Certify or not?

First ever LoRa product passed LoRaWAN protocol compliance certification tests in Espotel laboratory earlier this week. The LoRa Alliance will ratify certifications and publish them, thus I post no names here yet.

LoRaWAN introduction video in Youtube by LoRa Alliance.

Device manufacturer may wonder whether it is mandatory to certify every LoRa product? Yes and no. The cleverness of the LoRa technology is that it enables both public and private network use. Public network is like cellular network, there is an operator in place which provides commercial connectivity service. Private network is more like setting up your own WiFi access point - You do not need to ask permission to do so and you don't pay anything for the use of the wireless connectivity.

Why to certify? Public network operators want to ensure compatibility in between end-nodes and gateways, as well as guarantee quality of service. The end-device must meet certain minimum specifications, otherwise operator can not guarantee any performance level. If connectivity is bad, customer thinks it's operator's fault, not due to the device itself. These are the reasons why most public network operators require that every connected device must be LoRaWAN certified.

In case of private network use, there is no law that requires you to certify any product. It's your gateway and your device, you can do whatever you wish as long as regulatory requirements are met. Regulatory requirements means that product is CE labeled in the EU or FCC approved in the US. Regulatory requirements typically define things like maximum transmit power, maximum bandwidth and maximum duty-cycle.

The dual nature of the LoRa technology - managed for public use and license free for private use enables also new types of operations, crowdsourced Internet of Things like The Things Network which is a new type of establishing connectivity. The Things Network is based on voluntary network sharing. You may set up a gateway to get IoT connectivity for your devices, and simultaneously provide it for your neighbors. There is no central control, it's an anarchistic model - you do not need to set up a gateway of your own to benefit from connectivity provided by others. This is fundamentally different to many of the similar WiFi network sharing services introduced in the past.

In order to use crowdsourced network like The Things Network, the end-device must be LoRaWAN compatible - otherwise it just simply doesn't work. However, as it open to everybody without centralized control, there is nobody who could require and verify LoRaWAN certification for end-devices. In private networks even LoRaWAN compliance is not mandatory. Connectivity can be established directly a top of LoRa MAC, assuming your gateway supports that.

Professional customers who prefer to have certain SLA for the network service and wish not to trust on good will of people in the neighborhood, must use public service provided by commercial operators. For that the device manufacturer must get LoRaWAN certification to the product. And that means it's good time now to be a LoRa certification laboratory... :-)

PS. Frequently asked questions on LoRaWAN certification at Espotel site:
http://www.espotel.com/-/lorawan-certification-frequently-asked-questions

LoRaWAN certification

Lora Alliance All Member Meeting & Open house took place in Rotterdam this week. The board of alliance acknowledged Espotel and IMST as the first official certification test houses.

 Press release:

The LoRa Alliance Launches the LoRaWAN™ Certification Program End Device Interoperability to Enable Global Scalability for the IoT

SAN RAMON, Calif. - November 10th, 2015 - The LoRa Alliance is one of the fastest growing Internet of Things (IoT) alliances. It has drawn over 130 members since March 2015 and today announced the launch of the LoRaWAN™ Certification Program. The launch announcement was made at the 3rd European Open House Meeting in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and will ensure interoperability between end devices and LoRaWAN™ networks.

The LoRa® Alliance has a mission to ensure that the open LoRaWAN™ specification for secure, carrier grade, low power wide area networks (LPWAN) will enable all end devices to behave in a predetermined way when connected to a LoRaWAN™ network and interoperate with all gateway products. The Certification Program will provide assurance to end customers that their application-specific end devices will operate on any LoRaWAN™ network, which is a crucial requirement for the global deployment of the IoT using LPWANs.

The scope of the Certification Program will be to confirm that the end device meets the functional requirements of the LoRaWAN™ protocol specification, and will include a suite of tests that are specified in the LoRa® Alliance End Device Certification Requirements document. A device manufacturer must be a member the LoRa® Alliance to be LoRa® Certified and must use one of the accredited LoRa® Certification test houses to do the functional protocol testing. On completion of the tests the results will be listed on the LoRa® Alliance website, and upon compliance a LoRa® Certification certificate will be issued by the LoRa® Alliance. All LoRaWAN™ Certified devices will be listed on the Alliance website and there will not be a fee for the listing. The LoRa® Certified end devices are listed in a product catalogue and a portal on the website to enable visibility will be available by year end.

"This is a major milestone for the LoRa® Alliance in the adoption of LoRa® technology as a mature standard and will enable end device manufactures to have fully compliant LoRaWAN™ Certified products. The certified device will also ensure quick and easy integration into any LoRaWAN™ network," said Derek Hunt, System Solutions Director at Semtech and Certification Committee Chair for the LoRa® Alliance.

