In general, the Internet of Things has various technological solutions to transmit data above a network like WiFi, LoRa, NB-IoT, Zigbee, sub-1GHz & Bluetooth. However, long transmission distances and energy conservation can be guaranteed simultaneously within wireless communication network systems, because more energy is always needed for long transmission distances. So, this technology ensures both low-power and long-range conditions wherever transmitting a relatively small amount of data above a long distance is required. This article provides an overview of LoRa, its workings, and its applications.
What is LoRa?
LoRa (Long Range) is one of the major long-range & lower-power wireless communication systems developed by Semtech Corporation. It provides several attractive features like; low-power consumption, super long-range, multi-usage, encrypted data transmission, and minimal cost. It is operated in both private and public networks to provide much better coverage as compared to the cellular network.
LoRa is a wireless modulation technique derived from CSS (Chirp Spread Spectrum) technology. So, it encodes data on radio waves with chirp pulses. Its modulated transmission is strong against instabilities & can be obtained across large distances.
LoRa is perfect for applications that send small data chunks with low-bit rates. The data transmission can be done at a longer range as compared to Bluetooth, ZigBee, or WiFi technologies. So all these LoRa features will make it possible to use sensors & actuators that function in low power mode.
LoRa system operates on the license-free sub-gigahertz bands (868 MHz, 433 MHz & 915 MHz). It can also operate on 2.4 GHz to attain high data rates as compared to sub-gigahertz bands. So these frequencies come under ISM bands that are internationally reserved for scientific, medical, and industrial purposes.
The long-range and low-power nature of LoRa, therefore, is critical for its application in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) which improves our living standards rapidly. It solves many new challenges in both rural and urban areas around the world, including climate change, pollution, natural disasters, etc. Due to its convenience and profitable attributes, LoRa as a kind of Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), is widely adopted in transportation, manufacturing, facilities, household appliances, and even wearable devices.
Lora Features
The LoRa features include the following.
- Its range is 2 to 5 km for Urban and 15 km for suburban.
- Its frequency is ISM 868 or 915 MHz.
- It has IEEE 802.15.4g standard.
- The modulation used is spread spectrum modulation based on FM signals which change.
- A single LoRa gateway is capable of taking millions of nodes.
- It has a long battery life.
- LoRa physical layer is frequency, modulation, signaling, and power in between gateways and nodes.
LoRa Architecture
LoRa technology is targeted mainly for M2M networks and the Internet of Things (IoT). It is a type of new wireless modulation technique designed exactly for low-power communications & long-range connectivity. So this technology allows public networks or multi-tenants to connect several applications working on a similar network.
The LoRa has different layers like; application & device-level mainly for safe communications. Every individual LoRa gateway can handle up to thousands of nodes. The signals can expand a significant distance so that there is a low structure necessary to make a network much cheaper and faster to implement.
The LoRa architecture is shown below which includes end nodes, gateways, and two servers the network server & the application server. In this architecture, star topology is adopted among gateways & end nodes. The communication between these two devices can be done by applying a single wireless hop.
Once data is collected, end nodes are capable of transmitting messages to various gateways simultaneously by LoRa Radio Frequency. After that, WiFi, Ethernet Backhaul, or Cellular helps in forwarding the received data toward the network server within gateways, the final part which is suitable to confirm the packets uploading to the application servers.
LoRa Architecture
End Nodes
The end nodes are the LoRa network elements wherever the sensing or control is undertaken. So these are usually located remotely.
LoRa Gateway
The gateway in this architecture gets the communications from the endpoints. After that it transfers them to the backhaul system. So this LoRa network element can be Ethernet, cellular, or any other telecommunications link that is wired or wireless. The gateways in this architecture are connected simply to the network server with the usual IP connections. So, the data utilizes a typical protocol in this manner, although it can be associated with any private (or) public telecommunications network.
LoRa Network Server
The LoRa network server within the network succeeds in removing duplicate packets and it adapts data rates to schedule acknowledgment. So the estimation of the method where it can be arranged and connected will make it extremely simple to arrange a LoRa network.
Application Server
A remote computer controls the endpoint’s actions or gathers data from the endpoints. So the LoRa network is nearly transparent.
LoRaWorking
LoRa wireless utilizes spread spectrum modulation to spread a narrowband signal above a wider channel bandwidth. So its long-range wireless magic will come from some of the smart optimizations that are discussed below.
CSS (Chirp Spread Spectrum)
CSS is the physical layer modulation method utilized by LoRa radio. So, it functions simply by using a sinusoidal signal and its frequency can be modified linearly eventually by forming a chirp signal. After that, this signal is adjusted onto a carrier frequency. LoRa spreads the energy above a larger frequency range by chirping the signal above a wide bandwidth. This improves resistance to interference & noise where the signal reception is improved at the gateway.
ADR (Adaptive Data Rate)
ADR is the LoRa technique used to optimize data rates energetically between the gateways & end-node devices. By adapting adaptive data rates, nodes can move to quicker data rates whenever interference is less and move to more robust data rates whenever interference improves. So this optimization guarantees the finest data rates in changing channel conditions, improving both the node’s battery life & overall network ability. Thus, both the ADR and CSS mutually provide LoRa its imposing range and flexibility while utilizing minimal power.
