Semtech Wireless Products
LoRa™ Introduction: Cambridge Wireless
April 21st 2015
Semtech Vision
To be the global leader
in analog/mixed signal platforms
that enable architectural
and performance
differentiation.
Jeff McKeown
Area Sales Manager –
UK & Ireland
Semtech LoRa Technology
LoRaTM enables the Internet of Things
 Ultimate long range and low power solution
• 10mile range, 10yr battery lifetime
 Easily connect millions of nodes to LoRa concentrators
 Eliminates repeaters and infrastructure cost
 Significantly improved robustness to interference
 High accuracy localization and ranging
Ok – so what is LoRa™
 LoRa™, …….is a spread-spectrum technique that uses wideband linear
frequency modulated pulses to encode information, whose frequency
increases or decreases over a certain amount of time.
 As with other spread-spectrum modulation techniques, LoRa™ uses the
entire channel bandwidth to broadcast a signal, making it robust to channel
noise.
 In addition, because LoRa modulation uses a broad band of the spectrum,
it is also resistant to long term relative frequency error, multi-path, fading
and Doppler effects.
 …..and in the Context of the Connected Home (or Office, or Factory, or
Refinery, or Farm, or Business Park…. Or Region or Country!):
 LoRa though usually portrayed as a LPWAN solution has key
characteristics that mean it is equally at home in the built or built-up
environment where ‘long range’ can be a proxy for ‘great penetration &
resilience’
A Digital Modulation scheme added to one of the industries ‘best in class’
classic low power radio families that delivers a 10-20db coding gain
IoT Segments
IoT Projected Volumes
IDC
Idate
* 50B
Berg Insight
Connected
Devices in
2020
Gartner
0
*
50
100
150
200
Connected Devices by 2020 (billions)
250
IoT Segment Trade-offs
LAN
Short Range
Communicating Devices


Well established
standards
Good for:
•
•
•

Mobile devices
In-home
Short range
Not good:
•
•
Battery life
Long range
LPWAN
Long Range w/ Battery
Internet of Objects


Emerging PHY
solutions
Good for:
•
•
•
•

Long range
Long battery
Low cost
Positioning
Not good:
•
High data-rate
Cellular
Long Range w/Power
Traditional M2M



Well established
standards
Good for:
•
•
•
Long range
High data-rate
Coverage
•
•
Battery life
Cost
Not good:
IoT: Private vs Public Network
 Private network – individually managed networks
 Individual network – Metering, security, home automation, industrial control
 Public network – Telecom/operator managed networks
 Includes traditional private networks and permits numerous new applications
 A much more scalable model
Private
Network
Public
Network
LoRa Range and Coverage
 Coverage map from a single gateway/concentrator
 Cisco Webex building in San Jose
 >30miles from San Jose to San Bruno
Live Munich Electronica Network
 10 LoRa gateways create LPWAN IoT network over Munich
 Cooperation between IBM, Microchip, and Semtech
 In addition to distribution partners and other ecosystem members
NYC Field Test Oct 28th-29th 2013
Location: 230 Fifth Ave Roof top
Antenna
1.5->4.5Km range in dense urban/harsh RF environment
LoRa Modulation - High Sensitivity
-138dBm
145
140
LoRa
135
sensitivity (dBm)
130
125
120
115
110
GFSK
105
100
95
3
10
4
10
bits/sec
5
10
 LoRa high sensitivity, long range, low data rates
 SX1272:-138dBm, SX1276:-148dBm  168dBm Link Budget
LoRa Technology
 LoRa utilized a spread spectrum based modulation
Advantages





