What is LoRa?

What is LoRa? It is an acronym for Long Range Radio, developed by Semtech. It utilizes Chirp Spread Spectrum (CCS) with a spread spectrum modulation. LoRa radio is a long-range, low power, wireless technology designed for IoT applications. I operate on unlicensed frequencies in the sub GHz range, making regulatory approvals and installation easy. The low power allows for a battery life of devices for of up to 10 years.

In open space, LoRa can have ranges up to 10’s of kilometres, and within buildings it has a better ability to penetrate walls compared to other wireless technologies like WiFi, Bluetooth and Zigbee.

LoRa is a Low Powered Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and covers the physical layer of the technology. LoRaWAN is the protocol layered on top of this that determines the exchange of information between LoRa devices and Gateways.

LoRa ® System Architecture

LoRa is secured end to end with AES128 bit encryption. LoRa devices communicate to gateways that are connected to the internet through wired Ethernet, cellular or Wi-Fi connections. The data is then forwarded to the Application server, which are cloud-based IoT services such as the things network. 

Devices can be geolocated without the need for GPS through true range multilateration.

LoRa ® Alternatives

Alternative radio technologies are Zigbee, Bluetooth and WiFi. However, none of these have the same range and penetrative abilities that LoRa has. Wireless Tunnel™ technology from AKCP, has improved standard LoRa™. Suitable for critical infrastructure monitoring with immediate alerts and acknowledgement of delivered messages.