LoRaWAN or LoRa is a method of wireless communication that offers long range and very low power devices (so perfect for many IoT applications). The technique actually derived from CSS or Chirp Spread Spectrum technology. It encodes information on radio waves using chirp pulses, similar to the way dolphins communicate with each other. LoRa modulated transmission is resilient against radio interferences or disturbances, and able to be received across long distances.
LoRa is ideal for solutions or applications that transmit relatively small chunks of data in small packets or with low bit rates. Data though can be transmitted at a much longer range compared to other wireless technologies like WiFi, Bluetooth (also known as BLE) and ZigBee. These features make LoRa well suited for sensors and actuators that operate in low power mode (often sleeping to save power). A great example of this could be a Golf Course where remote wireless sensors are checking the soil just a few times a day, sending back the information and then going back into sleep mode. With the valuable information the grounds team can decide if watering is needed, thus saving water and the time to check manually each day.
LoRa can be operated on the license free sub gigahertz bands, for example, 915 MHz, 868 MHz, and 433 MHz. It also can be operated on 2.4GHz to achieve higher data rates compared to sub-gigahertz bands, but at the cost of range. All of these frequencies fall into ISM bands that are reserved internationally for industrial, scientific, and medical purposes.
How it Looks?
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End Devices - Any sensors, assets or actuators send LoRa modulated wireless messages to the concentrators or gateways and receive messages wirelessly back from them.
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Gateways - Are securely encryped and used to receive messages from end devices or assets and forward them safely to the Network Server.
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Network Server - This is a piece of software (ours) running on a server (ours) that manages the entire network (ours).
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Application servers - a piece of software (ours) running on a server (ours) that is responsible for securely processing application data and presenting it via an IoT visualisation platform (ours).
So as you can see, end devices communicate securely with any nearby gateways and each gateway is connected to the network server (or LNS). LoRaWAN networks use an ALOHA based protocol, so end devices don’t need to peer with specific gateways. Messages sent from end devices or assets travel through all gateways within range If you have multiple gateways. These messages are then received by the Network Server. If the Network Server has received multiple copies of the same message, it keeps only a single copy of the message and discards any others. This is known as message deduplication.
End Devices
An end device, node (or asset as we prefer to call them) can be a multitude of devices, sensors, relays or actuators. They connect wirelessly to the LoRaWAN network through Gateways and as they are low power devices, they can often be battery operated (with battery life of up to 10yrs).
Gateways
Each gateway is registered (using secure configuration settings) to a LoRaWAN network server (or LNS). The gateway receives LoRa messages from end devices or assets and is a forwarder, simply sending them to the LoRaWAN network server. Any gateways are connected to the Network Server using a method of backhaul, like Cellular (3G/4G/5G), WiFi or Ethernet etc. Choose from indoor or outdoor gateways depending on your needs and understand what is needed for your application before deployment.
Application Server
The Application Server processes the data messages from end devices, nodes or assets. It also generates all the application-layer downlink payloads and sends them to any connected end devices through the Network Server (or LNS). . The collected data can then be normalised and further interpreted by users. Added value approaches such as applying techniques like machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used to solve a myriad of business problems. It can also be visualised for reporting purposes in documentation or dashboards designed for Energy Reporting, ESG or Net Zero.
For many applications LoRaWAN is perfect and can be a powerful digitalisation tool for your business or organisation. Costs for deployment are relatively low and networking is in your own hands as you can easily build your networks.
At IoT Warehouse we can help you with every element of digitalisation, whether LoRaWAN, WiFi, Cellular or any others because our application layer incorporates all of them. An even bigger bonus is we can create multi protocol networks that work together in a single pane of glass view to bring the power and advantages of each network type.
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What is a Lorawan Network Server or LNS?
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