LoRa™ Low-Power, Wide-Area Networks for Internet of Things (IoT) Applications

STM32

Nicolas Fillon – ST Microcontrollers FAE

What is IoT?While M2M network connects machines in closed systems,

IoT enhances existing networks through an intelligent cloud.

2

Human (us)

•Real time analytics•Managed APIs• Internet scale awareness

Cloud

Things

IoT - Driving the Next Semiconductor Boom 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

Source : ABI, ST

21 Billion2015

45 Billion2020

Billion units installed base

Forecast: 45 billion connected devices by 2020

Communication Technologies - Overview

Mbps

Kbps

bps

10 m 100 m 1 km 10 km

Baud rate

Range

WiFi / BTWiFi / BT

Short RangeShort Range LPWANLPWAN

CellularCellular

-M

-NB-IOT

5G

850/1900 MHz900/1800 MHz

Sub-GHz

2.4 GHz

IoT Use Cases 5

Services• Health tracking• Food lifestyle • Weight reduction • FW update …

BLE

WiFi4G

Gateway

Network Server

Application ServerAdmin control

LoRa

3G / 4G / Ethernet

• Consumer • Industrial

What is LoRa ? 6

• Long range, low power & small form factor• In Sub-GHz: > 2km dense urban, > 15km suburban, > km VLOS• More than 10 years in operation without changing battery

• Concentrator with network capacity & security• Star Network / Link rate Adaptation / Fully Scalable Network• More than 4M transaction per day per GTW

• Robust communication• Robust to interferer / coexistence with other ISM• Robust to Jamming• Suitable for Mobile, Nomadic & fixed nodes• Indoor / Outdoor coverage

LoRa®

FSK

Zigbee

-90 dBm

-100 dBm

-125 dBm

-148 dBm

1. A Sub-GHz wireless technology enabling low data-rate communications over long distances

2. Is targeting M2M and Internet of Things applications

3. LoRa technology is a solution providing a WAN capability, using a MAC protocol named LoRaWAN

LoRa Network Features 7

Long range• Greater than cellular• Deep indoor coverage• Star topology

Max lifetime• Low power optimized• 10-20 years lifetime• >10x vs cellular M2M

Low cost• Minimal infrastructure• Low cost end-node• Open software

Multi-usage• High capacity• Multi-tenant• Public network

LoRaWANTM Differentiation and Benefits 8

Bidirectional• Bidirectional• Scalable capacity• Broadcast

Security• Unique ID• Application• Network

Global mobility• True mobility• Seamless• Roaming

True location• Indoor and outdoor• Position monitoring

LoRa Alliance• The LoRa Alliance is a non-profit open consortium of companies promoting the technology

• Mission is to ensure that LoRaWAN is THE standard for SECURE, CARRIER-GRADE IoT connectivity

• Promotes interoperability, certification and drives future use-cases and features

• There are players in all facets of the network• Gateway hardware suppliers (Multitech, Actility, etc)

• Network Server space (Senet)

• Application Server space (MyDevices, Loriot, etc)

• Certification houses

• End-nodes (also called “Mote’s”)

• www.lora-alliance.org

9

17 announced IoT deployments56 on-going Operator Trials

500+ Member Companies

LoRa Network Deployments 10

Premise of LoRaWAN• Although point-to-point demos (Nucleo+Shield) are possible and available, the premise of LoRa is an

End-Node to Gateway Star Network solution.

• It is VERY low power and VERY long range, however VERY low data-rate.

• This is not BLE / WiFi / Cellular / etc! However, it is also a VERY LOW COST technology!

11

What is LoRaWAN?• LoRaWAN is the MAC layer software stack for LoRa devices

• Specifies the frequency and modulation schemes necessary for local ISM band regulatory compliance (FCC, ETSI, etc)

• The LoRaWAN stack defines a subset of the functionality in the LoRa transceiver chip, in order to ensure fast development time and interoperability

• Defines an Over-the-Air Activation scheme using AES128 encryption

• Defines 3 Classes of End Nodes, depending on power profile and usage requirements

• Roaming services are coming

12

LoRaWAN Device Classes13

3 classes to cover all the use cases

LoRa Network Protocol 14

Device

Solutions providers

GATEWAYDEVICESSILICON APPLICATON SERVERNETWORK SERVERMODULES

Powered by STM32

ST and Semtech LoRa Agreement 15

http://www.st.com/web/en/press/c2790

• Semtech Corporation and STMicroelectronics announced an agreement on Semtech's Lora long-range wireless RF technology

• Intends to boost STM32 MCUs with LoRa technology to target internet of things deployments by mobile network operators and large-scale private networks

The Perfect Match: STM32/8 + LoRa 16

STM32 are available in more than 1000 part numbersLoRa SX127x offers 6 different part numbers

More than 4000 possible combinations

STM32WL

ST’s LoRaWAN Implementation• I-CUBE-LRWAN middleware stack

• http://www.st.com/en/embedded-software/i-cube-lrwan.html

• Based on LoRaWAN v1.0.1

• Example projects for L0 / L1 / L4 Nucleo boards

• Class A device example and a “PingPong” point-to-point demo (Not LoRaWAN), to demonstrate the radio features

• Full source. No lib files

17

HW tools Dev tools

STM32CubeMX

ST-Link Utility

Partners IDE

System Workbench for STM32

Let’s Get Started

LoRaWAN stack

With a wide and existing ecosystem

18

(Click on the icon or link)

I-CUBE-LRWAN

Nucleo packST and Semtech

P/N: P-NUCLEO-LRWAN1

Discovery boardST and Murata®

P/N: B-L072Z-LRWAN1

Expansion boardST and USI®

P/N: I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1

19New Hardware ToolB-L072Z-LRWAN1: STM32 and LoRa Discovery kit

Murata module

Integrated ST-Link/V2-1:mass storage device flash programming

Arduino™ extension connectors : easy access to add-ons

2 push buttons, 2 color Leds,Jumper settings

Flexible board power supply :through USB or external source

SMA Antenna connector

20New Hardware ToolI-NUCLEO-LRWAN1: USI ® STM32™ Nucleo expansion board for LoRa

USI module

Sensors: Pressure, Humidity, Temperature, 3D MEMS

Arduino™ extension connector

SMA antenna connector

ST – Semtech – Senet - MyDevices Demo 21

Device-1

Network ServerWill decode the data from the

device to route the right devices information to the right

Application server.Other players on top of Telco

may offer Network Server services

GatewayIs ‘’just’’ a bridge between the

devices and the network server.

The Gateway(Base station) are Telco properties (Verizon,

Orange, Vodafone …)The Semtech radio chipset is

the SX1301.

ApplicationServer

Runs the application. The App could run on a cloud server,

PC, Phone … . Then the data are sent back to the right

device via the N.S and the Gateway,

DevicesThe aim is to sense, track, record, monitor any

activity. They could be connected to several Gateway and many devices could be connected

to the same Gateway. Devices are base on SX1276(100MHz – 1020MHz) or SX1272

(800MHz – 1020MHz) radio.

Device-2

Device-3

Senet Network Server + Developer PortalSenet Developer Portal

• Developer login

• Register and manage devices

• Transaction visibility

• PDU

• RF attributes

• Transaction forwarding

• Raw JSON

• To platforms, e.g. ATT M2X

• Initiate downlink communication

22

https://portal.senetco.com

myDevices Application Server Dashboard

What About Other IoT Cloud Players?• Freeboard https://freeboard.io

• Quickly build and visualize an IoT data dashboard

24

Thank You!25

www.st.com/stm32

/STM32 @ST_World st.com/e2e

STM32