lpwan News - Page 21 of 23 - CNX Software

February 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

STMicro Introduces STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board & I-NUCLEO-LWAN2 STM32 LoRa Expansion Board

STMicroelectronics and Mouser have launched two new products with LoRa connectivity: STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board with an STM32L072 ARM Cortex M0+ MCU and Semtech SX1276 transceiver, and I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 STM32 LoRa expansion board for STM32 Nucleo boards with an STM32L052 MCU and Semtech SX1272 radio transceiver. STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board B-L072Z-LRWAN1 STM32L0 Discovery kit LoRa specifications: LoRa Module – Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-091 with MCU – STM32L072CZ ARM Cortex -M0+ MCU @ 32 MHz with 192 KB Flash memory, 20 KB RAM, 20 KB EEPROM SX1276 transceiver supporting LoRa, FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK and OOK modulations Antennas – SMA and U.FL RF interface connectors, 50 Ohm SMA RF antenna Debugging – On-board ST-LINK/V2-1 supporting USB re-enumeration capability Expansion – Arduino Uno V3 connectors Misc – 7x LEDs, 2x push-buttons (user and reset) Power supply – Via USB bus or external VIN/3.3 V supply voltage or batteries; 3xAAA-type-battery holder for standalone operation (on the […]

January 7, 2017January 27, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Bttn is a Sigfox Connected IoT Button Going for $2 a month

The Button Corporation, a company specializing in… buttons as you may have guess, has introduced a new version of their bttn connected button with Sigfox connectivity in the US. It works a little like Amazon Dash, but mostly targets businesses, offers more features, and works anywhere with a Sigfox network. bttn & bttn mini specifications: Button functions – Short press, long press and “not pressed” LED feedback – Green (positive), red (negative) and yellow (wait) Connectivity – Mobile data (2G GPRS), SIGFOX (868 MHz ETSI / 915MHz for US), or Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n) USB – 1x micro USB port for charging Power Supply bttn mini – Rechargeable Li-Po battery bttn – 4 x AA alkaline batteries Dimensions – bttn mini: 69mm Ø x 40 mm; bttn: 100 mm Ø x 73 mm Weight – bttn mini: 90 grams; bttn: 190 grams bttn devices send data to bt.tn cloud server, […]

December 29, 2016December 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

433/868/915 MHz LoRa Modules Are Now Selling for $6 and Up

Market forecasts for the Internet of Things promise billions of connected device in the years to come, but this won’t happen when LPWAN connector sensors cost $50 or more, so prices will have to come down. I’ve been told that one company is working on a WiFi + LoRa module that’s going to sell for $5 to $6 sometimes in 2017, but in the meantime, it’s possible to get some LoRa modules for less than $10, albeit limited to 433 MHz frequency not the more common 868 MHz (EU) and 915 MHz (US), thanks to products such as AI-Thinker Ra-02 module. Ra-02 specifications: Chipset – Semtech SX1278 low power long range transceiver Radio 433MHz frequency (420 to 450 MHz range) +20dBm – 10mW constant RF output vs. V supply; up to 300 kbps bitrate Supports FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK, LoRa and OOK Modulation Mode 127dB RSSI wave range. I/Os – […]

November 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

39 Euros FiPy Board Supports Sigfox, LoRa, LTE Cat M1/NB1, Bluetooth 4.2, and WiFi (Crowdfunding)

Long range LPWAN solutions have just started to hit the market, and there are so many standards such as Sigfox and LoRa that it’s difficult to know who will eventually be the winner, or if different standards will co-exist over the long term, and in a general sense it might not be so easy to decide which one is best suited to your project without experimenting first. Pycom has a solution to this problem, as they’ve made a board similar to LoPy with WiFi, Bluetooth, and LoRa, but instead included 5 long and short range IoT protocols: Sigfox, LoRa, LTE Cat M1 & Cat NB1, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Pycom FiPy board specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual core Tensilica L108 processors @ up to 160 MHz with BT 4.2 and WiFi System Memory – 4MB RAM Storage – 8MB flash memory Connectivity WiFi 802.11 b/g/n @ 16 Mbps up to […]

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Badgerboard Arduino Compatible LoRa Board Goes for $43 and Up (Crowdfunding)

Here comes one more LoRa board to play with. Badgerboard combines an Arduino compatible Atmel/Microchip AVR MCU with a Microchip RN2483 or RN2903 module in a breadboard compatible board powered via micro USB port or an external battery. Badgerboard specifications: MCU – Atmel ATmega32U4 MCU Connectivity – LoRaWAN via Microchip RN2483 (EU – 868MHz) / RN2903 (US – 915 MHz) modem with SMA connector and antenna USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Expansion – 2x 18-pin unpopulated headers with SPI, I2C, 13x GPIOs, 6x 10-bit ADC, 3.3V and GND signals; open drain output for relays up to 24V 100 mA Sensors – STM HTS221 temperature and humidity sensor Misc – Reset button; user and Tx/Rx LEDs; power on/off switch Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port, or Li-Ion/ Li-Po battery via JST connector Dimensions – 56 x 26 mm The board can be programmed with […]

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

A Closer Look at Ingenu RPMA Alternative to LoRa or Sigfox LPWAN Standards & RPMA Development Kit

I’ve recently started to write a bit more about long range LPWAN standards for IoT applications, especially LoRa and Sigfox, as commercial networks are being launched, and relatively low cost hardware platforms are being introduced to the market. There are also other highly expected standards such as Weightless and LTE Cat M that will bring more competition to the market. Ingenu RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access) is another available standard that’s been in deployment for a while, and based on an earlier comparison of long range LPWAN standards, it comes with long range, supports up to 384,000 nodes per “sector”, operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band, and offers high combined uplink and downlink bandwidth than competitors. Ingenu recently contacted me and provided some more details and information about their technology and development kit. One of the documents includes an “independent analysis completed by ABI Research, Inc.” comparing features […]

November 15, 2016August 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

GR-LoRa is a Reverse-Engineered Open Source Implementation of LoRa PHY

LPWAN standards such as LoRa or Sigfox allow you to transmit data over long distance, at ultra low power (up to 10 years on a AA battery), and for free if your use your own network (P2P or gateway), or a few dollars per years if you go through a network provider. The low cost is possible since those standards rely on 900 MHz ISM bands, meaning nobody has to pay millions of dollars to the government to obtain a license fee. Matt Knight looked at LoRa, and while Level 2 and 3 of the protocol (LoRaWan) has public documentation, Level 1 (LoRa PHY) is proprietary and the standard is proprietary. So he decided to reverse-engineer LoRa PHY using Microchip RN2903 based LoRa Technology Mote and Ettus B210 USB software defined radio, and software packages and tools such as Python and GNU Radio to successfully deliver GR-LoRa open source “GNU Radio […]