Difference between LoRa and LoRaWAN
The difference between LoRa and LoRaWAN includes the following.
|
LoRa |
LoRaWAN |
| LoRa is a physical layer technology. | LoRaWAN is a type of communication protocol. |
| The technology type used in this is the physical layer modulation technique. | The technology type used in this is network layer communication protocol. |
| Its frequency bands are; 433, 868 & 915 MHz. | LoRaWAN frequency bands are; 433, 868 & 915 MHz. |
| It utilizes spread spectrum modulation technology for attaining low power consumption and long-distance transmission by modifying the signal expansion factor as well as the bit rate. | LoRaWAN describes a wireless communication protocol depending on a star topology that permits devices wirelessly to attach to the network to attain communication as well as control by the cloud. |
| This technology offers low-power, long-distance, and low-speed wireless communication. | LoRaWAN technology depends on LoRa technology development with a multi-node, low-power communication and security protocol. |
| It achieves special communication methods like; point-to-multipoint, broadcast, and point-to-point. | It utilizes a star network topology with three parts; terminal node, application server, and gateway. |
| This technology does not provide any security mechanism. | It provides various security mechanisms like; authentication, encryption, verification, and data integrity to defend data security & privacy. |
| LoRa applications are; IoT, industrial automation, and environmental monitoring. | LoRaWAN applications are; urban intelligence,
Agricultural & livestock and logistics and supply chain. |
LoRa Modulation:
LoRa is the wireless modulation (or) PHY (physical) silicon layer which is used to make the long-range communication link. The physical layer of this technology utilizes a type of spread spectrum modulation. This modulation system utilizes wide-band linear frequency-based controlled pulses. So, the frequency level raised or reduced after a while is utilized to encode the information to be transmitted like a chirp modulation form.
This kind of modulation allows LoRa wireless systems to demodulate signals that are < 20dB of the noise floor once the demodulation is merged with FEC (forwarding error correction). As compared to a fixed FSK; a LoRa system link budget can deliver an improvement of > 25dB.
An additional benefit of this system is that the chirp modulation & the system are tolerant of frequency offsets. Thus it is achievable to utilize a fundamental crystal oscillator through a 20-30 ppm acceptance instead of a temperature-paying oscillator. This provides some best cost savings in the node electronic circuitry.
LoRa Security
The network security issue is becoming significant gradually, so these networks need high ranges of security to avoid the problem of any systems. To achieve the required security levels for LoRa networks, numerous encryption layers have been utilized like the following.
- EUI128 (Device specific key).
- EUI64 (Unique Application key) certifies end-to-end safety.
- The EUI64 (Unique Network key) guarantees safety on the network range.
- Using these encryption layers will ensure that the LoRa network remains properly safe.
Advantages & Disadvantages
The advantages of LoRa include the following.
- It uses less power which ranges from 10 mA to 100 nA within sleep mode. The battery life ranges from 2 to 15 years based on the application so it decreases maintenance costs.
- Long-range connectivity is possible which allows city-scale coverage & good diffusion of buildings is attained.
- Secure transmission is possible due to AES-128-bit encryption.
- Signals can be located within a certain distance without GPS, so it is helpful for asset tracking.
- It has global spectrum bands, so the channel utilization period is restricted by regulations within many countries.
- Bidirectional communication is possible.
- A single LoRa gateway handles daily thousands of messages from millions of devices.
- This technology is very a popular choice mainly for a lot of IoT applications because of its low power consumption, cost-effectiveness, and long-range capabilities within specific use cases.
The disadvantages of LoRa include the following.
- It is designed only for long-range and low-power communication, so it sacrifices data rate mainly for longer transmission distances. Thus, the maximum data rate is quite low as compared to other types of wireless technologies. So it is not suitable for higher-bandwidth applications.
- Limited scalability, so a massive number of devices handling is complex and the network may experience jamming.
- The devices can communicate with gateways directly, so it limits network coverage in some situations, particularly in some places with geographical obstacles (or) extremely long distances between gateways & devices.
- These networks are vulnerable to security threats and attacks.
- Some LoRa devices contain limited processing capabilities and memory.
- Spectrum interference occurs when LoRa equipment & network deployment increases continuously.
- Users need to design their network in the LoRa deployment procedure.
- The LoRa transmission data payload is quite small & includes a byte limit.
LoRa Applications
The uses of LoRa include the following.
- This technology is applicable in smart cities for environmental monitoring, waste management, smart metering, street lighting, smart parking, etc.
- It is used in logistics for asset monitoring and tracking, fleet management & cold chain monitoring.
- In the agriculture field, this technology helps in soil monitoring, livestock tracking, and irrigation control.
- In industrial IoT, it is used to monitor equipment, automation, and predictive maintenance.
- Used for infrastructure monitoring like; railway tracks, tunnels, and bridges monitor for any physical changes.
- Utilities like; gas or water metering, Smart grid, distributed power generation, leak detection, etc.
- It is used in building automation, healthcare, and retail.
Thus, this is an overview of the LoRa protocol, its working, and its applications. It is a wireless open-standard communication protocol that allows different devices to communicate over numerous kilometers while going through obstacles. LoRa protocol has less power consumption, which makes it perfect for applications with less battery life & low bandwidth necessities. This protocol has gained popularity for its capability to connect several devices in various environments by providing a consistent and energy-efficient solution mainly for IoT connectivity. It simply operates within the sub-gigahertz frequency bands with an unlicensed spectrum. Here is a question for you, what is CoAP protocol?