LoRa: Long range, low power
wireless platform is the prevailing technology choice for building IoT networks
worldwide. LoRa Technology offers a very compelling mix of long range, low
power consumption and secure data transmission. Public and private networks
using this technology can provide coverage that is greater in range compared
to that of existing cellular networks. It is easy to plug into the existing
infrastructure and offers a solution to serve battery-operated IoT
applications.
LoRaWAN is a protocol
specification built on top of the LoRa technology developed by the LoRa Alliance.
It uses unlicensed radio spectrum in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical
(ISM) bands to enable low power, wide area communication between remote sensors
and gateways connected to the network. This standards-based approach to building
a LPWAN allows for quick set up of public or private IoT networks anywhere
using hardware and software that is bi-directionally secure, interoperable
and mobile, provides accurate localization, and works the way you expect.
The nodes work with gateways.
Each gateway is setup to send data to a specific configured backend server.
A nodes will communicate with any available gateway, but the gateway will
only send data to a specific destination. If the node is registered at that
backend server, then the message will be recieved, otherwise it will be
discarded. This makes communal backend servers like theThingsNetwork valueable
because all gateways registered to it can be shared.
LoRaWAN can support error
recovery at higher levels, but at the base level there is no ack or other
indication that a message was sent. At higher levels you can get an ack,
and react to it.
Note: San Diego Makers Guild has several Thing Network LoRaWAN radios, gateways,
and diagnostic tools for use by SD local experimenters.
See also: