LoRaWAN

LoRaWAN is an RF standard for IoT devices to connect to the internet.

Gateway

Research

We decided in the Plenum to buy a LoRaWAN gateway for the space. However, we don't really know kind of gateway to get. Let's figure out what kinds exist today.

Prebuilt

• The Things Gateway [1] - not available yet?
• Kerlink IoT station [2] - can you buy that?
  • Some details:
    • https://www.disk91.com/2016/technology/internet-of-things-technology/lorawan-experimentation-with-kerlink-gateway/
    • https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/wiki/Hardware/Gateways/Kerlink
• Microchip LoRa Evaluation kit [3]
  • Includes a gateway and two nodes
• RisingHF Gateway RHF2S008 [4] - around 700€ ex. taxes Media:Lora_RisingHF_Prices.pdf
  • Product brief Gateway RHF2S008 [xyz]
  • Product brief Modem [xyz]
  • Product brief Temp/Hum Sensor Node RHF1S001 Media:RHF1S001_Product_Brief.pdf
• AirFy
  • [5]
  • Supposed to be available sometime in Q4 2016

DIY

• ic880a-gateway
  • [6], [7] (the same document?)
• http://www.instructables.com/id/LoRaWAN-Gateway/
• Single Channel Gateway (not LoRaWAN spec conform, but maybe sufficent for testing?)
  • http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-Lora-Shield-and-RPi-to-Build-a-LoRaWAN-Gateway/
  • https://github.com/tftelkamp/single_chan_pkt_fwd

SDR

Just some thoughts. The difficult parts to get seem to be the RF modules for a LoRaWAN gateway. How about building one with a SDR? We have a few badges from the last CCCamp at the space, which work like an HackRF...

Some links I found:

• Post on the TTN forums
• https://revspace.nl/DecodingLora
• https://myriadrf.org/blog/lora-modem-limesdr/
• https://github.com/BastilleResearch/gr-lora

Gateway number One

DIY gateway with RPi and IC880a SPI board, acc. to [8]

• BOM

Description	Seller	Price
RPi	-	-
IC880a	IMST	218.83€
Adapter Board	Tindie GNZ	9.75€
GP868	funkmodul.com	37.37€
U.FL -> BNC Adapter	4GLte.eu	8.70€
	total	274.65€

• Gateway EUI B827EBFFFECA0023
• Install Log
• Check status at https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/api/v0/gateways/B827EBFFFECA0023/
• Components
  • Raspberry Pi
  • IC880a LoRa concentrator Board
  • RPi Adapter Board
  • Groundplane Antenna
  • U.FL -> BNC Adapter cable

Client devices

Research

Available boards:

• Arduino shields
  • Dragino LoRa shield
    • Based on HopeRF RFM95W
    • Severin has one
  • Dragino LoRa BEE
    • based on SX1276/SX1278
    • Heiko ordered some

• Complete boards
  • PyCom LoPy (WiFi, LoRa & BLE) - 34,95€ @ EXP-Tech
  • Adafruit Feather 32u4 with LoRa (LoRa, LiPo Charger) - 36,95€ @ EXP-Tech
  • SODAQ LoraOne (LoRa, LiPo, Solar) - ~95€
  • Badgerboard (LoRa, LiPo, Temp/Humidity) - ~55€
  • Mini-LoRa - DIY
• Full sensor units

Test Unit One

• Arduino Uno
• Dragino LoRa shield
• GPS module

Cloud

We connect to The Thingsnetwork

• Documentation: https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/
• Munich Community: https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/community/munich/
• Our Test Application: https://staging.thethingsnetwork.org/applications/70B3D57ED00012F7

Other Information

• https://medium.com/@ashujoshi/4-ingredients-needed-to-get-started-with-lorawan-1ff519274122
• TI Antenna selection Guide [9]
• Home made 868MHz Ground Plane [10]
• Introducation to LoRaWAN [11]
• Another Antenna [12]

Example Sensor projects

• LoRa Environmental Node
• AirRohr using LoRaWAN [13]

Alternative systems

• Talk about an also LoRa based alternative to LoRaWAN, which should be able to work coexistingly with LoRaWAN: LoraLight