LoRaWAN
The LoRaWAN is a communication protocol based on the LoRa modulation technique. LoRa modulation technique was first invented by a French start up Cycleo and then later in 2012 it was acquired by Semtech. LoRaWAN communication protocol belongs to the second layer of OSI model which is the MAC layer (Media Access Control Layer). LoRaWAN as a protocol has various benefits over other wireless communication protocols.
Some of the advantages are:
- Bi-directional communication
- End to end security using AES encryption
- Over the air registration of end nodes
- Low power
- Adaptive data rate
- Long range
- Low cost
LoRaWAN networks are implemented as a star topology which are composed of end devices, gateways, network servers and application server. Along with being simple as compared to a mesh network, one of the advantages of implementing star network topology is that it helps with the power consumption of end devices. In a mesh topology, all the devices in network communicate with every other device in the network. Although this helps to increase the range of communication, it does drain the power from end devices since they are in constant state of communication. This problem is solved in case of LoRaWAN by implementing an overlapping star network where the end device communicates with the best gateway thus decreasing the number of devices it needs to communicate and in turn reducing the power consumption. LoRaWAN also provides the end-to-end network security for data transmitted from end devices till it reaches the server.
LoRaWAN Network Protocol
LoRaWAN Classes
