With the continued maturation of low power wide area networks (LPWANs) and the Internet of Things (IoT), here are my predictions for the coming year:

There are a number of differentiators for LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® protocol that have helped in its widespread adoption, including long range connectivity, battery lifetime, security, network architecture, and network capacity. However, there is one particular feature that will drive LoRaWAN adoption for years to come. Technical challenges or limitations (range, capacity, battery lifetime, etc.) are no longer a barrier to Internet of Things (IoT) adoption. The remaining challenges of the IoT are system integration, digital transformation, return-on-investment (ROI), service level agreements (SLA), and ensuring interoperability across an ecosystem.

This week we are taking a look at the contents of each module within the LoRaWAN Academy™ curriculum, and what you can expect to learn in each.

Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) is a compression and fragmentation mechanism that enables the use of internet protocols over low power, wide area networks (LPWAN).

Resulting from the common work carried out by Acklio and IMT Atlantique, SCHC opens new horizons for the Internet of Things (IoT) and accelerates LoRaWAN® adoption. Historically, most Internet standards were too complex for LPWAN environments. IoT technologies and use cases were not interoperable and it was challenging to integrate them with existing architectures.

Consider licensed low power wide area networks (LPWANs), such as NB-IoT, and unlicensed LPWANs, such as LoRaWAN®. LoRaWAN is optimal for long battery lifetime, and for devices that are low cost and only need to send small amounts of data a few times per hour. For its part, NB-IoT is optimal for sending larger packets, guaranteeing downlink latency and guaranteeing a quality of service with the licensed band spectrum. Due to these characteristics, NB-IoT is suited for critical Internet of Things (IoT) use cases, while LoRaWAN is perfect for the volume of IoT (even massive IoT) use cases, because most IoT use cases need low cost devices with a long battery lifetime to achieve an attractive return on . (For a more in-depth comparison of LoRaWAN and NB-IoT, take a moment to read 10 Things About LoRaWAN & NB-IoT.)

Welcome, once again, to the LoRa Developer Crossword Corner. Last month we focused on the LoRa Basics™ Station. This month, the Crossword Corner takes a step back to review the fundamentals of LoRa® and LoRaWAN.

On October 24th, 2019, Semtech hosted a LoRa boot camp in conjunction with Comcast, MachineQ, Murata, RF Laboratories, and SolderWorks. SolderWorks, a diversely experienced hardware and software engineering firm, developed a way to monitor real-time fermentation data using LoRa-based devices. By brewing a special in-house “LoRa® Boot Camp IPA” that provided a unique way to test the LoRa Boot Camp IPA Coaster, the boot camp sponsors were able to demonstrate a potential use case and value proposition of LoRa devices and the open LoRaWAN protocol.

Welcome to the October 2019 edition of our Crossword Corner.

Last month we focused on one of Semtech’s new tools: LoRa Basics™ MAC. This month we want to turn your attention to another: LoRa Basics™ Station.

LoRa Basics Station is a LoRa® packet forwarder, that is, a program that runs on the host of a LoRa-based gateway (with or without GPS), forwarding RF packets received by the concentrator (uplinks) to a LoRaWAN® Network Server (LNS) through a secured IP link. It also transmits RF packets sent by the LNS (downlinks) through the same secured IP to some device. Furthermore, it may transmit (potentially network-wide) GPS-synchronous beacon signals used for time coordinating devices within the network.

It is no secret that there are a great many ways that businesses can benefit from connecting to the Internet of Things (IoT). Already, there are a number of solutions deployed in the real world that are making a difference in such diverse fields as smart agriculture, smart cities, smart buildings, and the tracking of both domestic and wild animals.