Topic outline
Welcome to the LoRaWAN Academy™
Prerequisites
There are no firm perquisites for this course, aside from curiosity and an interest in learning about LoRa® and the LoRaWAN® networking standard. That said, you will get more out of the course if you complete the related hands-on labs. The labs are independent activities, and each lab requires different hardware, as described in the labs themselves.
What to Expect
The LoRaWAN Academy™ is a self-paced course designed for people interested in learning about the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly, about LoRa radio modulation and LoRaWAN, the low power, wide area networking standard. The course consists of 12 modules that will help you build your understanding of LoRa and LoRaWAN from the ground up. Each module has clear Learning Objectives and provides a variety of learning experiences, including text, video lectures, and quizzes at the end of each module. You will also have the opportunity to put what you learn into practice by completing the Advanced Assignments and the related Hands-on Labs.
Note: Although you can navigate the course in any order that you like, to take the Final Exam, you will need to pass the quizzes in each module in the order in which they appear. By the end of the course, you should be able to pass the final exam, at which point you will receive your LoraWAN Academy™ Certificate of Completion.
Testing-Out of the Course
If you are already well-versed in LoRa and LoRaWAN, you can receive your Certificate of Completion for the course by earning a 90% on the Challenge Exam.
Why Offer this Course for Free?
We believe that there should be no barriers to entry for anyone interested in building long-range IoT solutions using LoRa-enabled devices on a LoRaWAN network. As noted by Donna Moore from the LoRa Alliance®, LoRaWAN has become the de facto standard for long-range low power wide area networks (LPWANs). Our goal with this course is to enable developers and others to understand the technology and to use this course and the related resources on the LoRa Developer Portal as a jumping-off point to begin their LoRaWAN journeys.
Building Community
We encourage you to take advantage of the LoRaWAN Academy channel in our Community Forum, where you can connect with other learners to discuss what you are learning and help each other out. The Forum is also a good place for getting answers to technical questions.
Welcome to the Academy for LoRaWAN®
Prerequisites
There are no firm perquisites for this course, aside from curiosity and an interest in learning about LoRa® and the LoRaWAN® networking standard. That said, you will get more out of the course if you complete the related hands-on labs. The labs are independent activities, and each lab requires different hardware, as described in the labs themselves.
What to Expect
The Academy for LoRaWAN® is a self-paced course designed for people interested in learning about the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly, about LoRa radio modulation and LoRaWAN, the low power, wide area networking standard. The course consists of 12 modules that will help you build your understanding of LoRa and LoRaWAN from the ground up. Each module has clear Learning Objectives and provides a variety of learning experiences, including text, video lectures, and quizzes at the end of each module. You will also have the opportunity to put what you learn into practice by completing the Advanced Assignments and the related Hands-on Labs.
Why Offer this Course for Free?
We believe that there should be no barriers to entry for anyone interested in building long-range IoT solutions using LoRa-enabled devices on a LoRaWAN network. As noted by Donna Moore from the LoRa Alliance®, LoRaWAN has become the de facto standard for long-range low power wide area networks (LPWANs). Our goal with this course is to enable developers and others to understand the technology and to use this course and the related resources on the Semtech LoRa Resources page as a jumping-off point to begin their LoRaWAN journeys.
Page: 1Module 1: Introduction to the Internet of Things
Any understanding of LoRa® and LoRaWAN® must begin with an understanding of the Internet of Things (IoT). This module uses both text and videos to familiarize you with the IoT in general, as well as IoT connectivity methods and challenges, and the business opportunities that the IoT makes possible. At the end of the module, you’ll have the opportunity to answer a few questions to check your understanding of the material.
Pages: 5Module 2: LoRa® and LoRaWAN®
Now that you have an understanding of the Internet of Things overall, we’ll take a deeper look at LoRa® and LoRaWAN®. Here, we discuss what LoRa is as well as the applications where it can be used. We also introduce you to the LoRa Alliance®, which manages and maintains the LoRaWAN Standard, before diving into the architecture and characteristics of networks built on the LoRaWAN Standard.
Pages: 9Module 3: LoRaWAN Specifications
In this module, you’ll not only learn about the history of the LoRaWAN® Layer 2 specification, you will also get an in-depth explanation of the LW1.0.4 version of the specification, along with an in-depth discussion of the Regional Parameters specifications put out by the LoRa Alliance.
Pages: 8Module 4: LoRaWAN Networks and Network Elements
Now that you’ve got a grounding in the LoRaWAN® specification, let’s take a look at LoRaWAN networks in a more functional sense. We'll walk you through the different types of LoRaWAN networks that are available, and provide some considerations to help you choose the best type of network for your purpose before diving into an explanation of the three different servers on which every LoRaWAN network relies.
Pages: 7Module 5: Hardware Components of a LoRaWAN Network
OK, by now you have an understanding of the high-level architecture of a network built on the LoRaWAN® standard. Now, let’s look into the hardware components that make up such a network. Here, you'll learn about antenna design and the different ways to connect peripherals, as well as develop an understanding of how gateways work in this context, and how to get your end devices LoRaWAN CertifiedCM .
Pages: 15Module 6: Open-Source Stacks for LoRaWAN
Like other low power wide area networking protocols (LPWANs), the LoRaWAN® specification is an open standard. It has been developed to allow multiple end devices (nodes) to communicate with a server, which can then distribute information. One of the key elements of the network structure is the software implemented in every end node that allows the node to communicate with the server.
A key advantage of using an open-source stack is that the majority of the software development work is already completed and tested.
In this section, we discuss the various types of currently-available open source stacks for LoRaWAN.
Pages: 4Module 7: Best Practices
While you can design and build devices that follow all aspects of the LoRaWAN® specification and that will pass all the LoRaWAN Certification tests, unless you follow some key best practices, these devices may still not have optimum performance when in operation. For a LoRaWAN network, the most valuable element is the downlink message. For example, a gateway can receive millions of messages per day from end devices on the network. However, due to regional dwell time and/or duty cycle restrictions, there are only so many messages it can physically send in a day. This module addresses some best practices that you can build into the design of both your end nodes and your LoRaWAN network to optimize performance.
Note
- Dwell time: The amount of airtime a message in a single transmission takes to travel from the sender to the receiver.
- Duty cycle: The total time a device is allowed to transmit during a given period.
Pages: 16Module 8: Power Consumption
As we’ve discussed, LoRaWAN is a low power wide area network protocol. Key to this, of course, is the concept of minimizing power consumption. Here, you’ll learn about power management, putting devices to sleep, calculating battery life, and more.
Pages: 8Module 9: Security in the Context of LoRaWAN
In this module, you’ll learn about security and encryption, as well as how they are used in LoRaWAN networks. You’ll also learn about the security features that are built into LoRaWAN and some security best practices.
Pages: 7Module 10: Application Development
Here in Module 10, we shift from talking about the underlying technology and networking protocol to addressing how you can create application software integrations so that you can visualize and use the data you collect.
Pages: 4Module 11: Radio Planning and Modulation
In this module, we explain what radio planning and radio modulation are, and why they are critical for your LoRaWAN® deployment.
Pages: 8Module 12: Geolocation
As we move into module 12, we shift our focus to using LoRaWAN® for geolocation. In this module, we explain what geolocation is, common techniques for locating IoT objects in the world, and how geolocation can be accomplished using wireless technologies.
Pages: 6