LoRaWAN^® Modules

End-devices do not actually make a connection with a gateway. End-devices broadcast to all gateways within range and the gateway forward packets to a network server if it can hear them. So, a gateway does not have a hard number for supporting devices and it is rather dependent on how much bandwidth a gateway can support. For example, factors such as payload size, interval of each data transmission or data rate being used can affect how much air time is consumed and therefore the gateway processes. Also environment factors should be considered.   

It's normally best to experiment with real devices in actual sites in order to figure out how many devices can transmit data without much data loss, using desired configuration/setup.

Which countries are covered by LoRaWAN AS923? Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam

LoRaWAN in Europe uses the 868 MHz ISM band and defines ten channels, eight of which are multi-datarate (250 kbps-5.5 kbps) plus one fixed 11 kbps and one fixed 50 kbps FSK channel. Maximum transmit power is +15 dBM with the exception of the G3 band which is +27 dBM. ETSI imposes duty cycle restrictions, typically 1%, but no maximum transmission or channel dwell time restrictions. Europe is able to use spreading factors 7-12. LoRaWAN North America uses the 902-928 MHz ISM band and defines 64 125 kHz uplink channels plus 8 500 kHz uplink channels, along with 8 500 kHz downlink channels. The maximum output power allowed is +30 dBM but typically devices use much less. There are no duty cycle limitations imposed by the FCC but there is a 400 ms max dwell time per channel. Data rates are 980 bps - 21.9 kbps from spreading factors available being 7-10.  

There are a number of definitions for private LoRaWAN networks and public LoRaWAN networks. One definition is as follows:

A private LoRaWAN network is usually made up of a single application with network infrastructure provided by a single organization. A public LoRaWAN network will support multiple applications from multiple organizations. 

But the lines between private and public can be blurred. When considering LoRaWAN you need to consider:

• Do you want to subscribe to an established LoRaWAN network operator and possibly pay a subscription? You provide the end devices.
• Do you want to join a community LoRaWAN network where gateway access is available to all users (applications) in the network for the good of the network?
• Do you want to have complete control of the network and become an operator yourself? You can restrict application access just to your own applications or open it up to others.

Anyone can set up a LoRaWAN network and become an operator; this is particularly useful if you need to cover a small area such as a single factory or campus. Obviously, covering a larger geographic area becomes more difficult and therefore you might be better served by subscribing to an established operator with more widespread coverage. As an alternative, you may want to join a community network and allow others to benefit from your local coverage while you benefit from the coverage provided by others elsewhere. The Ezurio RM1xx supports all of the above scenarios.

Yes, Lora is a modulation technique using chirp spread spectrum whereas LoRaWAN is a network topology define by the Lora Alliance. While all LoRaWAN uses LoRa, not all LoRa is LoRaWAN.

A LoRaWAN system is comprised of end devices, gateways and network servers and a broadcast from a LoRaWAN end device must be forwarded by a LoRaWAN gateway to a LoRaWAN network server for authentication.

But it is possible to have point to point LoRa devices that use a proprietary protocol that are not interoperable with LoRaWAN.

Laird RS186 and RS191 are LoRaWAN end devices and can only send data through a LoRaWAN gateway to a LoRaWAN network server.

‘Open Dwell Time’ and ‘Close Dwell Time’ are times for how long an Open or Closed state must be maintained before a change to that state is announced.

The Sentrius RS1xx LoRaWAN sensor has been designed to use as minimum power as possible to be able to run on batteries for years in the field. Class A has been naturally chosen to fulfil this aim as its the most power efficient class. The only downside of this will be on the downlink latency where messages from the network server will only be possible after an uplink from the sensor.

There is no way to enable Class B or C behaviour on the RS1xx sensor.

All Ezurio LoRa products should be referred as LoRaWAN as they all supports its protocol. LoRaWAN protocol make use of LoRa Chirp Spectrum Modulation within a license-free sub-gigahertz frequency band that allow to transmit regularly small packets up to 15km. 

It’s important to consider that 15km can only be achieved within absolute best conditions, some of which would be an outdoor “line of sight” transmission, interference free environment, ideal humidity/temperature, highest Spreading Factor, ect… Such range magnitude cannot represent any “real world” distance transmission and shouldn’t be expected by default.

LoRa Basics Modem (LBM) is an open-source LoRaWAN stack and software library that can run on external MCUs. It for example enables worldwide interoperability in the ISM sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz bands and is broadly used by many companies in their LoRaWAN end-node products.

Our AT Interface application and implementation for the RM126x series is utilizing the LoRa Basics Modem SDK version 2.0.1. It is developed and maintained by the Semtech Corporation and also publicly available on GitHub at https://github.com/Lora-net/SWSD001/tree/v2.0.1.