lora News - Page 13 of 28 - CNX Software

March 30, 2021April 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

WM1302 LoRaWAN gateway mini PCIe module works over SPI or USB

Announced in 2019, Semtech SX1302 LoRa transceiver is designed for cheaper, and more efficient LoRaWAN gateways, and we’ve seen it in mini PCIe concentrator cards such as nFuse SX1302 and Rak Wireless RAK2287 using USB or SPI host interfaces. Seeed Studio adds another option with WM1302 LoRaWAN gateway mPCIe module using either SPI or USB interfaces and supporting 868 or 915 MHz frequency bands. WM1302 module specifications: MCU – STMicro STM3L412 Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 80 MHz with 40KB RAM, 64 or 128KB flash LoRa Connectivity Semtech SX1302 LoRa Transceiver with 2x SX1250 Tx/Rx front-ends Tx power – Up to 26dBm @ 3.3V Rx sensitivity – Down to -139dBm @ SF12, BW 125 kHz; -125dBm @ 125K/SF7 LoRaWAN 1.0.2 compatible. LoRa band coverage – EU868, US915, AS923, AS920, AU915, KR920, and IN865. u.FL antenna connector Misc – Power, Config, and Tx/Rx LEDs Host Interface – SPI or USB interface on […]

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

STM32WL based LoRa-5E development kits go for $19.90 and up

The LoRa-E5 STM32WL module we covered last month can now be found in two LoRaWAN development kits from Seeed Studio with the ultra-compact LoRa-E5 mini board, and the Arduino UNO shaped LoRa-E5 board with more I/Os. Both boards support the LoRaWAN protocol with global frequencies and can achieve a transmission range of up to 10 km with ultra-low power consumption. LoRa-E5 and LoRa-E5 mini specifications: LoRa connectivity LoRa-E5 modules based on STM32WLE5JC SoC with Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz with 256 KB flash memory, 64 KB SRAM, SX126x LoRa radio Modulations – LoRa, (G)FSK, (G)MSK, BPSK Operating frequencies – 868/915MHz (EU868, US915, AU915, AS923, KR920, IN865) Output power – up to +20.8 dBm at 3.3V Rx sensitivity – -116.5 dBm to -136 dBm Protocol – LoRaWAN SMA-K and IPEX antenna connectors USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming I/Os LoRa-E5 mini – 2x 12-pin through-hole and […]

February 18, 2021February 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$10 LoRa-E5 STM32WL module offers LoRaWAN networking in a 12x12mm package

Over the years, we’ve seen many LoRa modules combining STM32 microcontroller with Semtech SX12xx wireless transceivers, so that’s probably why STMicro decided to create the first LoRa SoC with STM32WL that was launched last year. I’ve just been informed a tiny (12x12mm) LoRa-E5 module based on STM32WL LoRa SoC working with 868 MHz and 915 MHz bands had recently launched on Seeed Studio for $9.90. LoRa-E5 key features and specifications: SoC – STMicro STM32WLE5JC Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz with 256 KB flash memory, 64 KB SRAM, SX126x LoRa radio LoRa connectivity Tx power – 22dBm @ 868/915MHz -136.5dBm sensitivity for SF12 with 125KHz BW 158dB link budget Embedded LoRaWAN protocol, AT command Frequency ranges – EU868, US915, AU915, AS923, KR920, IN865 I/Os – 3x UART, 1x I2C, 1x 12-bit ADC, 1x SPIO Supply Voltage – 3.3V Power Consumption As low as 2.1uA sleep current in WOR mode Tx […]

February 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Deutsche Telekom IoT Gateway combines LoRaWAN and LTE-M

I’d normally view LoRaWAN and LTE IoT standards such as NB-IoT or LTE Cat-M (aka LTE-M or eMTC) as competitors, but The Things Industries and Deutsche Telekom partnered to launch an IoT gateway with both LTE-M and LoRaWAN capabilities together with associated services. We do not have much information about the hardware, but it is a LoRaWAN gateway designed by MikroTik that connects to an LTE-M backhaul and to The Things Industries’ device and data platform. If the picture above does indeed represent the actual gateway it should also be equipped with two PoE capable Ethernet ports, and an RS485 terminal block, plus a USB port and a SIM card slot. The solution would mostly be used for smart buildings at first taking advantage of the superior signal penetration of LTE-M. Sensors would send data to the LoRaWAN gateway which then, would forward it to the cloud over LTE-M. This […]

