lpwan News - Page 6 of 24 - CNX Software

September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Wi-SUN: An LPWAN standard for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, large scale IoT deployments

Wi-SUN is a standard (IEEE 802.15.4g) managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance and designed for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, and other large scale IoT deployments with a large number of devices thanks to the use of IPv6 mesh networking. The organization was founded in 2011 to “support the worldwide development of Wireless Communications Networks for Utilities, Smart Cities and IoT”, but due to the niche nature of target applications, it does not get that much press coverage and was only recently brought to my attention. Wi-SUN stands for “Wireless Smart Utility Networks”or “Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Networks”, and the standard aims to connect streetlights, cameras, weather stations, smart metering, utility transmission systems, and others to enable data-sharing between city services to improve their efficiency, save costs, and offer improves services to citizens. Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is the latest protocol managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance with over 95 million units shipped […]

August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP32 board supports 2.4Ghz LoRa with SX1280 RF transceiver

We’ve seen plenty of ESP32 LoRa boards with the traditional 433 MHz, 868 MHz, or 915MHz frequencies, but I think LilyGO LoRa V1.8 (aka T3 V1.8) is the first ESP32 board that integrates a Semtech SX1280 transceiver for the 2.4GHz LoRa standard used for global coverage, notably maritime applications, and ranging. The ESP32 & SX1280 board also offers 26 pins for expansion, a microSD card for data storage, a 2-pin connector for batteries, a 0.96-inch OLED for information display, and comes with a 3D antenna and u.FL connector for WiFi and Bluetooth, and an SMA antenna for LoRa connectivity. LilyGO LoRa/T3 V1.8 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual-core Xtensa LX6 processor with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 Storage – 4MB SPI flash, microSD card slot Display – 0.96-inch OLED display with 128×64 resolution (SSD1306 I2C driver) Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2 […]

August 19, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Sparrow is a sensor-to-cloud LoRaWAN solution based on STM32WLE5 microcontroller

Blues Wireless Sparrow is a LoRaWAN solution designed to connect a group of low-cost, low-power device sensors for shared data backhaul to the cloud. It is comprised of STMicro STM32WLE5 LoRa-based sensors whose data is then routed through the company’s Notecard-powered WiFi or cellular gateway and ultimately a cloud app hosted on AWS, Microsoft Azure, or other IoT cloud platforms. The company claims the Notecard and Sparrow solutions ease the development of IoT networks in a way that was previously only available “to sophisticated engineering firms”, and now Blues Wireless supports cellular, WiFi, and LPWAN technologies. Let’s have a look at the “Sparrow Essentials” board specifications first: Wireless SoC – STMicro STM32WLE5+ Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 48MHz with 256KB Flash, 64KB of SRAM, Semtech SX126x LoRa transceiver I/Os Breadboard compatible 2.54mm headers with digital and analog I/O, I2C, UART, and SPI Qwiic Connector Debugging – JTAG (SWD capable) debug jack […]

August 18, 2022December 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Getting Started with LoRaWAN on SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit (Part 1)

CNXSoft: This getting started guide/review of the SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit is a translation of the original post on CNX Software Thai. The first part of this tutorial describes the kit and shows how to program it with Arduino to get sensor data to a LoRAWAN gateway and display it on Wio Terminal, before processing the data in a private LoRaWAN network using open-source tools such as Grafana. The second part – to be published later – will demonstrate the AI capability of the kit. In the digital era where IoT and big data are more prevalent, a large amount of data is required to be collected through sensors. To enable the digital transformation, SeeedStudio’s SenseCAP K1100 comes with all necessary sensors and equipment including the Wio Terminal, AI Vision Sensor, and a LoRaWAN module. With this plug-and-play platform, makers can easily create DIY sensors for data collection and […]

July 18, 2022December 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

DEBIX Model A – A Raspberry Pi-inspired NXP i.MX 8M Plus SBC for AI applications

DEBIX Model A is a single board computer powered by an NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with a 2.3 TOPS AI accelerator in a form factor that combines Raspberry Pi 4 and 3 Model B designs. The SBC comes with up to 6GB RAM, a microSD card slot, an optional eMMC flash of up to 128GB capacity, HDMI 2.0a, LVDS, and MIPI DSI display interfaces, a MIPI CSI camera interface, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, plus a 40-pin GPIO expansion header. DEBIX Model A specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz (industrial) or 1.8 GHz (commercial), with Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 (4GB/6GB optional) Storage – Default: Micro SD card; optional 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash Video Output HDMI […]

July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arduino “launches” WisGate Edge LoRaWAN gateways in collaboration with RAKwireless

Arduino was already involved in LoRaWAN with its MKR WAN 1300 board, but now the company has started offering Arduino-branded Wisgate Edge Pro and Wisgate Edge Lite 2 LoRaWAN gateways for respectively outdoor and indoor environments as part of the Arduino Pro family. If the names of the gateways seem familiar, it’s because Arduino collaborated with Rakwireless, and is simply using their existing LoRaWAN gateways. As I understand it RAKwireless will provide the hardware and technical support, while Arduino will sell the gateways and other LoRaWAN hardware through its existing customer base, more acting as a distributor. Arduino WisGate Edge Lite 2 indoor gateway specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7628 MIPS processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 Storage OS on flash SD card for setup and diagnostics, backup, and data logging Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port 2.4 WiFi (802.11b/g/n) with -95 dBm RX sensitivity, 20dBm Tx power; internal […]

June 21, 2022June 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Cavli Wireless C42GM module offers cellular IoT and Sigfox connectivity, optional GNSS and CAN Bus

Cavli Wireless C42GM cellular IoT sigfox module

Selecting an LPWAN IoT module usually means selecting a particular LPWAN standard, but Cavli Wireless C42GM global IoT module combines LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT (NB1/NB2) cellular IoT connectivity with Sigfox for “use cases that need the hybrid LPWAN approach”. The module also comes with optional GNSS for asset tracking and/or time synchronization and there’s also a variant that adds CAN FD wired communication. The C42GM module can also be fitted with an eSIM (embedded SIM) pre-loaded global connectivity. C42GM module specifications: LPWAN Cellular (NB-IoT and eMTC) Bands Supported – LTE Bands: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/ B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B66 3GPP Release: LTE 3GPP E-UTRA Release 13 CAT M1/NB1/NB2 (Upgradable to Release 14) Download & Uplink Speed LTE Cat M1 – 1119Kbps (UL), 588Kbps (DL) NB1 – 60Kbps (UL), 20Kbps (DL) NB2 – 158.5Kbps (UL), 127Kbps (DL) Optional eSIM Optional Sigfox GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, Beidou I/Os – 1x USB2.0, 2x UART, 1x USIM, 9x GPIO, […]

May 20, 2022May 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

5G RedCap leverages 5G features, limits bandwidth to 85Mbps for industrial IoT applications

5G is often associated with Gigabit speeds when found in mobile handsets or connected laptops, while there’s also 5G LPWA for battery-powered IoT devices. 5G RedCap, which stands for Reduced Capability, offers a middle ground for industrial IoT applications that keep some 5G features such as low latency, low power consumption, enhanced security, and network slicing while limiting the bandwidth to around 85 Mbps. 5G RedCap, also called NR Lite, will be part of 3GPP Release 17 scheduled for later in 2022, and further improved in Rel 18 in 2023. It will be first found in applications currently relying on LTE Cat 1 through Cat 4, and can be considered a light version of the 5G standard. An article on Telit says Rel 18 will specifically address the low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) segment currently carried seamlessly (e.g. no hardware changes required) in 5G by LTE-M and NB-IoT. I found out […]