Two LoRa® Alliance members, IMST and Espotel, both respected test houses, have already implemented test suites to perform the testing and are accredited by the LoRa® Alliance. Both companies also offer RF or regulatory compliance testing and additional services for the end devices if required. "LoRa® is one of the most promising radio technologies for IoT solutions and we see plenty of great opportunities for this technology in Industry, utilities and logistics. Espotel provides engineering services, laboratory services and entire IoT systems, including cloud services, for customers willing to create LoRa® based services and solutions," said Espotel CEO Kari Liuska. "The LoRa® technology provides ultra-long range spread spectrum communication and high interference immunity whilst minimizing current consumption. Nevertheless, the individual device needs to be tested to ensure compliance to the LoRaWAN™ specification, enabling a smooth integration into bigger networks. IMST is working with LoRa® for more than three years and provides first-class LoRa® solutions for customers all over the world," said IMST Head of Test Centre Markus Ridder.

About LoRa Alliance
LoRa® Alliance is an open, non-profit association of members who believe the Internet of Things era is now. Our mission is to standardize Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) to enable the Internet of Things (IoT). The Alliance members collaborate to drive the global success of the LoRaWAN ™ secure, carrier grade protocol by sharing knowledge and experience to guarantee interoperability between operators in one open global standard. Now having gained over 130 members since March 2015, with nine announced operator networks and 56 operator networks in trials, it is the most widely deployed LPWAN technology.

About LoRaWAN™
The technology utilized in a LoRaWAN™ network is designed to connect low-cost, battery-operated sensors over long distances in harsh environments that were previously too challenging or cost prohibitive to connect. With its unique penetration capability, a LoRa® gateway deployed on a building or tower can connect to sensors more than 10 miles away or to water meters deployed underground or in basements. The LoRaWAN™ protocol offers unique and unequaled benefits in terms of bi-directionality, security, mobility and accurate localization that are not addressed by other LPWAN technologies. These benefits will enable the diverse use cases and business models that will enable deployments of LPWAN IoT networks globally.

About Espotel
Espotel is a leading provider of R&D services for embedded systems, industrial internet applications and test systems for industrial, telecom, medical and defense technology sectors. Positioned at the edge of new technology with such leading technology partners as IBM, ARM and National Instruments, and with strong roots in the development of electronic devices and systems, Espotel has created a wide international customer base. Espotel has offices in Finland, Poland and Sweden. Today Espotel employs about 300 professionals in the field of electronics, embedded systems and industrial internet development. With a turnover of 25 million euros in 2014, the company is showing continuous growth and profitability, enabling the development of technological expertise and excellence at customer service. www.espotel.com

About IMST
IMST GmbH is a leading design house and development center for wireless modules, communication systems, chip design, antennas, EDA software, and regulatory certification using an in-house accredited/certified regulatory test center. IMST offers both standard products such as radio modules with hardware/software as well as complete system and product design. Individualized support during every phase of product development including wireless technologies, from initial consulting to series production is one of the unique selling propositions of IMST. For more information, visit http://www.imst.com

Espotel LoRa platform now released

I'm most proud to announce that the ARM mbed enabled LoRa prototyping platform from Espotel is now officially published and live at ARM mbed platforms site. The purpose of the platform is to enable rapid prototyping and small scale piloting, and serve as reference design for development of full custom products.

Espotel LoRa platform at ARM mbed.

ARM mbed is software platform for embedded devices. It provides drivers and hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and development environment in cloud hosted by ARM. For professional development it is possible to install the compiler and software version control system on your own server and still benefit from the software provided by ARM.

At the moment there are 9 silicon vendors, 23 hardware platform vendors, and 71 boards listed in the public mbed catalog, and the number is increasing. mbed is similar to the popular Arduino in the sense that it enables easy start of embedded software development for prototyping, evaluation, hobby and eductional purposes. Unlike Arduino, mbed is also good for professional use and mass-production. And it provides support for much wider selection of silicons and boards.

Arduino form-factor is sort of de-facto standard among many prototyping boards, including ST Nucleo, Freescale FRDM, NXP LPCxpresso and many more. This makes it possible to use any Arduino-compatible extension shields from 3rd party vendors, including sensors and interface boards.

Special feature in Espotel platform is double Arduino headers for both master and slave use. It can be used either as LoRa interface shield for external MCU board, having application software and protocol stack running in separate MCUs, or as master with both application and protocol stack integrated and running in the same MCU. In both cases other extension shields can be used as well.

