LoRa is now one of the most popular and fastest-growing IoT technologies. It is widely adopted around the world as it is affordable, secure and efficient for large-scale deployments. As a result, Semtech reported more than 1.2 million gateways deployed worldwide and over 180 million cumulative end-nodes at the end of 2020 (source: Semtech).

This week Semtech and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a collaborative effort, resulting in a new offering from AWS that integrates LoRaWAN® network connectivity with AWS IoT Core: AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN. A new way for customers to connect and manage wireless devices via the Amazon Cloud, AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN builds on the open LoRaWAN networking specification, which, in turn, is based on Semtech’s LoRa® chipsets.

As cities develop, the number of traceable assets continues to grow. Similarly, as physical asset management becomes increasingly difficult, the need for more efficient methods is growing.

Semtech recently launched the new LoRa SX1303 baseband processor. Smaller and more efficient than the SX1301, the SX1303 processor also introduces a new feature: Fine Timestamp. This feature provides an efficient solution that enables network-centric geolocation asset tracking—without the need for a power-hungry and expensive GPS.

The third edition of the makezurich.ch Hackathon For A Better City, an event that brought together the local maker community and the city administration, took place between 23-31 October in Zurich, Switzerland. The event—which, due to COVID-19 restrictions was held in a hybrid modality: both virtual and in-person—attracted roughly 100 participants working on 17 projects across seven different challenges.

Semtech’s LoRa® developer ecosystem team is always listening to our developers to better understand your wants and needs. We work to create content and tools that help you in your efforts to bring Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to life with LoRa chipsets and the open LoRaWAN® protocol.

Just getting started developing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions with Semtech’s LoRa® ICs? Interested in how to build and deploy a device? We have a great technical paper that will walk you through how to build a device from scratch using off-the-shelf components.

What do you get when you combine the LoRaWAN®  protocol with Wi-Fi? A cost-effective approach to an Internet of Things (IoT) network deployment that offers significant opportunity for Wi-Fi providers and IoT developers. By employing a network mutualization scheme combining the LoRaWAN protocol and Wi-Fi connectivity, Wi-Fi providers can expand their business to provide coverage for both broadband applications and massive IoT deployments that leverage the (free) unlicensed radio spectrum.

The LoRa Alliance® is a global association responsible for designing,  promoting and certifying devices for the open LoRaWAN networking standard for low power, wide area networks (LPWANs).  LoRaWAN is an open networking protocol that delivers highly secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization features used for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. LoRaWAN networks operate in the unlicensed portion of the RF spectrum. People and companies broadcasting using this portion of the spectrum do not need a license from a governmental body to do so. With 148 LoRaWAN network operators in 162 countries, LoRaWAN networks account for more than one third of all LPWAN deployments in the world, according to industry research firm IoT Analytics.

Sebastien Lebreton, Principal Applications Engineer at Semtech, has been building and testing devices  featuring LoRa® chips for eight years. An expert in the field, he has been working with wireless technologies since 2001, and has regularly been called upon to teach engineers across the LoRa developer ecosystem how to be successful in this arena.

Over the years, I have explained how to test devices with LoRa® chipsets a dozen times or more during seminars, workshops and in informal meetings with customers. The need to write and publish these recommendations for the benefit of the industry has become more than apparent. So, sit back, enjoy a cup of coffee and read on.

In the How to Use LoRa Basics™ Station technical paper from Semtech, Anton Beitler provides in introduction to LoRa Basics Station including: