LoRaWAN modules

LoRaWAN is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) specification intended for wireless battery-operated devices in regional, national or global network. LoRaWAN target key requirements of Internet of things such as secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization services. This standard will provide seamless interoperability among smart Things without the need of complex local installations and gives back the freedom to the user, developer, businesses enabling the role out of Internet of Things.

LoRaWAN network architecture is typically laid out in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways is a transparent bridge relaying messages between end-devices and a central network server in the back-end. Gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections while end-devices use single-hop wireless communication to one or many gateways.

Figure: LoRaWAN network

Communication between end-devices and gateways is spread out on different frequency channels and data rates. The selection of the data rate is a trade-off between communication range and message duration. Due to the spread spectrum technology, communications with different data rates do not interfere with each other and create a set of "virtual" channels increasing the capacity of the gateway. To maximize both battery life of the end-devices and overall network capacity, the LoRaWAN network server is managing the data rate and RF output for each end-device individually by means of an adaptive data rate (ADR) scheme.

National wide networks targeting Internet of Things such as critical infrastructure, confidential personal data or critical functions for the society has a special need for secure communication. This has been solved by several layer of encryption.

Protocol: LoRaWAN 1.0, Class A LoRaWAN-ready Frequency:

• LoRaWAN EU module: 868 MHz and 433 MHz ISM bands

• LoRaWAN US module: 902-928 MHz ISM band

• LoRaWAN AU module: 915-928 MHz ISM band

• LoRaWAN IN module: 865-867 MHz ISM band

• LoRaWAN ASIA-PAC / LATAM module: 923 MHz ISM band

• LoRaWAN JP / KR module: 923 MHz ISM band Japan / KR920-923 MHz ISM band

TX power:

• LoRaWAN EU module: up to 14 dBm

• LoRaWAN US module: up to 18.5 dBm

• LoRaWAN AU module: up to 18.5 dBm

• LoRaWAN IN module: up to 18.5 dBm

• LoRaWAN ASIA-PAC / LATAM module: up to 18.5 dBm

• LoRaWAN JP / KR module: up to 16 dBm in Japan / up to 14 dBm in Korea

Sensitivity: down to -136 dBm Range: >15 km at suburban and >5 km at urban area. Typically, each base station covers some km. Check the LoRaWAN Network in your area. Chipset consumption:

• LoRaWAN EU module: 38.9 mA

• LoRaWAN US module: 124.4 mA

• LoRaWAN AU module: 124.4 mA

• LoRaWAN IN module: 124.4 mA

• LoRaWAN ASIA-PAC / LATAM module: 124.4 mA

• LoRaWAN JP / KR module: 96.1 mA

Radio data rate:

• LoRaWAN EU module: from 250 to 5470 bps

• LoRaWAN US module: from 250 to 12500 bps

• LoRaWAN AU module: from 250 to 12500 bps

• LoRaWAN IN module: from 250 to 12500 bps

• LoRaWAN ASIA-PAC / LATAM module: from 250 to 5470 bps

• LoRaWAN JP / KR module: from 250 to 5470 bps

Receiver: purchase your own base station or use networks from LoRaWAN operators

Figure: LoRaWAN EU module

Figure: LoRaWAN JP / KR module

Related API libraries: WaspLoRaWAN.h, WaspLoRaWAN.cpp

All the information about their programming and operation can be found in the LoRaWAN Networking Guide available at Development section of Libelium website.