In this part, we're going to handle a complete lorawan network configuration. 1
But to do that, we first need to have an operational network available. 2
So maybe you have a private network in operation. 3
It's not the most common situation when you start playing with Lorawan. 4
But anyway, if it's your situation, then your gateway must be connected to internet and you must have 5
set up the LoRaWAN server yourself. 6
If you choose a hybrid network infrastructure, then your gateway must be also connected to internet and 7
you must have subscribed to a LoRaWAN provider. 8
It can be, for example, a community network. 9
Community network are often a nice solution when you start, because if you don't have a gateway, you can 10
even rely on the community onces available. 11
But be careful because depending on the area you're staying, there is not necessarily a coverage with 12
the community Gateway registered, so please check it before starting. 13
Then finally, if you don't want to deploy anything but you end-device, then for a few euros you can 14
subscribe to a public network. 15
The coverage with public network is usually quite good, but again, please check it on the public operator 16
website. 17
Okay, so the nice thing now is that from this point we will only have a four steps configuration to 18
make everything work. 19
And if you choose someone else gateway, in the case of community network or public network, then 20
they will be only two steps to carry out. 21
So let's start. 22
The first step is the gateway configuration. 23
This configuration will allow the gateway to be aware of the targeting network server and also the protocol 24
used. 25
Unfortunately, Lorawan doesn't specify one protocol between the gateway and the network server. 26
So many LoRaWAN players have developed their own solution. 27
The protocol use between the gateway and the network server is handled by what we call a packet forwarder. 28
So when you hear about a packet forwarder software just think about a small piece of software installed 29
on the gateway in order to communicate to the network server the most commonly used protocol is the old 30
Semtech packet forwarder. I said old because this protocol was the first packet forwarder created a long 31
time ago. 32
The funny thing is that it was not originally supposed to last that much. 33
It has only a few functionalities, but it's still a very common packet forwarder nowadays because it's 34
very simple. 35
You will also probably hear about LoRa basic station also created by Semtech and LRR by Actility 36
. 37
Loriot your packet forwarder, for Loriot network and so on. But be careful, 38
Network servers don't support all packet forwarders. 39
So before choosing a packet forwarder for your gateway, you need to check if it's supported on the 40
network server side. 41
OK, and once you have your packet forwarder ready, then its configuration is very easy. 42
You just enter the network server IP address as well as the UDP or TCP port of the protocol used. 43
And if you have a secure transmission, you will also have to provide a private keys and certificate 44
for the connection. 45
The second step is the gateway registration on the network server. 46
We'll see 47
that's a pretty easy task. 48
It basically says that this gateway is allowed to talk to the server. 49
Next, for the third step, we're going to register our device on the network server. 50
You can register thousands of devices. 51
Each of them will have a particular configuration and we'll enter the LoRaWAN parameters depending 52
on the activation mode, 53
we want to use ABP or OTAA. 54
Sometimes on network server there is a possibility to organize devices by groups. 55
The groups are created to gather devices of the same use case, and these groups are often called applications. 56
You can just consider an application as a folder or a box in which you store your devices. 57
And finally, the fourth step is the device configuration. 58
This is done on the device itself by programming a new firmware to enter the LoRaWAN. 59
Parameters will see both activation methods, ABP and OTAA. 60
So let's get started.