LoRaWAN and LoRa: all about network specifications

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Due to the irruption of the IoT devices For both the Smart Home and other applications, the efficiency of the networks used for these systems has become even more important. And it is that many of them depend on a battery for their operation, or they are not capable of handling a large amount of power due to their size. That is why a alliance such as LoRa and LoRaWAN specifications.

Therefore, you should know what it is about and What advantages does it have use it in this type of embedded projects or that need a network with these characteristics ...

What is the LoRa Alliance?

Lora Alliance logo

The LoRa Alliance is an alliance that manages a rapidly growing technology. This association is not for profit, as is the case with other similar alliances. However, its members can obtain benefits within the ecosystem that they provide under their open standard, such as contributing, offering solutions, influencing the course, etc.

To this alliance belong member companies such as Actility, 3S, Air Bit, Alibaba Group, Alperia, Amazon, Arduino, Cisco, Eutelsat, Eurotech, Digita, Fujitsu, Microchip, Microsoft, NEC, NTT, Oki, Orange, Renesas, Bosch, Schneider Electronic, Tencent CLoud, Soft Bank, STMicroelectronics, etc., to complete more than 500.

LoRa Alliance ensures the correct interoperability of networks with the different positives and systems present on the market, in order to guarantee compatibility certifying and standardizing. They are also responsible for identifying future needs to take measures in the development of these networks and provide new solutions.

Official Web site

What is LoRa?

Lora network architecture

LoRa stands for Long Range, and refers to a patented technique initially developed by the French company Cycleo (acquired by Semtech) that is capable of modulating the low-power, wide-area network based on spectrum modulation techniques derived from CSS. It is currently under the LoRa Alliance, whose founder was Semtech.

The LoRa network employs frequency bands radio below gigahertz, such as 863-870 / 873 Mhz, 915-928 Mhz, etc. In addition, this technology covers large ranges, but without the need for a large power consumption, which makes them ideal for mobile or IoT devices. On the other hand, devices with LoRa support have geolocation capability

LoRa refers to a technology of physical layer, the rest of the network protocol layers must be covered by other specifications such as LoRaWAN.

What is LoRaWAN?

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LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is a low-power wireless network technology, covering long distances, bidirectional, and for low-volume data transmission. That is, on the one hand there would be technologies such as WiFi, zigbee, Bluetooth, etc., which have a lower range of a few meters, being WiFi the one that accepts the most data volume in transmissions. And on the other hand would be technologies such as LoRaWAN, WiMAX, LTE (4G, 5G ...), long range, the last two being the ones that tolerate the highest volume of data.

These characteristics make LoRaWAN a perfect technology for any initiative. IoT in domestic, industrial, agriculture, Smart Cities, logistics, facility management, etc. In this way, distant devices can be interconnected so that they can communicate with each other in a simple and economical way.

Advantages of LoRaWAN

All the LoRaWAN benefits are:

  • LoRaWAN allows to know the status and control different elements such as sensors and actuators in a simple way.
  • They can be spread out and have coverage of hundreds or several kilometers of distance between nodes and a Gateway.
  • They have low energy consumption, which allows better autonomies for devices with battery or batteries.
  • They are simple in terms of learning to use.
  • They have security implementations at all levels.
  • Interoperable architectures with other control systems already installed.
  • It has become a standard in the IoT ecosystem, making it easy to support.
  • Great penetration of the signal indoors, even with walls and obstacles due to its lower frequency compared to others such as WiFi.
  • Different device profiles according to the needs of each case.
  • It lacks certain limitations of use that other technologies have, neither in the data sent nor in the received, only the speed can be a limiting factor.
  • It is a very successful technology in Europe.

Where to buy LoRaWAN devices

If you want to buy some LoRaWAN devices for your projects, here are some recommendations:


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