February 3, 2021September 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

LoRa 2.4GHz is now supported by The Things Network

Semtech brought LoRa to 2.4 GHz through their SX1280 & SX1281 transceivers to enable hardware manufacturers to design region-independent products, rather than region-specific products in the 433, 868, and 915 MHz bands a few years back. Things Industries announced support for LoRa 2.4GHz in The Things Network community network and its open-source stack at The Things Conference 2021 last week. However, switching to 2.4 GHz has a cost since range, one of the key selling points of LoRa, will be reduced compared to sub-GHz frequency, and that makes it most suitable for applications that work in different regions such as maritime and intercontinental logistics applications. Wilhelmsen has partnered with The Things Industries (TTI) and selected Semtech’s LoRa devices as the foundation for its new global 2.4GHz maritime IoT of the Seas platform to deliver an ecosystem of cost-effective, robust and proven IoT solutions and make them available to its diverse […]

January 28, 2021April 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Agromon smart agriculture wireless transmitter connects ModBus RS485 sensors to WiFi, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, or NB-IoT

The Internet of Things has many applications including smart agriculture . A few months ago, I talked to a local shrimp farm owner who used Arduino and ESP8266 boards to monitor water and activate pumps only when needed to get shrimps healthy and save on his electricity bill. He built his own solutions, but there are also companies offering easy-to-use smart farming solutions such as Malaysia-based Wondernica’s Agromon “interface wireless transmitter” designed specifically for smart agriculture applications. Agromon has two variants with support for 2 sensors (WR-AGRO-2S) or 3 sensors (WR-AGRO-3S) that share the following specifications: Connectivity – WiFi, Sigfox (RCZ 2/4), LoRaWAN, NB-IoT Sensor Interface – Modbus RS485 (analog input / 4-20mA / 12V-14V output) Power Supply – 12V DC (tolerance up to 14V); supports batteries, solar power, or power adapter Power Consumption – Sleep Mode: 3 mW Dimensions – 130 x 90 x 40mm Ingress Protection – IP67 […]

January 19, 2021February 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Arduino MKR inspired MKR Windy board is equipped with STM32WL LoRa SoC

We recently wrote about MKR SharkyPro BLE, Zigbee, OpenThread development board based on STM32WB55 MCU and following Arduino MKR form factor, but it turns out Midatronics has also launched a similar-looking board with LoRa connectivity. MKR Windy board features the company’s Windy STM32WL module with an uFL connector and following the same Arduino MKR layout. MKR Windy specifications: Wireless Module – Windy module (MDX-STWLU-R01) Wireless MCU – STMicro STM32WLE5JX/STM32WL55JX Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz with up to 256KB flash, 64KB SRAM Connectivity Semtech SX126x sub-GHz radio with LoRa, (G)FSK, (G)MSK, and BPSK modulation, 150 MHz to 960 MHz frequency range RX Sensitivity: –123 dBm for 2-FSK, -148 dBm for LoRa Antenna – uFL connector for external antenna Supply Voltage – 1.8 V to 3.6 V Dimensions : 16 x 26 mm Temperature Range – 40°C to + 85 °C USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming […]

December 31, 2020March 19, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Year 2020 in review – Top ten posts and stats

It’s this time of the year when we look back at what happened, and what may be next. 2020 did not pan out as planned in more ways than one, but there were still some interesting developments. Based on 2019 announcements, 2020 was promising to be an exciting year for Amlogic and Rockchip with the expected launch of RK3588 and S908X high-end processors for 8K capable devices, but we’ll have to wait for 2021 for this to happen. Instead, the most interesting processor of the year from the Allwinner, Amlogic, and Rockchip offerings was probably Amlogic S905X4 processing adding AV1 hardware decoding. As pointed out in our “RISC-V 2020 highlights” post, it was a fairly eventful year for RISC-V architecture, although there’s still a long road ahead, especially for application processors. We had seen some general-purpose and Bluetooth RISC-V MCUs in 2019, but 2020 saw the launch of the first […]