LoRa is a new communication standard for the Internet of Things, which is commonly used for small signal data transmission over very long distances. LoRa sensors typically have low power, low power consumption, and long battery life. LoRa is the abbreviation of the word “Long Range”. From the name, it can be seen that the main feature of LoRa is the long transmission distance. LoRa’s signal modulation scheme, developed by Semtech, enables excellent link margin. LoRa’s signal sensitivity is very high, so LoRa can maintain long-distance communication, even in noisy environments. Similar to other LPAWAN technologies such as NB-IoT, LoRa typically operates at lower data rates, which further increases link headroom. Due to its low data rate, LoRa is not suitable for scenarios that require high data delay.
LoRaWAN is a communication standard of LPWAN protocol based on LoRa chip, which is designed for remote IoT connection. LoRaWAN was originally called LoRaMAC, which is a set of communication protocols and system architecture based on LoRa long-distance communication network design. According to the traditional communication protocol, LoRaWAN is the MAC layer, and LoRa is the physical layer. LoRaWAN is an open network standard, and its data link layer access control (MAC) is maintained by the LoRa Alliance.
The LoRaWAN gateway is a LoRa network connector, which can convert the LoRa network communication protocol to the TCP/IP protocol, and transmit the data of the LoRaWAN device to the network. This is similar to setting up an industrial wireless router to connect WiFi devices to the network. Gateways are usually deployed by users or solution providers and are usually deployed at remote regional centers without other types of coverage.
The LoRaWAN cloud server is a cloud service center that manages device connections and communications. The web server can be a physical server or a cloud server. When the web server is in the cloud like the hosting service, the gateway operates in a so-called “packet forwarding” mode, which just passes all the original LoRa data packets in the air to the web server and the web server. In this mode, all information such as data encryption and packet decryption, device management and connection, data analysis and processing are stored in the ECS, which makes it easier to manage and upgrade the server and easier to read and process data.
In terms of network structure, LoRaWAN’s wireless protocol is very simple. Its network structure is a star topology, which is conducive to LoRaWAN terminal equipment to increase communication range and reduce power consumption. After demonstration and test, this star structure is more suitable for this kind of Internet of things application scenario with low power consumption and large area than the grid structure.
The network layout of the star topology is the central data processing mode. Each LoRaWAN terminal device transmits the data to multiple LoRaWAN gateways, and then the LoRaWAN gateway transmits the data to the central server. The central server centrally manages and processes the collected data, and the server will complete the message scheduling, security investigation, and redundancy detection of the data. The central server feeds back some information of LoRaWAN terminal equipment according to the data so that LoRaWAN can make a certain response.
Class A is an asynchronous operation. The characteristic of the asynchronous operation is that it does not need to queue like a synchronous operation. When the terminal node needs to transmit data, it will connect with the gateway, rather than waiting for a specific time or queuing for the completion of thread tasks. The terminal node is in a sleep state before transmitting data. After the node completes the transmission, it will immediately enter the sleep state. When one node completes transmission, the other can start transmission immediately. There is no gap in communication. Since class A is asynchronous transmission, collision is inevitable. The theoretical maximum capacity of a pure Aloha network is about 18.4% of the maximum. If two nodes wake up at the same time and decide to transmit on the same channel using the same radio settings, they will collide and collide.
Class B allows information to be sent to the terminal node. LoRaWAN gateway sends a beacon every 128 seconds. All LoRaWAN base stations also send beacon messages. Their internal clocks are synchronous and belong to one pulse per second (1PPS). The synchronization satellite in orbit will transmit a message at the beginning of each second, which can synchronize the time around the world. Lora Wan base station also depends on this synchronization time. Every beacon sent by the gateway allocates a time gap of 128 seconds to tell the node when to receive the signal.
Class C allows the node to keep listening for a long time without sleeping and can send downlink messages at any time. Class C is in the wake-up state for a long time and needs to consume energy to maintain the wake-up state of the node to monitor the received signal in real-time. All class C consumes a lot of energy and is not suitable for battery power supply. It is mainly used in scenarios where the power supply can be stable.
LoRaWAN has its own application scenarios with WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, mobile phones, etc. in long-distance transmission, LoRaWAN has obvious advantages over the others. WiFi, ZigBee and Bluetooth use a 2.4GHz spectrum. The advantage of this spectrum is that it can carry a large amount of information and fast speed, but it is not a good choice for wireless sensors.
LoRa is a radio modulation technology used for wireless LAN networks in the LPWA network technology category. LoRaWAN is a network (protocol) that uses LoRa.
Low power Internet of things is more widely used in smart city construction. With the deepening of smart city construction, urban perception applications will be paid more and more attention. This kind of Internet of things application has its special points: huge connection, low communication frequency, low power consumption, complex coverage environment and high-cost sensitivity. Therefore, low-power Internet of things is more suitable for urban perception Internet of things application system.
Why does LoRa technology attract the attention of the industry? LoRa technology has a wide application prospect in many fields with excellent performance and flexible networking form. In addition, the implementation architecture of LoRa long-distance transmission, the three behavior modes of LoRaWAN, and the typical architecture and application of LoRa. In addition to the smoke monitoring systems, power environment monitoring systems, air conditioning energy-saving monitoring systems and intelligent care monitoring systems, the popularization of the Internet of things should be based on people-oriented. Life safety, transportation and medical treatment, environmental pollution, food problems and human resources are all vertical application fields of the Internet of things that have been widely concerned for a long time, LoRa has more advantages than other communication technologies in these scenarios.
The era of interconnection of all things is also the era of data as the king. However, in many cases, if intelligent objects do not have corresponding location information, it means that the data is “chaotic” and the available value will be greatly reduced. With the vigorous development of the Internet of things industry in the past two years, the demand for positioning technology in various Internet of things application scenarios has also greatly increased. At present, there are dozens or even hundreds of types of positioning technology, and each positioning technology has its own advantages and disadvantages and suitable application scenarios.
LoRa is applicable to local areas with higher density and has the characteristics of relatively independent, stronger signal and lower cost. Therefore, LoRa must have a place in the future broad blue ocean market of the Internet of things. As for the future development prospect of LoRa, it still depends on the joint promotion of people in the industry.
Smart buildings transform our lives and work by offering unprecedented levels of comfort, efficiency, and…
IoT has become a transformative force in our interconnected world. It’s like the magical key…
Imagine a world without light...scary, right? We’d all be stumbling around in the dark like…
Step into the fascinating world of smart office automation, where technology takes center stage and…
Forests can be tricky to keep an eye on. They’re big, and the tangle of…
Water stress caused by intense heat can be detrimental to plant growth, especially for small…