Demodulate below noise floor – 30dB better than FSK
Better sensitivity than FSK (better Eb/No)
More robust to interference, noise, and jamming
Spreading codes orthogonal – multiples signals can occupy same channel
Tolerant to freq offsets (unlike DSSS)
LoRaMAC/LoRaWAN System/Security
 Long range star network (same architecture as cellular)
 Easy to deploy/maintain, reduces cost of infrastructure, optimizes battery lifetime
 Complete solutions for gateway and network server
 Enables customers to focus on end-node design/application not network management
LoRaMAC/LoRaWAN System/Security
Complete solutions enabling
customers to focus on applications
and services (not on network design)
 Local hosted private network solutions
 Custom private networks
 Multi-Tenant public networks
 Long range star network (same architecture as cellular)
 Easy to deploy/maintain, reduces cost of infrastructure, optimizes battery lifetime
 Complete solutions for gateway and network server
 Enables customers to focus on end-node design/application not network management
Network Options
 LoRa system solution suitable for both private and public models
 Telecoms and others deploying LPWAN public networks (multi-tenant)
 Country wide deployments starting in early 2015
 Public network operators looking for LoRaMAC compliant end app. partners
LoRa Microcell or
Private Network
(Macrocell)
LoRa Alliance
 Standardize LPWAN for IoT and M2M
 Key differentiation: mobility, two-way communication, location
 Interoperability between networks for worldwide mobility
 LoRaWAN protocol will be used by all the member companies
 LoRa alliance official formed at MWC
 40 members already joined
 14 operators and more than 200 people attended meeting at MWC
 Engagements and POC with >20 operators ongoing
Strong Ecosystem Enables Customized Deployment
HW
Embit
Eolane
Nemeus
Invisible
Systems
Aduenis
GW
Software &
Complete Solutions
Stream & Orbiwise
Development
LoRa Development Systems &
Environments
 ……A few examples
LoRa Development Systems &
Environments
 ……A few examples
LoRa TM Module Features
General Features:
 Integrate Semtech LoRa TM Radio and PIC
MCU
 Complete Stack on Board
 Simple ASCII command through UART I/F
 Works with any MCU and ALL PIC family
 168 dB maximum link budget
 +20 dBm RF output
 Programmable bit rate: 300bps – 50kbps
(LoRa)
 Supply voltage: 2.1V-3.6V
 14x GPIOs
 Small module size
26.67 x 17.78 x 3.18mm
How to Create a mbed LoRa Platform
FreeScale ARM Cortex M0
Freedom Board
Semtech SX1276
mbed Shield
How does it work? The SX1276 shield connects easily to ARM mbed
platforms and then can be programmed through the mbed c/cpp editor &
compiler (online tool). Example Ping Pong application code can be compiled
and then easily programmed into the ARM based mbed platforms.
Can the user create their own application code? Yes, the user can
create their own code using the example Ping Pong application as a reference.
This user code can then be recompiled and reloaded into the ARM mbed
platforms for new application development. Simple procedures with LoRaMAC
also now relesed via mbed platform.
Jeff McKeown:
jmckeown(at)semtech.com
Home Office: +44-1628-526078
Mobile: +44-7770-683-882
© Copyright 2012-15 Semtech Corp
Back-up
LoRa Network Attributes
Key Features
157dB to 168dB link budget
Attribute/Benefit
Long range
>15 km range
Minimal infrastructure
Concentrator with capacity
>10 yrs battery lifetime
RX - 10 mA, sleep <200 nA
Ease of deployment
Long battery life
Unlicensed spectrum
Low infrastructure cost
Low cost
Low end-node cost
 A long range star architecture with high capacity
 Supports both mobile and fixed nodes
 Supports variable data rates and multi-channel simultaneously
 Complete solution with both end node (SX127x) and concentrator (SX1301)
IoT or LPWAN with LoRa Partners
 Design and deploy systems/networks quickly with LoRa partners

Speed time to deployment and reduce development costs
 Hosted network server or controller model for local or private deployments
 LPWAN over 15-20km area connecting hundreds of thousands of sensors
Wireless Portfolio
Low
Current
 TX, RX, and TRX
 Low current – 2.5mA RX
 Power & Go (no MCU)
 Simple configuration
High
Performance
 TX, RX, and TRX
 Longest range
 Robust links
 Battery efficient
 Highly customizable
Front-ends
& PAs
 TRX, TX
 Modulation flexible
 15.4g compliant
 Up to +33dBm
 SiP and Standalone
System
Solutions
 Gateways
 Localization
 Ranging
High Performance Family
Internet of Things
(IOT)
Machine to Machine
(M2M)
Security &
Control
Metering
(AMR/AMI)
RX/TX
TX
Power
Max
Sens
RX
Current
Freq
Range
LoRa
Pin
Comp
SX1272/3
TRX
+20 dBm
-138 dBm
10 mA
860-1020 MHz
yes
SX1232
SX1276/77/78
TRX
+20 dBm
-148 dBm
10mA
138-960 MHz
yes
SX1236
SX1236
TRX
+20dBm
-123dBm
10mA
138-960 MHz
no
SX1276
SX1232
TRX
+20 dBm
-123 dBm
9.3 mA
860-1020 MHz
no
SX1272
SX1235
TRX
+20dBm
-123 dBm
9.3 mA
860-1020 MHz
no
SX1232
SX1231/H
TRX
+17/20 dBm
-120 dBm
16 mA
290-1000 MHz
no
SX1234
TRX
+17/20 dBm
-118 dBm
16 mA
290-1000 MHz
no
Product
* Two package options for SX1232
RF Front-Ends and High Power TX
Metering
(AMR/AMI)
Long Range Control
Two-way Radio
RX/TX
Freq
Range
Modulation
TX Power
Description
SX1257
TRX
860-1000MHz
OFDM, OQPSK,
G/F/MSK
+8dBm
I/Q TRX for SDR
SX1255
TRX
400-510MHz
OFDM, OQPSK,
GFSK
+8dBm
I/Q TRX for SDR
SX1710
TX
100-1000MHz
OFDM, OQPSK,
GFSK
+34dBm
2W PA
SX1238
TRX
900-928MHz
GFSK & OOK
+27dBm
Integrated
FEM+TRX
Product