• 1
    Introduction

    Hey, what's up, Guys! Akarsh here from CETech.

    In some of my previous projects, I was regularly using LoRa modules and came across a lot of advantages and applications of LoRa modules which I showcased in those projects. In this project, I am going to take the use of the LoRa technology one step further. Till now we were using only LoRa but in this project, we are going to use LoRa WAN in which we will use LoRa in combination with the Internet. For this purpose, we are going to use a LoRa WAN Gateway from Dragino and with that, we will be using The ThingsNetwork as the Server for this project. What we are going to do is that we will set up our Dragino LoRaWAN gateway and connect it to the Arduino which also has a LoRa module mounted to it. Then we will upload a code that will create a connection between the gateway and the Arduino through TheThingsNetwork server and as the connection is established, the Arduino will generate random numbers and send them to the server which can be received and observed there.

    So go through the article and you will gain some good knowledge about LoRa WAN and of course about the Dragino Gateway Setup and TheThingsNetwork.

    You can get your own Dragino Kit from the links given below:

    In India: https://www.enthutech.in/shop/product/l-iot-kit-lora-iot-kit-391
    Outside: http://www.dragino.com/products/lora/item/120-lora-iot-kit.html

    Now Let's get started.

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  • 2
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  • 3
    What Is LoRa WAN?
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    The LoRaWAN specification is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated ‘things’ to the internet in regional, national, or global networks, and targets key Internet of Things (IoT) requirements such as bi-directional communication, end-to-end security, mobility and localization services.

    LoRaWAN network architecture is deployed in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay messages between end-devices and a central network server. The gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa. The wireless communication takes advantage of the Long Range characteristics of the LoRaÒ physical layer, allowing a single-hop link between the end-device and one or many gateways. All modes are capable of bi-directional communication, and there is support for multicast addressing groups to make efficient use of spectrum during tasks such as Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) upgrades or other mass distribution messages.

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    Security is a primary concern for any mass IoT deployment and the LoRaWAN specification defines two layers of cryptography:

    • A unique 128-bit Network Session Key shared between the end-device and network server.
    • A unique 128-bit Application Session Key (AppSKey) shared end-to-end at the application level.

    AES algorithms are used to provide authentication and integrity of packets to the network server and end-to-end encryption to the application server. By providing these two levels, it becomes possible to implement ‘multi-tenant’ shared networks without the network operator having visibility of the user's payload data.