Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile service carrier, to deploy the world’s first commercial Internet of Things, or IoT-dedicated nationwide LoRaWAN network in Korea.
A short for long range wireless area network, the LoRAWAN network carries sensor and tracking data using 900 MHz frequency band. It is a very dedicated wireless network for IoT sensor, as it moves around low data rate sensing and tacking data mainly at a very slow speed of 5Kbps, but consumes very low power.
The The commercial service is scheduled to launch in Daegu, Korea’s fourth largest city, next month and will be available nationwide by the middle of this year.
Samsung Electronics will supply LoRaWAN gateways, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics will provide LoRaWAN modules.
The rollout plans follows on the heel of French mobile service provider Orange’s roadmap to use LoRa technology as the basis for a new IoT network in France from 2016, to take advantage of its reduced rate of energy consumption and at a lower cost.
Connecting tons of sensor nodes scattered over long distances via today’s cellular or wireless mesh networks costs dearly, drains power consumption, and more painfully runs short of coverage ranges.
LoRaWAN is one of the technology-enablers that can tackle these technology challenges, including Sigfox, Ingenu's RPMA and Silver Spring Networks.
Daegu will serve as a test bed for the LoRaWAN-based IoT network, mainly building up and servicing IoT infrastructure for renewable energy solutions, cloud platforms and big data analytics of healthcare and medical services, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure for autonomous cars around the network.
For example, streetlights in the city will collect weather and traffic information using IoT sensors, enabling cost savings by automatically adjusting the lighting level and also sending air pollution status information.
"With the early deployment of a nationwide IoT network, SK Telecom will be able to maintain its position as pioneer in the field of telecommunications," said Lee Jong-bong, Executive Vice President and Head of Infra Division at SK Telecom. "SK Telecom will continue to work closely with partners including Samsung to deliver new value and convenience to both individual and enterprise customers over the IoT network."
“Now is a critical moment for ICT companies looking for new future business opportunities such as IoT services,” said Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are very pleased to partner with SK Telecom for its pioneering IoT vision. Samsung will contribute in creating the ecosystem for enabling significant changes driven by new IoT services.”
LoRaWAN IoT networks use an unlicensed, public spectrum called the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency band. To prevent degradation of other industrial communications already using the ISM band, the network will support the Listen Before Talk (LBT) function. A new service model, the Internet of Small Things (IoST), will also be introduced as a key facilitator for more business opportunities utilizing the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) like LoRaWAN. LPWAN is a group of technologies optimized to transmit small amounts of data at very low speeds of below 5Kbps.
Ecosystem
LoRA alliance's board members include Orange Telecom, Rincluding IBM, Cisco, Bouygues Telecom, Actility, Augtek, Homerider, Kerlink, KPN, Proximus, Sagemcom and Semtech,
Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of LoRaWAN modem chip. The analog and mixed-signal semiconductor chip maker supplies EV8600 dual modem (PLC+RF System-on-Chip) with integrated LoRa wireless RF technology.
The Semtech EV8600 is the first fully integrated PLC and LoRa modem for smart grid, smart metering and IoT applications. The advanced features of the EV8600 help reduce network operational costs of Advance Metering Infrastructures (AMI) by up to 50 percent. In addition, the revolutionary EV8600 modem enables seamless LoRa gateway network deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for smart city and industrial automation.
By offering both a Power Line Communications (PLC) modem operating at 10-500KHZ and a Radio Frequency (RF) modem operating in the range of 142-1050MHz, Semtech’s industry-leading EV8600 enables virtually 100 percent connectivity coverage with a single chip. The EV8600 also offers a LoRa fallback mode in the event of a complete network outage caused by a natural disaster or other unforeseen events.
To simplify the design effort, Semtech’s LoRa-enabled EV8600 series performs all bridging/routing algorithms between the two internal modems and has embedded dual image flash memory. The implementation of LoRa features into the new Semtech’s EV8600 is accompanied by the addition of Wireless M-BUS protocol for sub-metering applications.
EV8600 Single-Chip Hybrid PLC+RF Solution
The EV8600 features highly integrated dual-modem System-on-Chip (SoC) comprising a PLC modem and a sub-GHz RF transceiver, all in a single chip with internal secure flash memory. It also includes an applications processor with bridging and routing algorithms between PLC and RF modems. Additional features:
- PLC modem
o Integrated AFE
o Dual Processor MAC & Network architecture
o Multi-standard: G3-PLC, PRIME, P1901.2 and S-FSK
o Programmable frequency range from 9KHz-490KHz
o Multi-band: CENELEC, FCC, ARIB
- RF modem
o LoRa Modem, WMBUS, 802.15.4g
o 168 dB maximum link budget
o +20 dBm - 100 mW constant RF output vs. V supply
o +14 dBm high efficiency PA
o Programmable bit rate up to 300 kbps
o High sensitivity: down to -148 dBm
o Bullet-proof front end: IIP3 = -11 dBm
o Excellent blocking immunity
o Low RX current of 9.9 mA, 200 nA register retention
o Fully integrated synthesizer with a resolution of 61 Hz
o FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK, LoRa and OOK modulation
o Built-in bit synchronizer for clock recovery
o Preamble detection
o 127 dB Dynamic Range RSSI
o Automatic RF Sense and CAD with ultra-fast AFC
o Packet engine up to 256 bytes with CRC
o Built-in temperature sensor and low battery indicator
Chip makers work on LoRa technology
ARM Holdings
ARM is also active in LoRA technology development.
