Electronica India 2026, held Sept. 16-18 in Bengaluru, showed how utilities and device makers can build smart meters that work across fixed networks, walk-by collections and multiple wireless protocols. At booth H3.G11, Semtech showcased how LoRa® technology now extends from low-power sensing to network discovery and multi-protocol connectivity across LoRaWAN®, wireless M-Bus (wM-Bus), Wireless Smart Utility Network (Wi-SUN), and mesh networking, supported by India's homegrown LoRa ecosystem.
Made-In-India LoRa "Wall of Devices" on Display at Electronica India
The LoRa “Wall of Devices” stood out at the Semtech booth as a showcase dedicated exclusively to made-in-India end products built on integrated circuits that use LoRa technology. The display gave visitors a hands-on view of how Indian module makers, meter manufacturers, gateway vendors, and solution integrators are building on LoRa and LoRaWAN to serve smart metering, smart city and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) deployments across the country.
The "Wall of Devices" drew steady traffic throughout the show, with visitors pausing to examine the range of end nodes, gateways and meters on display and to ask the Semtech technical team about design-in support for their own products that leverage LoRa technology.
Robert Comanescu, vice president of applications engineering R&D, and Carlo Tinella, director of product marketing for LoRa at Semtech, pose in front of the LoRa ''Wall of Devices'' at the Semtech booth.
Network Discovery Combines Fixed and Walk-By Meter Reading Over LoRaWAN
Previously, as a teaser for the upcoming Semtech demo, the booth featured an early look at Network Discovery for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Automated Meter Reading (AMR) over LoRaWAN, a capability aimed squarely at utilities that need both fixed-network and walk-by/drive-by meter reading from the same device.
In the live demo, a water meter built around the Semtech LR2021 supports two parallel paths. When a fixed LoRaWAN gateway is in range, the meter joins the fixed network and exchanges uplinks and downlink acknowledgments with it, the classic AMI path. When no fixed gateway is available, the same meter falls back to beaconing its readings so that a mobile LoRaWAN gateway, carried on foot or by vehicle, can pick them up during a walk-by or drive-by collection, the AMR path. Both gateways forward data over USB to a Raspberry Pi-based controller computer, which publishes the readings over Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) to a Grafana dashboard for visualization.
Network Discovery: AMI/AMR over LoRaWAN demo architecture, showing fixed and mobile gateway paths from a single LR2021 transceiver based in a water meter to a Grafana dashboard.
Applications include:
- Utilities transitioning from pure AMR to hybrid AMI/AMR deployments.
- Rural or hard-to-cover areas where fixed gateway density is still being built out.
- Dynamic network discovery for meters that must operate reliably in both connectivity modes.
- Phased smart metering rollouts that need drive-by reading today and fixed-network AMI tomorrow.
Advanced Multi-Connectivity for Smart Water Meters: wM-Bus with LR1121
Building on its dual-connectivity work with EMBIT and Webdyn, Semtech featured featured an Advanced Multi-Connectivity demo for smart water meters combining wM-Bus and LoRaWAN on a single meter design. Two simulated water meters, each built around an EMBIT Modem-E module featuring LoRa Basics™ LR1121, showed two complementary scenarios: one meter acting purely as a wM-Bus endpoint for AMI and AMR collection, and a second meter demonstrating EMBIT's Hot Switch capability to move between LoRaWAN and wM-Bus connectivity without a network rejoin.
On the collection side, a Webdyn Easy wM-Bus collector based on the Semtech LR2021 operating at 868MHz gathered meter readings over wireless M-Bus and forwarded them by Wi-Fi to a Semtech Raspberry Pi server. From there, data was published over Message Queuing Telemetery Transport (MQTT) and Universal Serial Bus (USB) to a central system dashboard, where visitors could watch live flow readings and daily volume totals update in real time.
Advanced Multi-Connectivity Demo for Smart Water Meter: EMBIT LR1121 end point(s), Webdyn Easy wM-Bus collector with LR2021, and a live dashboard.
Applications include:
- Water, gas and heat metering networks standardized on wM-Bus (EN 13757).
- Utilities that need a seamless fallback between LoRaWAN and wM-Bus connectivity.
- AMI/AMR deployments consolidating on a single multi-protocol chipset.
NeoCortec Brings DLMS Mesh Networking to LoRa Smart Metering
NeoCortec, a longtime partner, returned to the booth with a smart metering demo combining its NeoMesh wireless mesh protocol with the Semtech LR2021 transceiver. The demo showed how NeoMesh's native Direct Livestock Marketing System (DLMS) / High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) adaptation layer rides on top of the LR Fast Long-Range Communication (FLRC), LoRa and Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK) modulations to deliver a scalable, self-healing wireless platform suited to dense smart metering networks, using FLRC for tightly packed meter clusters and LoRa when longer hops between nodes are needed.
NeoCortec has pointed to India's smart energy metering market as a significant growth opportunity, and is drawing so much attention from ecosystem partners.
Applications include:
- Large-scale electricity smart metering networks.
- Dense urban meter deployments requiring self-healing mesh connectivity.
- DLMS/HDLC-based utility data collection at scale.
Image Transfer at Up to 2.6Mbps with LoRa Plus™ LR2021
The Semtech Fast Long-Range Protocol (FLRP)-Burst image transfer demo returned to the booth, this time built on the LoRa Plus LR2021 transceiver. The demonstration streamed images between two LR2021-based devices using FLRP modulation at data rates of up to 2.6Mbps (subject to local Industrial, Scientific and Medical band regulations), far exceeding the data rates attendees typically associate with LoRa connectivity.
