What is LoRa?

Introduction to Industrial Communications

November 16, 2020 by

Boot & Work Corp. S.L., Quesada Dani Salvans

Introduction

LoRa (Long Range modulation) is a type of wireless technology. It uses a radio frequency network modulation such as AM, FM or PSK, but this one was created by a major radio chip manufacturer company called Semtech ©, now managed by LoRa Alliance ©. This modulation is called CSS (Chirp Spread Spectrum) and has been used in military operations for many years. The benefits of this kind of communication are that it can reach long distances (cover wide areas, usually kilometers) and has good resistance to interferences.

Main advantages

High tolerance interference
High Rx sensitivity (-168 dB)
Based on "chirp" modulation
Low consumption
Long range (10-20 km)
Low data transference (untill 255 bytes)
Point-to-Point connection
Low working frequencies: 868 MHz in Europe, 915 Mhz in America and 433 MHz in Asia. It uses the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) Band which is a non-licensed part of the frequency spectrum)

Possible applications

It is an ideal option when we need long range communication and IoT networks composed of sensors that are not connected to the electrical network due to their locations or main usage. For example, this communication is widely used in Smart Cities or low coverage areas such as agricultural applications or sensors/actuators networks which can take profit of its main characteristics. Because of its advantages and because it is an affordable and easy-to-use technology, it is being applied in many useful applications such as: