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LoRa communication within STM32

ChahinezC
Lead

on ‎2021-05-18 09:50 AM

What are the most important information to know about LoRa communication?
What are the resources offered by ST and dedicated to the development of LoRa solutions?

This FAQ concerns the LoRa communication, this tutorial contains the basic information to know about LoRa Technology and several helpful links to get started with, based on STM32 products.
 

1. What is LoRa?  

LoRa is a wireless communication technology, it is developed to create low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs) required for machine-to-machine and IoT applications connecting many devices.  
 

2. What are the LoRa characteristics? How far can LoRa transmit? 

LoRa is a long-range transmission technology for higher than 10 Km and characterized by its low power consumption and its: 

  • Long range: >15 km / 9 mi range 
  • Low power: 5-10 year expected battery lifetime. 
  • Low-cost: from end-node sensor cost to upfront infrastructure investment 
  • Secure: with embedded end-to-end AES-128 encryption of data 
  • Geolocation: enables indoor/outdoor tracking without GPS 
 
Note:

It is important to highlight that the range LoRa transmits for is affected by multiple factors which are mainly the network used, the node-gateway positioning, the antenna, the environment…

  

3. What is LoRaWAN protocol (Long Range Wide Area Network)?

LoRaWAN is a global Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) specification providing bi-directional communications which allows connection of LoRa devices to the internet. 
LoRaWAN differs from LoRa by the inclusion of a physical layer. It consists of several elements:

  • End devices (nodes): the elements where the sensing or control is undertaken. Communication to end devices is generally bi-directional, but it is also possible to support multicast operation, and this is useful for features such as software upgrades or other mass distribution messages.
  • Gateway: receives the communications from the LoRaWAN end devices and then transfers them onto the backhaul system. They are connected to the network server using standard IP connections. 
  • Network Server: The LoRaWAN network server manages the network. The network server acts to eliminate duplicate packets, schedules acknowledgement, and adapts data rates.
  • Application Server: a remote device running the application and controlling the actions of the end devices or collecting data from them.
 

3.1 LoRa Modulation

Regarding the LoRa modulation characteristics, they are defined for each region and specified in the LoRaWAN Regional Parameters document, from the LoRa Alliance.

 

3.2 Is remote control via LoRa allowed?

LoRa is a Sub-GHz wireless technology enabling low data rate communication over long distances so, yes, it is possible we can send data via lora protocol to another device and control it remotely.
 

3.3 Shortening the LoRa send time?

In order to maximize the range, it is possible to:
  • increase the link budget by decreasing the bandwidth to the last possible value but be careful this alternative might affect the communication quality.
  • make the spreading factor much higher.
  • improve the used antenna.

3.4 Advantages of deploying a LoRaWAN network?

Deploying the LoRaWAN network has several advantages presented below: 

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4. Useful links

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‎2021-05-18 09:50 AM
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