The Brain of the LoRaWAN Network: LoRaWAN Network Server

 

There is no wonder in the statement “The LoRaWAN technology is the key to Smart & Sustainable Future”. There are so many case studies through which we can justify the statement. We can go far beyond the advancement to achieve the

We are so involved in new innovations & development, in order to update ourselves with the changing or demanding future growth. Such contributions can be advanced by having the in depth knowledge of the technology. 

The LoRa technology utilizes the telecommunication network called LoRaWAN which routes the data from the end points to the centralized Network Server & then to the required entities via LoRaWAN Gateway. Since LoRaWAN® network architecture is deployed in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways are the centralized unit which relay messages between end-devices and a central network server. The gateways are connected to the LoRa Network Server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa.

The LoRaWAN Network Server is connected via IP backbone with the Gateways. The IP traffic from a Gateway to the Network Server can be backhauled via Wifi, Ethernet. The Gateway here acts as LoRa Radio Message Forwarders. The LoRaWAN Gateway then checks the data integrity of the data/messages sent by the multiple End devices within its hearing range called uplink. This also reduces the packet error rate.

For downlink, a LoRaWAN Gateway executes transmission requests coming from the LoRa Network Server.

LoRa Network Server performs data deduplication & deletes all copies & selects the Gateway that received the message with best RSSI.

The LoRaWAN Network Server has following features:

• v  MAC layer management of uplinks & downlinks, including service messages.
• v  Network and application layer symmetric AES 128 bit encryption ensuring optimal and integrated security
• v  Different classes can be assigned to devices depending on the use case to control power consumption.
• v  Every network management function, including data exposure, can be accessed through a set of open & documented APIs
• v On selected LoRaWAN devices, the network server can apply decoders to extract application layer data and send it to relevant application
• v  Providing acknowledgements of confirmed uplink data messages.
• v  Forwarding uplink application payloads to the appropriate Application Servers
• v  Routing uplink application payloads to the appropriate Application Server.
• v  For downlinks, best gateway selection based on availability and radio parameters.
• v Adaptive Data Rate is used to control spreading factors, power emissions and retransmits to optimize network capacity.

Thus it can be concluded that the LoRaWAN Network Server acts as a brain of the LoRaWAN Architecture which controls the complete LoRaWAN Network. The LoRaWAN Network Server connects the gateways, sensors, end-user applications and ensures reliable & secure data routing for overall LoRa Network.