thesmallobject.com » LoRa and LoRaWAN Basics

How can you send data to devices that are miles away, in areas where there isn’t Internet connectivity? The LoRa (Long Range) technology, which was invented a decade ago, uses special LoRa antennas like these to enable long-range communication links, while keeping power consumption at minimum levels.

The antennas are the key components of the system that makes these things possible. Standard applications require omnidirectional antennas, while long-range applications require directional antennas, which can focus the signal in a particular direction.

By using LoRa, modern farmers can get soil temperature data and monitor air quality even if their crops are 10 miles away, for example. Wildlife monitoring is also made possible by using this technology.

LoRaWAN, on the other hand, is the network protocol managing the way LoRa devices communicate over the network. It makes it possible for many devices to communicate with each other and ensures that all the messages are routed to their correct destinations.

To preserve power, network devices only transmit information when fresh data is made available to them. Then, the sent data is received by a gateway, which works on several frequencies and picks the strongest signal, forwarding it to the end devices.

LoRa and LoRaWAN are changing the way wireless communications work. Their ability to send radio signals over long distances without drawing a lot of power makes them the backbone of the technologies that will power smart cities in the future.