What is LoRa?
Introduction to LoRa ®
It is an acronym for Long Range Radio, developed by Semtech. It utilizes Chirp Spread Spectrum (CCS) with a spread spectrum modulation. LoRa radio is a long-range, low power, wireless technology designed for IoT applications. I operate on unlicensed frequencies in the sub GHz range, making regulatory approvals and installation easy. The low power allows for a battery life of devices for of up to 10 years.
In open space, it can have ranges up to 10’s of kilometers, and within buildings it has a better ability to penetrate walls compared to other wireless technologies like WiFi, Bluetooth and Zigbee.
It is a Low Powered Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and covers the physical layer of the technology. LoRaWAN is the protocol layered on top of this that determines the exchange of information between LoRa devices and Gateways.
System Architecture
It is secured end to end with AES128 bit encryption. The devices communicate to gateways that are connected to the internet through wired Ethernet, cellular or Wi-Fi connections. The data is then forwarded to the Application server, which are cloud-based IoT services such as the things network.
Devices can be geolocated without the need for GPS through true range multilateration.
Alternatives
Alternative radio technologies are Zigbee, Bluetooth and WiFi. However, none of these have the same range and penetrative abilities that LoRa has. Wireless Tunnel™ technology from AKCP, has improved standard LoRa™. Suitable for critical infrastructure monitoring with immediate alerts and acknowledgement of delivered messages.
Diagram from Semtech https://www.semtech.com/lora/what-is-lora
