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What is LoRaLAN?

LoRaLAN​

LoRaWAN is a typical LPWA network (Low Power Wide Area). LoRaWAN uses a spread spectrum modulation technique called LoRa (Long Range), characterized by a very high link budget and can achieve up to 10 kilometers of coverage through a single gateway. Low power consumption and wide coverage are the main features of LoRaWAN technology. At the same time, the LoRaWAN industry chain is very mature. From chips, modules, to gateways and cloud services, there are many manufacturers, agents, and integrators providing professional products and services. This enables LoRaWAN to quickly form network coverage at a low cost. This is key to the popularity of LoRaWAN.

Another feature of LoRaWAN is that the protocol is open. Open protocols promote the development of industrial ecosystems. Where other alternative network technologies have failed, LoRaWAN has become somewhat of a de facto standard for LPWA (Low Power Wireless Applications).

A limitation of LoRaWAN is that it is difficult to provide deterministic guarantees. People are initially tolerant of sensor data loss, but data loss can become sensitive over time. Another limitation of LoRaWAN is its very limited capacity. This is constrained by its underlying modulation technology and a simple medium access protocol. However, the underlying modulation technology and medium access protocol are also an advantage of LoRaWAN's "popularity." Therefore, it can be explained that when the advantages of LoRaWAN no longer match its use cases, or these advantages are no longer so critical in the use cases, LoRaWAN no longer has advantages. This scenario often arises in our contact with customers and led us to develop a new solution - LoRaLAN.

LoRaLAN compared to LoRaWAN​

LoRaLAN improves LoRaWAN in many ways. For LoRaLAN, network parameters can be adjusted dynamically in the cloud, and once changed, the terminal can detect and establish a new synchronization within seconds. Our cloud service Enkey Building Insight® can manage multiple gateways, and the terminal can automatically select an optimal gateway to connect to the network based on the signal quality and load level of the gateways.

LoRaLAN and LoRaWAN are both low-power IoT technologies suitable for control and data collection in buildings. Compared to LoRaWAN, LoRaLAN reduces endpoint coverage but significantly increases network bandwidth, enhances network capacity, and reduces device power consumption, extending battery life.

Compared to other IoT technologies, such as ZigBee and WirelessHART, which belong to the 2.4G technology system, LoRaLAN still has obvious coverage advantages. At the same time, LoRaLAN has the characteristics of low cost and low latency, and can support deterministic services.

Enkey LoRaLAN​

Enkey's primary solution LoRaLAN allows us to manage measurements in all spaces inside buildings without being limited by range, with long battery life and at an extremely low cost for infrastructure!

LoRa sensors are paired with LTE modules to create a complete local network solution. The LTE modules also function as gateways, bridging LoRa sensors to our cloud service Enkey Building Insight®.
In extremely large buildings or with thousands of sensors in the same building, multiple slave modules can be connected via a LAN network, providing a seamless topology. This enables the utilization of the strength of LoRa and mobile connectivity in a single wireless installation!

If you have questions or concerns about LoRaLAN, contact us at Enkey via [email] (mailto:hello@enkey.io).