By pairing this throughput with the long range and low power consumption characteristic of LoRa technology, the LR2021 opens the door to image- and video-class payloads for applications that previously depended on other radio technologies to meet their data transfer requirements.
Applications include:
- Security surveillance and remote camera systems.
- Drone communications and telemetry.
- Remote and industrial inspection systems.
- Border security and perimeter monitoring.
Wi-SUN and LoRaWAN Run on One LR2021 Transceiver
Semtech also demonstrated Wi-SUN connectivity running on the LoRa Plus LR2021, in a demo developed with Exegin, whose Wi-SUN stack is used in utility-grade mesh deployments. The demo highlighted how a single LR2021 transceiver can support Wi-SUN FSK alongside LoRa and LoRaWAN, letting solution providers choose the connectivity protocol that best fits a given market without changing hardware.
This kind of hybrid architecture is particularly relevant for e-metering markets where Wi-SUN is the incumbent or preferred mesh protocol, but where LoRaWAN can extend coverage into areas where Wi-SUN mesh density is too low to guarantee reliable connectivity.
Applications include:
- Electricity and gas smart metering networks built on Wi-SUN.
- Hybrid LoRaWAN/Wi-SUN backhaul for utility mesh networks.
- Smart city infrastructure needing multi-protocol flexibility from a single chip.
5G Cellular IoT Modules for Every Deployment
Alongside its LoRa technology demonstrations, the Semtech booth also highlighted its 5G cellular IoT module portfolio giving visitors a fuller picture of how LoRa and cellular connectivity fit together across a utility or enterprise deployment mix.
Four modules anchored the conversation:
- EM9291: a 5G mobile broadband module ideal for mobile computing and high-performance networking applications.
- EM8695: a 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) module ideal for global deployment.
- WP7608: a programmable LTE module with an application processor running the Legato® application framework, a rich set of edge and cloud APIs, an optional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, and a cellular modem with an ultra-low power domain.
- RC7620: a low-cost LTE module ideal for IoT applications such as industrial manufacturing, smart cities, telematics, and mission-critical networking.
Together, these modules give solution providers a path to pair long range and low power connectivity of LoRa technology with cellular backhaul and mobile broadband, whether that means a RedCap uplink for a fixed AMI gateway, a programmable LTE module driving an edge application or a mobile broadband module for a high-performance networking use case.
Semtech team with 5G module distributor partners at the Electronica India 2026 booth.
Beyond LoRa: PerSe® Smart Sensing Demos in Action
The Semtech smart-sensing zone showcased PerSe capacitive touch and proximity sensor SX9200 and automotive-grade SX9331WQ across four live demos:
- Smart Home Automation Panel: proximity-gated LEDs, toggle/tap-and-hold controls and slider dimming, extended to media control on wearables like smart glasses and headphones.
- Smart Human Sensing/Spoof Detection: distinguishing real touch from fake samples for secure fingerprint authentication.
- Liquid Level and Type Identification: differentiating E0/E20 fuel and fresh/used transformer oil.
- Automotive Seat Occupancy: detecting human occupants vs. objects.
Together, these highlighted the platform's core strengths (proximity sensing, smart slider/wheel, touch, tap-and-hold, tap counter, and toggle button) across consumer, wearable, industrial, and automotive markets.
Force Sensing: What You Can Build With Force Touch Technology
The Semtech booth featured demonstrations under the “Force Sense” theme, showing how force sensing expands design and user experience (UX) options for modern devices. Built around force sensors that use Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, visitors had a hands-on demo of what becomes possible when force is added to a design.
Device Showcase: Built With Semtech Force Touch, Displayed at the Booth
- Internal sensor demo model: demonstrated sensor functionality on a metal enclosure, supporting single- and multi-press applications along with force-level detection.
- Boardroom presentation pointer: a presentation device built with a Semtech force sensor, offering two-step threshold functionality and a built-in laser pointer.
- Health monitor: used precise force sensing to help apply the correct pressure for optimal blood-oxygen readings.
- Premium true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds: a metal-cased earbud with force-sensing technology for pressure-sensitive media control.
- Automatic dispenser: a plastic, sealed enclosure integrating force sensing for a modern design and continuous spray.
- Smartwatch: force sensing enables seamless haptic buttons on an aluminum case, with no protruding buttons to snag or fail.
What Electronica India 2026 Signals for LoRa in India
Attendee Response and Industry Engagement
Attendee interest across smart metering, smart cities and industrial IoT verticals reflected a market that is moving from evaluation to deployment. Conversations at the booth increasingly centered on multi-protocol strategy — how a single LoRa Plus chipset can serve LoRaWAN, wM-Bus, Wi-SUN, and mesh networking needs across existing and future utility rollout plans — alongside continued enthusiasm for the depth of India's own LoRa device ecosystem.
Strategic Market Position
The engagement at Electronica India 2026 reinforces India's position as one of the most active and fast-growing markets for LoRa and LoRaWAN technology. As utilities and solution providers weigh AMI, AMR and hybrid connectivity strategies, the expanding Semtech LoRa Plus portfolio and its network of local and global partners position the company to support the next phase of India's smart infrastructure buildout.
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