Non-Conventional IoT Applications Through Low-End Devices Hybrid Network Approach

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has created heterogeneous ecosystems where interoperability remains a significant challenge, often addressed with complex, resource-intensive software platforms. This paper challenges this paradigm by demonstrating that powerful interoperability can be achieved using a network composed entirely of low-end devices. A feasible and direct approach is presented through a hybrid network architecture where a resource-constrained 'central node'—itself a low-end device—acts as a physical-layer gateway and packet translator. The proposed solution unifies two low-power, long-range protocols, LoRaWAN and the proprietary LoRaEMB, enabling simple end-nodes to communicate across protocol boundaries without modifications to their existing firmware. The architecture was validated through a practical case study, confirming the efficacy of the proposed approach. The results show that leveraging low-end devices as network bridges is a simple and scalable solution, enabling non-conventional applications through the integration of diverse systems without the overhead of high-level abstractions.