Semtech’s LoRa Edge™ Indoor & Outdoor Geolocation Platform Goes Global

Location is a vital component of the Internet of Things (IoT), encompassing the ability of things to sense and communicate their geographic position. Location data helps organize, track and account for the billions of Internet-connected devices based on sensors and other location-centric elements within them. The ability to capture location data forms the basis of location-based services and starts with the physical radio frequency (RF) technologies that interact with the world around them.

Several technologies, such as GPS, LoRa® and others, can provide outdoor location information. However, these existing technologies are not optimized for IoT asset tracking use cases due to their increased power requirements which require access to frequent charging as well as inability to work indoors. Reducing power consumption on devices fundamentally requires a reduction of compute on device, with IoT this can be accomplished by partitioning the workload between the device and harnessing the power of the Cloud. For precise indoor location, where GPS has no tangible reach, and to enable continuous location detection or tracking, indoor positioning systems (IPS) technologies such as Wi-Fi come into play.

Smarter, More Efficient Asset Management

By harnessing the power of the Cloud, Semtech’s LoRa Edge™ is uniquely able to combine location information from LoRa, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Wi-Fi passive scanning to provide continuous indoor and outdoor positioning in a single power-efficient solution offering. Since its product launch in 2020, clients and solution providers in North America and Europe have been taking advantage of its distributed Cloud-based geolocation solver to transmit device location data over widely adopted LoRaWAN® networks.

Today, customers can leverage this affordable geolocation platform with the best battery life and end-to-end robust security across the entire globe. Specifically, we are pleased that we are expanding LoRa Edge use beyond the 915MHz (US915) and 868MHz (EU868) frequencies by adding new ISM frequency bands. The following are supported by the LoRa Alliance® LoRaWAN Regional Parameters specification and recently met required regulatory approvals:

• AS923 (with four sub-regions for Japan, Indonesia and Australia/New Zealand)

• IN865 - India

• KR920 - Korea

• RU868 - Russia

• AU915 - Australia

Advanced Geolocation Portfolio of Solutions

Semtech’s LoRa Edge – a versatile, hardware, software and cloud services platform – is comprised of three components – LoRa Edge LR1110 transceiver, LoRa Basics™ Modem-E or LoRa Basics Modem, and LoRa Cloud™ Services.

The LoRa Edge LR1110 transceiver is a disruptive multi-technology geolocation solution that helps customers significantly lower the cost and reduce design complexity of their IoT asset tracking and monitoring solutions. The transceiver utilizes GNSS tracking for outdoor applications and Wi-Fi passive scanning for tracking indoor assets – enabling continuous indoor-outdoor tracking on a single chip.

The LoRa Basics Modem-E is a powerful new embedded software that provides the tools to connect and transmit device location data over the widely adopted LoRaWAN standard, and is certified by the LoRa Alliance® as LoRaWAN Certified^CM. The LoRa Basics Modem is a version of a modem operating on the LoRaWAN standard that is provided in source format. Both modems seamlessly integrate core modem functions with provisioning, geolocation and device management into device-side APIs that seamlessly interact with the Cloud-based solver and services. End devices no longer need powerful MCUs to host the modem stack. They can run the application on simplified MCUs.

LoRa Cloud is Semtech’s Cloud service offering which today offers a geolocation solver, modem management services, and a join server utilizing the LoRaWAN standard that are created for the LoRa Edge platform. The geolocation solver capability is designed to work in conjunction with LoRa Edge devices to process the GNSS and Wi-Fi scans to return a latitude and longitude of the device.

In addition to the new available frequencies, there are new features that have been added to LoRa Edge, including up updated firmware with FUOTA patch capabilities, enhanced GNSS accuracy with multi-frame filtering available on both LoRa Basics Modem-E and LoRa Basics Modem as well as multi-scan solving available as part of only the LoRa Basics Modem, and support for Class C multicast down links.

Next-generation Geolocation

By removing the need for incremental GNSS and Wi-Fi components, LoRa Edge reduces the bill of material (BOM) costs of devices and significantly reduces design and procurement complexity. With the addition of LoRa Cloud Geolocation services, providing easy-to-use and cost effective GNSS and Wi-Fi-based location calculation in the Cloud to dramatically reduce device power requirements and improve asset management efficiency, LoRa Edge enables customers to further manage total cost of ownership (TCO), paying only when they need an asset to be located.

Enhanced position data gathering that offers the best balance between location accuracy and low power consumption is helping to transform multiple smart industries, including logistics, transportation, industrial, building, agriculture, healthcare, and more.
Semtech, the Semtech logo and LoRa are registered trademarks or service marks, and LoRa Edge, LoRa Basics and LoRa Cloud are trademarks or service marks, of Semtech Corporation or its affiliates.