Dec 8, 2022
Connecting to low-powered devices with LoRaWAN – Understanding Network and Security for Far-Edge Computing
First, let’s understand what Long Range (LoRa) is, as well as its benefits and drawbacks.
LoRa
LoRa operates at Layer 1 (physical) of the OSI model. You could think of it as the equivalent of a Cat-6 RJ-45 cable. You can’t do much with that on its own.
LoRa
LPWAN radio technology was developed by Semtech and designed for use in IoT. It is based on a spread spectrum technique called Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS), which allows data to be transmitted over long distances (up to several kilometers) with low power consumption.
Benefits of LoRa
The following are some of the benefits of LoRa:
Long range14: 40 kilometers/25 miles (rural environment) and 5 kilometers/3 miles (urban environment)
14 These figures represent best-case line-of-sight range, or the radius of coverage with an omnidirectional antenna. Further, they can vary depending on the design of the gateway.
Low power: Designed to consume minimal energy, with some LoRa-capable devices having built-in batteries that last 20 years. The asynchronous connection model allows the device to sleep when there is no data to transmit or receive.
Reliable: Built-in forward error correction improves resilience against interference.
High penetration: Depending on the region, LoRa operates between 863-928MHz. This frequency range is less than half of the lowest 802.11x band. Due to this, LoRa signals penetrate obstacles approximately twice as well as Wi-Fi.
License-free: See the following table for the unlicensed frequency ranges for LoRa:
| Region | Band |
| North America | US915 (902-928MHz) |
| Europe | EU868 (863-873MHz) |
| South America | AU915 (915-928MHz) |
| India | IN865 (865-867MHz) |
| Asia | AS923 (915-928MHz) |
Figure 3.33 – License-free LoRa bands by region
Drawbacks of LoRa
Here are some of the drawbacks of LoRa:
Low throughput: The max bitrate is around 50 kilobits a second
Uncontrolled spectrum usage: License-free operation helps with deployment, but if you have ever had problems with your neighbor’s Wi-Fi router stepping on your signal, the potential is apparent.
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