Good practice for LoRaWAN projects

This article is about good practice for LoRaWAN projects.

LoRaWAN may not be suitable for all use cases, so it's crucial to understand its limitations. Here's a brief summary of the best practices to follow when building a LoraWAN project :

Suitable use-cases for LoRaWAN :

• Long-range communication
• Low power consumption: Devices can operate for years on a single battery.
• Low bandwidth requirement
• Wide coverage: Users can establish their own network by installing gateways.
• Secure : End-to-end encryption with 128-bit security.

Not suitable for LoRaWAN :

• Real-time data transmission : Large amounts of data cannot be sent frequently ; small packets can be sent every few minutes.
• Phone calls : For voice communication, other technologies like GPRS/3G/LTE should be used.
• High-bandwidth tasks like sending photos or streaming videos: WiFi is recommended for these purposes.

Hardware installation good practice :

Box antenna placement :

An antenna's placement and configuration can significantly impact the performance and range of LoRaWAN devices. We'll dive into the essential considerations and best practices for correct antenna installation in LoRaWAN networks.

A crucial step is to determine the optimal placement for your LoRaWAN antenna. Here are some considerations :

• Height : Mount your antenna as high as possible to reduce obstructions and increase line-of-sight communication with the sensors. 
• Line of Sight : Minimize obstacles between the LoRaWAN device and the gateway. Buildings, trees, and other structures can attenuate the signal and reduce range. Whenever possible, choose a location with a clear line of sight to the Box.
• Cable Length : Keep the cable length between the LoRaWAN device and the antenna as short as possible to minimize signal loss. Use low-loss coaxial cables for longer cable lengths. The cable should not exceed 10m.

Sensor placement : 

Please be sure to read the manufacturers' documentation, as they usually have recommendations for sensor placement.

Perform a radio-mapping :

Performing a LoraWAN radio mapping will allow you to evaluate you LoraWAN network quality and help you to find the best location for your Box and sensors.

To run that kind of process you'll need a LoraWAN network fieldtest (Adeunis tester available in our database).

Sensors configuration good practice :

When configuring a LoRaWAN sensor (uplink), it is important to consider the following aspects :

1. Optimal Uplink Frequency : Take care to adjust the number of uplinks sent per day to strike a balance between conserving battery power and maximizing the potential for connecting a larger number of sensors. By finding the right frequency, you can ensure efficient data transmission while prolonging the battery life of your sensor. Carefully analyze the requirements of your application and strike a suitable balance to achieve the desired performance.
2. Leveraging Redundancy : Whenever possible, make use of redundancy features provided by the LoRaWAN network. Redundancy helps enhance the reliability of data transmission and reception, leading to a more robust and fault-tolerant system. By leveraging redundancy, you not only improve the chances of successful data delivery but also contribute to conserving battery power by reducing the need for retransmissions.
3. Optimizing Spreading Factor : Consider utilizing the SF7 (Spreading Factor 7) as the primary choice for your sensor's data transmission. SF7 offers advantages such as better bandwidth optimization within the LoRaWAN server.

By taking these factors into account during the configuration process, you can fine-tune your LoRaWAN sensor setup for optimal performance, efficient battery usage, and effective utilization of the LoRaWAN network's capabilities.

When sending responses from your application to the sensor (downlink), consider the following recommendations :

Our goal is to maximize the number of Nodes that can be handled per Box. However, due to the limited availability of full-duplex radios, a Box cannot receive transmissions from Nodes (sensors) while it is transmitting. This means that during the 10% of the time when a Box is transmitting, it is unable to receive any data.

To ensure a highly reliable network, it is essential that the Box successfully receives transmissions from all devices. In order to maintain optimal Box availability, we kindly request that you adhere to the following recommendations :

1. Data Rate efficiency : Similar to the uplink, strive for maximum efficiency in the downlink data rate. The efficiency of your uplink transmissions will determine the efficiency of the network's response in the form of downlinks.

Minimize Downlink messages: Whenever possible, avoid using downlink messages. If downlink transmission is necessary, keep the payload size small to minimize the impact on the network.

Consider the necessity of Confirmed Uplink: Confirmed Uplink is often not essential for most applications. It is advised to design your application to function effectively without the need for confirmations.

By adhering to these recommendations, we aim to establish a network with high reliability and improved performance.