Semtech Corporation joined hands with ARM to release LoRaWAN development through ARM mbedwith LoRa-based shields and platforms. The LoRaWAN end-device source code, standardized by the LoRa™ Alliance, is also available through mbed simplifying device prototyping and accelerating the development of Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
By offering an easily programmable tool that comes pre-installed with editable source code, the LoRa-equipped mbed platform allows developers to easily develop IoT applications and connect to LoRaWAN gateways. This gives developers and other interested parties the tools necessary to test the capabilities of LoRa RF technology and create IoT solutions.
The mbed supported NAMote72 platform is integrated with Semtech’s SX1272 LoRa® transceiver and a STMicroelectronics STM32L1 series ultra-low-power MCU. This tool is designed for the 915MHz frequency band and includes a front-end module that can test the technology limits at the highest allowable regulatory output power. In addition to the NAMote72, Semtech and ARM released two LoRa and mbed enabled shields, the SX1276MB1MAS and SX1276LB1LAS, based on Semtech’s SX1276 transceiver. These tools, designed for the ISM frequency bands of Europe and China (SX1276MB1MAS) and North America (SX1276LB1LAS), give developers source code to enable RF tests, simple point-to-point communication and other device compatibility. The mbed shields plug into any mbed microcontroller development platforms from STMicroelectronics, NXP and others.
STMicroelectronics
Semtech and STMicroelectronics Collaborate to Scale LoRa® Technology to Meet High-Volume Demands of Internet of Things Applications
ST to offer complete line of solutions including LoRa systems on chips (SOCs) to accelerate
deployments of low-power wide-area networks by mobile network operators (MNOs)
Camarillo, California and Geneva, Switzerland, December 14, 2015 -- Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, today announced an agreement on Semtech’s LoRa® long-range wireless RF technology. ST intends to use the technology to target Internet of Things (IoT) deployments by mobile network operators (MNOs) and large-scale private networks.
ST will join the LoRa Alliance and release reference designs for LoRa technology based on its STM32 family of microcontrollers. ST plans to develop microcontrollers with on-chip LoRa technology that supports the LoRaWAN™ standardized protocol. Semtech and ST will cooperate to integrate LoRa technology into multiple platforms that target a variety of applications for several business initiatives around LoRa.
The LoRa Alliance, with its LoRa ecosystem, is the fastest growing alliance in the IoT sector, and the addition of ST will help standardize LoRa and LoRaWAN for IoT low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) worldwide. Both Semtech and ST believe standardization and a strong ecosystem will foster technology adoption to achieve the large volumes projected for IoT.
“There is tremendous success and momentum behind the LoRa Alliance and MNO announcements of LoRaWAN-based nationwide network deployments,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President and General Manager of Semtech’s Wireless, Sensing and Timing product group. “Having a premier silicon supplier of the LoRa technology such as ST, with its strong presence in the industrial and connectivity market, reinforces that Semtech’s LoRa RF technology, LoRaWAN protocol, IP and chip-set are becoming the de-facto standards for IoT LPWANs.”
“The combination of our large family of industry-leading STM32 microcontrollers, together with the LoRa technology through our partnership with Semtech, will further strengthen our position on the IoT, Smart City, and Industrial markets, where our portfolio of controllers, sensors, connectivity, security, analog, and power solutions already make ST formidable,” said Claude Dardanne, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Microcontroller, Memory & Secure MCU Group, STMicroelectronics. “By contributing our IP and SoC design expertise, we anticipate promoting the deployment of more LPWANs worldwide, and enabling many applications with a standardized ecosystem of service providers and solutions developers.”
LoRAWAN network in service
Semtech, a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, on Oct. 1, 2015 announced The Lace Company, a global wireless network operator, has deployed an Internet of Things (IoT) network, enabled by LoRa® RF technology, covering more than a dozen major cities in Russia including Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The Lace Network covers more than 30 million people across 9,000 square kilometers, and is the first and largest LPWAN to target coverage in Russia, a significant milestone for the IoT movement and LoRaWAN™ standardization through the LoRaAlliance.
The LoRaWAN protocol standardizes low-power, wide-area networks (LPWAN) with direct connection of low-power end devices to gateways, and cloud-based network serves to enable interoperability between IoT applications. The LoRa Alliance, which includes both Semtech and Lace and was launched earlier this year, is a fast-growing alliance with the goal to standardize LPWAN for IoT networks globally. The Alliance includes leading IoT solution providers, major telecom companies and numerous companies developing products for IoT.
BI Intelligence predicts that by 2019 the Internet of Things network revenues will exceed $1.7 trillion making it the biggest market in the world far larger than smartphones, computers, tablets and smart cars combined. The applications targeted and being deployed in the Lace Network included home energy monitoring, remote health monitoring, agriculture, environment protection, flexible vehicle insurance plans, alarm systems, transportation and smart city.
Key Features of LoRa RF Technology:
- Long Range: A single LoRa base station enables deep penetration capability for dense urban environments and indoor coverage, while also providing the ability to connect to sensors more than 15-30 miles away in rural areas.
- Low Cost: LoRa reduces both upfront infrastructure investments and operating costs, as well as end-node sensor costs.
- Standardized: LoRaWAN ensures interoperability among applications, IoT solution providers and telecom operators to speed adoption and deployment.
- Low Power: The LoRaWAN protocol was developed specifically for low power and enables unprecedented multi-year battery lifetime.