New-TechEurope Magazine | November 2017 | Digital Edition

involve event data that are sent by the networks back to a central location and/or small-packet instructions sent by managers to the networks in the field. Those are small batches of data rather than live streaming, making LoRa an ideal technology to provide the bi-directional communications. LoRa+BLE complement one another perfectly * BLE connects small wireless devices in any physical location they are needed, creating an integrated, short-range network that can operate for a very long time without battery changes and be controlled from anywhere via a smartphone or tablet. BLE also can enable a wireless interface to the sensor using the phone/ tablet screen in place of buttons and switches, reducing the overall cost / size of the sensors. * And LoRa allows those BLE- powered networks of devices to go anywhere geographically by providing an ultra-low power means of communicating to those IoT networks over a longer distance. Together, BLE and LoRa allow IoT to go anywhere on the globe, making them a critical technology pairing for driving a new wave of IoT deployments that don’t have geography as a limitation. So what does an integration of LoRa and BLE look like in action? IoT implementations involving temperature, light or proximity sensors Most readers of EP&T Magazine have likely done IoT implementations involving temperature, light, or proximity sensors that are connected with BLE wireless technology. Those types of sensor deployments are very common in industrial settings and for environmental monitoring, so it is an example that should feel very familiar to most readers. In this application note, Laird engineers give a detailed outline of how BLE and LoRa collaborate in a typical temp sensor

project to enable these deployments to go in dramatically different geographies than previously possible. The specs of the project will look very familiar to most readers: a typical board for the sensor, a temp sensor that most readers have likely worked with a dozen times before, etc. But by using a LoRa+BLE module as the heart of the deployment’s wireless strategy, the network of sensors can rely on the LoRa long-distance backhaul for data transfer, all while operating seamlessly with BLE for short-range communication with each sensor. The beauty of this example is that it looks just like one of a dozen (or dozens of) projects that each of you has worked on in the past. Fundamentally, it is still a BLE-based IoT deployment. But a closer look makes it clear that this type of implementation opens up doors that were previously closed and locked and boarded up as far as IoT was concerned. LoRa breaks down those barriers, but it does so without requiring engineers to design in a radically different way. This is just one example of how LoRa+BLE can be used together. The true impact of this pairing of technologies will come from engineers revisiting all the times they wished they could have deployed a BLE- based network of devices in a location but ran into the obstacle of unavailable or too-costly wireless infrastructure. Geography is no longer the limit. Now the only limit is an engineer’s imagination about how to put IoT to work. Image 3: 900MHZ / 868 MHZ Module With LoRa + Central Or Peripheral BLE network

Image 1: Sentrius™ RG1xx LoRa-Enabled Gateway from Laird LoRa is highly-scalable and interoperable LoRa technology is ideal for battery- powered networks of IoT devices because, like BLE, it is also an ultra- low-power technology that can operate for an extended time on a battery and requires very infrequent maintenance. The inexpensive nodes allow companies to bypass the high cost of cellular data fees or fiber/ copper installation to create the long- distance data backhaul for remote installations. Just as important is LoRa’s ability to perform in harsh environments, including industrial settings where temperature, vibration and interference are common. LoRa is also highly-scalable and highly- interoperable, supporting many thousands of nodes and compatible with both public and private networks for the data backhaul and bi-directional communications. The primary limitation that LoRa has involves data throughput, which makes it a poor fit for high-data applications that involve constant streaming of information. But luckily, the vast majority of EIoT sensor implementations simply

Image 2: Communications in IoT network

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