Introduction

LoRa Topologies

LPWAN

Index LoRa Vs LoRaWAN

LoRaWAN network architecture

LoRaWAN Security

LoRa Chips
 LoRa
• LoRa is a wireless Radio frequency
technology used to transmit bi-
directional information to a long-
distance without consuming much
power.
• Developed by Semtech
• LoRa stands for Long Range Radio
• Transmits over license-free sub-gigahertz
radio frequency bands like 169 MHz, 433
MHz, 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz
(North America).
• Enables very-long-range transmissions
(more than 10 km in rural areas) with
low power consumption
• Based on spread-spectrum modulation
techniques derived from chirp spread
spectrum (CSS) technology
 CHIRP SPREAD SPECTRUM (CSS)
• Chirp Spread Spectrum is a spread spectrum technique that uses wideband linear
frequency modulated chirp pulses to encode information
• Spread spectrum techniques are methods by which a signal is deliberately spread
in the frequency domain
• A chirp, often called a sweep signal, is a tone in which the frequency increases (up-
chirp) or decreases (down-chirp) with time.
• Example of an up-chirp where the frequency increases in time.
• The chirp signals are used as carrier signals where a message
is encoded on.
• While sending data:
 8 up chirps – preamble
 2 down chirps –synchronization
 5 up chirps - data
 Region Frequency
Europe 867 - 869MHz

North America 902 - 928MHz

• Each region have
different LoRaWAN China 470 - 510MHz
Frequency
allocations:
Korea/Japan 920 - 925MHz

India 865 - 867MHz

 Long range: Many miles on line-of-sight links.

Low power: Can run on battery for years.

Advantages Low cost: LoRa modules are pocket-friendly. It uses

constant envelope modulation that brings lower
of LoRa cost and higher efficiency to the power amplifier.

Universal: Uses unlicensed bands that are globally

available.

Bi-directional: Can send and receive data.

 • With a maximum data rate of around 50kb/s.
•  LoRa has the lowest of data rates when compared
with most of the other technology which makes it
not ideal for certain applications where high data
rates are required.

Disadvantages
of LoRa
LoRa
Topologies •Point to Point Communication
• In point to point communication, two LoRa enabled
devices talk with each other using RF signals.
• For example, this is useful to exchange data
between two ESP32 boards equipped with LoRa
transceiver chips that are relatively far from each
other or in environments without Wi-Fi coverage.
• Unlike Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that only support short
distance communication, two LoRa devices with a
proper antenna can exchange data over a long
distance.
  Deployed in a star topology
 LoRaWAN defines the communication
protocol and system architecture for the
network while the LoRa physical layer enables
the long-range communication link
 Communication between sensor nodes & BS
goes over the wireless channel utilizing LoRa
LPWAN physical layer and the connection between
gateways & central server are over IP-based
network
 End Nodes transmit directly to all gateways
within range, using LoRa
 Gateways relay messages between end-
devices & central network server using IP
 LoRa is a radio frequency carrier signal based in the physical (PHY)
layer that converts the data it receives to signals.

LoRa LoRaWAN is a protocol located in the Media Access Control (MAC)

VS
layer that promotes the LoRa signals to wider applications.

LoRaW
AN
 LoRaWAN network architecture

• An end node broadcast its data to every gateway in its vicinity.

• The gateways forward this packet to the network server.
• The network server collects the messages from all gateways and filters out the
duplicate data and determines the gateway that has the best reception.
• The network server forwards the packet to the correct application server where the
end user can process the sensor data.
• Optionally the application server can send a response back to the end node.
• When a response is send, the network server receives the response and determines
which gateway to use to broadcast the response back to the end node.
1. End Nodes
End Nodes are LoRa embedded sensors
• Sensors: detect the changing parameter eg. temperature, humidity, accelerometer, gps)
• LoRa transponder: transmit signals over LoRa patented radio transmission method
• Optionally a micro-controller (with on board Memory)
• LoRa sensors can transmit signals over distances from 1km — 10km
• Depending on the applications, end nodes can be classified
I. Bi-Directional end-devices (Class A)
II. Bi-directional end-devices with scheduled receive slots (Class B)
III. Bi-directional end-devices with maximal receive slots (Class C)

2. Gateways :
• Always connected to power source
• Connect to network server via standard IP connections
• Act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets & vice versa.
3.Network servers :
• Cloud based platform solutions, e.g., The Things Network (TTN) or LoRIOT
• Connect to gateways & de-dupe data packets, and then routes it to the relevant
application
• Can be used for both uplink (i.e. sensor to application) or downlink (i.e.
application to sensor) communication

4. Application Server
• The application server determines what the data from the end devices are
used for. Data Visualization etc are done here.
 • For the network and for the application
• Network security ensures authenticity of the node in the
network
• Application layer security ensures the network operator
does not have access to the end user’s application data
• LoRaWAN specification defines two layers of
LoRaWAN •
cryptography:
A unique 128-bit Network Session Key shared between

Security •
the end-device & network server
A unique 128-bit Application Session Key (AppSKey)
shared end-to-end at the application level
• Data over LoRaWAN is encrypted twice:
– Sensor data is encrypted by the node and then
encrypted again by the LoRaWAN protocol; only
then is it sent to the LoRa Gateway.
– The Gateway sends data over normal IP network to
the network server.
– The Network server has the Network Session Keys
& decrypts the LoRaWAN data. It then passes the
data to the Application server which decrypts the
sensor data, using the Application Session Key.
  LoRa Chips
• LoRa chips can be divided into two types:
I. Chips used in gateways.
II. Chips used in end nodes.
• Semtech owns the LoRa Intellectual Property (IP), but has licensed the IP
to other chip manufacturers like Microchip, STMicroelectronics and
HopeRF.
• A LoRa gateway uses SX1301 or SX1308 chip, supports up 10000 end
nodes and it has 10 programmable reception channels
• LoRa end nodes uses SX126x series and SX127x series
• The connection of ESP32 with RFM95
transceiver(uses SX1276 chip)
THANK YOU