In this opportunity we will create an account in the platform The Things Network and we will make a brief introduction, TTN a good initiative to build a network for the internet of things or “IoT”.
The Things Network has implemented the LoRaWAN technology, which has 3 important characteristics
- LoRaWAN is technically a standard protocol with low bandwidth.
- It allows communication over long distances.
- It is low consumption, ie longer battery life.
These features are very striking for our applications, since for communication between devices and the internet connection does not require 3G or Wifi.
Oficial Website: thethingsnetwork.org.
Recommended Tutorials
Some time ago I made some tests with Radio LoRa technology, I created 2 very simple tutorials that I hope will be an introduction to other technologies.
Recommeded: Getting started, considerations and concepts LoRaWAN # 1
Introduction LoRa & Module RFM95 Hoperf
Introduction to LoRa technologies and characterization of Radio / Modem RFM95 from Hoperf.
Communication LoRa ESP8266 & Radio RFM96 # 1
Basic LoRa Communication test between 2 modules ESP8266.
The Things Network
4 characteristics:
Devices
The devices are our LoRaWAN nodes, whether sensors, actuators, meters or “things” that we want to register in The Things Network mainly platforms such as Arduino, ESP8266, ESP32 and Raspberry pi also allows SDK and also some Bluetooth devices.
More Information: Connect devices to The Things Network.
Gateway
They are equipment that technically works as a “bridge” or LoRAWAN router or addressing between the nodes and the TTN platform. It could be said that they convert the modulated data into LoRa to the Internet either, but of course they require a detailed configuration.
More Information: Extend The Things Network by installing a Gateway.
Network
The Network is the method or the detailed information of the architecture of connected Nodes and Gateway’s, mainly administration from the servers.
Aplications
The applications allow Integrate TTN data with other IoT platforms, example Node-RED, also has a list of API’S and SDK’s for integration with other platforms.
More Information: Build applications on The Things Network.
Video: Introduction and Create account in The Things Network – IoT Platform LoRaWAN
Conclusions
The idea is to popularize LoRaWAN and expand its coverage with the TTN platform, in some European countries there are public gateways, in countries that are just embracing these new IoT technologies, I recommend buying, buying or even better make your own gateway LoRaWAN documentation exists in forums TTN.
I’ve been testing ESP8266 for a few days as a LoRaWAN gateway with excellent results despite being a low-resource implementation ESP-1ch-Gateway-v5.0 in upcoming tutorials will present results.
TTN is compatible with LoRaWAN devices for long distance (~ 5 to 15 km) approximately depending on Gateway, devices and also allows low bandwidth communication (51 bytes / message).