LoRaWAN compliant software stack with example applications is available as open source via the mbed web site. The LoRaWAN implementation is based on IBM LMIC distributed by Semtech. The board is confirmed to inter-operate with Multitech and Kerlink LoRa gateways, and it can be also used in point-to-point mode with LoRaMAC layer.

Key Benefits

• ARM® mbed™ IoT Device Platform
• Powerful ARM® 32-bit Cortex®-M4 CPU with FPU
• Semtech SX1272 Low Power RF Transceiver for 860-1020MHz with LoRa™ modem
• On-board detachable PCB antenna for 868 MHz
• Break-out module design for easy integration into existing applications
• High Sensitivity: down to -137 dBm
• LoRa™ bitrates of 0.24 – 37.5 kbps depending on bandwidth and spreading factor
• 127dB Dynamic Range RSSI
• FSK, GFSK, MSK, FMSK, LoRa™ DSSS and OOK modulation
• Multiple available interfaces (digital I/O, ADC, SPI, I2C and USART)
• Wide Supply Voltage Range: 1.8V-5.5V

Features

• ARM® mbed™ platform
• Modulation: FSK, GFSK, MSK, FMSK, OOK and LoRa digital spread spectrum
• Frequency: 860 - 1020 MHz
• XBee and module versions for development and deployment
• Low power mode extends battery life
• digital I/O
• analog
• SPI
• I2C
• UART

LoRa under cover

This time we put LoRa underground, reading water meter 2 meters below the surface. Other technologies including cellular data and 2.4GHz had already proven to fail with this task. Let LoRa proof its capabilities.

Well located at parking lot.

It this test, a water meter is located in an infrastructure well located at parking lot. The well has heavy cast iron lid and also all-metal collar for depth of 25 cm. Walls of the well are made with concrete rings. The water meter is at the bottom of the well, approx. 2 meters in depth. 

Water meter at the bottom of the well.

We build a demo setup with Multitech Conduit LoRa gateway, and mDot integrated with Raspberry Pi and M-BUS master interface, all put in an IP-classified plastic box. The box is well over-sized, but there is good space for battery. The LoRa transmitter in the "shoe-box" is interfaced with the meter over wired M-BUS. RF transmit power is 14dBm and spreading factor 12.

LoRa transmitter and gateway.

The transmitter was located next to the meter at the bottom of the well. The LoRa gateway was located in a meeting room inside a nearby building. The line of sight between meeting room and the well was blocked by a storage wing covered by metal plates.

Building where the gateway was located.

Distance of the well and the building is approx 25 meters. For realistic condition, the lid was closed tightly and a van was parked above the well. In the direct line between transmitter and receiver, there is several meters of soil, metal cage, brick wall and concrete floor.

Diagram of the test setup

And the results? Excellent!

Received signal strength is approx. -105dBm, which gives wide margin left. The gateway could be located much further away. We also tested signal coverate inside the office building and got it all covered from the same gateway location, 100 meters through several steel reinforced concrete floors and brick walls.

What's the meaning of all this? In an automated meter reading application, whether water, electricity or other types of meters or sensors, even a large complex with outdoor environment and difficult locations like basements and underground locations, it all can be covered with a single gateway located pretty freely in most convenient location. Outdoor wall installation or other difficult to reach position is not necessary.

This time we didn't tested the maximum distance from the well where the signal can be detected, as the results were good enough for the purpose of the trial.

New challengers entering IoT connectivity market

IoT connectivity market is far from mature. New challengers are popping up every now and then. The latest was announced Today, when Intel, Nokia and Ericsson released their co-op in a new mobile radio technology called Narrow-Band (NB) LTE-M for Low Power Wide Area IoT communication.

Like the name says, NB LTE-M is narrow-band version of the LTE-M. NB uses 200 kHz band where as the normal LTE-M consumes 1.4MHz. Both versions can co-exists without interfering each others. The purpose of the narrower band is to reduce end-device power consumption and cost. Intel says it will launch low-cost and low-power chips for IoT market using the new technology. What does that mean in numbers remains to be seen.

LPWA IoT Connectivity Overview
Nokia White Paper - LTE-M – Optimizing LTE for the Internet of Things

Technologies listed in the comparison above are all intended for public networks. LoRa is the only one which is available for private network applications also. That means you can set up a LoRa gateway of your own just like using WiFi. Sigfox is closed and propriterary technology, and use of licensed frequency bands means you got to be an operator to get the license in hand.

