability. The MAC parameters are dynamically adjusted according to changing smart city network conditions. This enables the protocol to adapt to variations in traffic density, device availability, interference, and application requirements without relying on fixed communication configurations. The proposed invention provides a unified communication mechanism for energy-aware access control, adaptive scheduling, interference management, heterogeneous protocol coexistence, and dynamic resource utilization. The protocol can improve network efficiency, extend the operational lifetime of battery-powered IoT devices, reduce communication collisions, and support reliable data transmission in large-scale smart city deployments. The invention is applicable to smart parking systems, intelligent transportation, smart street lighting, environmental monitoring, waste management, smart metering, public infrastructure monitoring, emergency services, and other large-scale smart city applications requiring reliable and energy-efficient coexistence of LoRaWAN and NB-IoT communication technologies.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
