We saw in the previous video that an end device must shared LoRaWAN parameters for a successful transmission. 1
We talked about the RX delay, which was the time that the networks have as to wait before sending 2
the downlink frame. 3
And we also talk about the channel frequency list, which is basically the frequency plan of your network 4
server. For this demonstration will only focus on the frequency plan topic and to check whether the demonstration 5
works, 6
we will verify the channel use by the end device. 7
If the end device uses only the default channel, then it means that the LoRaWAN parameters haven't been 8
shared. 9
But if it uses the complete frequency plan, which in our case is composed of eight channels, then 10
it means that the parameters have been shared properly. 11
So we're going to set up three little demonstrations, and for each of them we'll check the channel 12
during transmission. 13
The first demonstration is with an ABP end device programmed with the default LoRaWAN parameters. 14
So obviously with the default channels : 868.1 MHz 868.3 MHz and 868.5 MHz 15
That will work. 16
But in that case, the end device will never know the other channels, so it will limit its transmission 17
capacity. 18
The second demonstration will use the same ABP end device, but this time we'll ask the network server 19
to send a MAC command with the frequency plan. 20
So in that case, the end device should be able to send uplink frames using all channels. 21
And finally, for the last demonstration, we'll use an OTAA end device, and we'll check that after 22
the join procedure, all the channels are properly configured. 23
Okay, so I started the first demonstration with the ABP end device. 24
Here you can see my application server. 25
So that's where I receive the frames sent. I power up my end-device and I send a few uplink frames. 26
Let's say eight. 27
Here we go. 28
Now for each uplink frames, I'm interested in the channel use. 29
So I click on the frame and I go on the JSON details. In there, 30
I'm looking for the frequency field. 31
Okay, here it is. 32
So for the first frame, the channel used is 868.3 MHz. 33
That corresponds to one of the three default channels, but that may be by chance. 34
So let's go over the other ones. 35
The second frame use 868.5 MHz, the third one 816.1 MHz, and so on. 36
So all frame use three default channels. 37
Of course, this is normal, 38
as the end-device had no way to be aware of the frequency plan. 39
But it's not efficient because it should be able to use five more channels. Right. 40
Now, let's try the second example. 41
It's still with the same ABP and device, but this time I'm going to ask the network server to send a 42
MAC command to the device. 43
For that, I go in the register device section. 44
Then general settings. 45
Network layer. 46
Advanced Mac settings, and in this section I can configure the actual LoRaWAN parameters of the end 47
device. 48
In my case, the ned device is configured with the default value. 49
So one second for RX delay and I want RX delay of 5 seconds. 50
With this information, the network server will send the LoRaWAN parameters to the end device. 51
As we said earlier, this process is a bit time consuming if you have a large rate, but that's the 52
only way to send a MAC command on startup. 53
So after saving changes, I can go back on my application server live data and erase the logs. 54
Okay. 55
Now, I send a few uplink frames. 56
And I click on the frames to check the channel used. 57
Right. 58
The first channel uses 867.5, so we can already notice that the configuration worked because for this 59
first uplink, the device used another channel than the compulsory one. 60
Let's see the others. 61
867.7. 62
867.1. 63
867.1 again. 64
868.1 and so on. 65
So now the ABP end device can use the entire frequency plan. 66
Okay. 67
Now, for the last demonstration, we'll use another end device. 68
This time the activation mode is OTAA instead of ABP. 69
Ok, I erased the logs again and go back to my application server live data. 70
When I power up my end-device, I can see the join procedure with the join request and the join access. 71
Then of course, my uplink data. 72
I will send a few uplink using the push buttons. 73
Okay. 74
And I click on the frame to check the channel used. 75
867.3. 76
868.1, 868.3. 77
867.9, 78
And so on. 79
So first, we can verify that the end device is fully aware of the entire frequency plan, which is 80
great, but we can also guess that all the other LoRaWAN parameters have been configured properly. So we don't 81
have to set up anything manually. 82
So once again, we demonstrated another advantage of OTAA and this is another reason for why OTAA should 83
be your favorite activation mode.