The greatest weakness of LoRa technology is the use of unlicensed frequency band. In Europe, the duty-cycle limitation is only 1%. That's regulatory not technology limitation. It does not affect much the downlink or uplink of many IoT applications, but over-the-air firmware updates are very difficult, next to impossible. It would take awfully long time to transfer any reasonable sized firmware. Perhaps some clever delta (diff) technology for patching the device firmware image could work.

 The above comparison is missing energy consumption. It seems to be difficult to find comparable numbers for real energy (J) consumption per delivered payload with different technologies. Mobile data suffers from significant overhead in terms of channel opening, handshaking, etc. Most of the energy is consumed by other functions than transmitting/receiving the actual payload data. As an opposite, LoRa introduces very low overhead. Any technology can provide battery life of over 10 years, it's only question of how much batteries you need.

LoRa is available as of Today. For LTE-M, first device and network manufacturers must introduce new products, then operators must upgrade their base stations. I don't believe LTE-M is really in place next year. Once it's there, the deployment of the technology will be fast for sure.

No convergence of IoT connectivity technologies is visible within the foreseeable future. There are different use cases for different types of radios. Main categories are short range radios (Bluetooth, Wifi, etc), Low Power Wide Area (LoRa, UNB), and cellular data. They have all different nature and no single technology will rule them all.

Conduit LoRa gateway and Espotel LoRa device supporting ThingPark

Multitech MultiConnect Conduit is latest LoRa gateway supporting Actility's ThingPark LoRa Network Server. I just got one of the very first setups.

Conduit gateway connected to ThingPark.

Recently Actility and Multitech created a custom firmware for Conduit to provide connectivity to ThingPark backend. Thanks to that, now there exists cost-efficient alternative gateway available for LoRa networks operated with ThingPark network management solution. Conduit may improve indoor coverage of public LoRa networks, or it can be used in private network installations. Later this year Multitech will introduce outdoor installation kit with IP-classified chassis and optional solar power pack.

Multitech and Kerlink gateways listed in my ThingPark account.

Espotel recently joined Actility's ThingPark certification program. The aim is to provide end-devices compliant with the ThinkPark network management solution. Espotel is now finalizing it's own LoRa reference design, nickname "ELMO" (Espotel LoRa Modem), which is Arduino form-factor compatible prototyping device.

Espotel LoRa Modem "ELMO"

ELMO will be LoRaWAN certified and tested against Actility's requirements. Right at the moment our engineers are working to introduce ELMO as public platform in ARM mbed development environment.

ELMO has dual Arduino-pinheaders. This enables function as a master or slave. ELMO can be used as LoRa-shield for external MCU boards, like STM32-Nucleo, Freescale FRDM, or Arduino. ELMO also supports integration of application software and protocol stack into one and running them both directly in ELMO's own MCU without external MCU needed. In both scenarios, 3rd party shields can be used to provide additional interfaces and sensors.

LoRa Network Server

When asking what is LoRa, you may get several different answer. One thinks it's  essentially the LoRa modulation, giving the extraordinary radio performance. Other one says it's the LoRaWAN protocol, as that is the only well specified part of the system. Third one may consider it's all about the Network Server where all the network management functionality is implemented.

LoRa network architecture. Source: Semtech 

.

In LoRa networks, especially when considering public network approach, the Network Server plays central role. Gateway is intended to be a simple packet forwarder and thus being inexpensive part of the system. At the moment there are three network server providers:

• Actility ThingPark  
• IBM LRSC
• Orbiwise UbiQ

Actility is perhaps the leading supplier with most commercial deployments in place at the moment. Espotel recently joined Actility's certification program in order to ensure end-devices are compatible with the ThinkPark back-end.

LoRaWAN certification acknowledged by the LoRa Alliance guarantees interoperability of end-devices with any gateway manufacturer. However, LoRa Alliance  does not specify the interface towards Network Server, thus it is implementation specific. That's why different back-end providers may have their own certification programs, like Actility does.

Kerlink outdoor gateway and LoRaMote test device with IMST LoRa module
as part of ThinkPark certification program content.

The test network is very easy to set up. The supplied gateway is pre-configured to ThingPark and requires no user configuration at deployment, just blug & play. Power-over-Ethernet with provided power injector makes cable installation easy. Only internet connectivity is required. There also exists variant with cellular data modem instead of Ethernet.

Screenshot of ThingPark DeviceManager web interface.

Edit 2015-8-26:
According to the feedback I have received, there are several other Network service providers emerged, including Lace, Loriot, Senetco, and The Things Network. I consider that as positive sign, meaning there are many parties who believe in LoRa technology. The ecosystem is stronger all the time.