The LoRa Alliance®, the global association of companies backing the
open LoRaWAN® standard for the internet of things (IoT) low-power
wide-area networks (LPWANs), today launched its formal roadmap,
which highlights LoRaWAN’s evolution from building and
interconnecting networks through its focus on making the technology
faster and easier to deploy, work that has successfully made
LoRaWAN the leading LPWAN with the most deployments supporting
IoT’s active scaling across numerous end markets. The roadmap also
showcases the planned development of the LoRaWAN open standard for
IoT communications.
“LoRaWAN is a purpose-built networking technology to support
massive IoT,” said Donna Moore, CEO and chairwoman of the LoRa
Alliance. “The members of the LoRa Alliance have been diligent in
their work to lay the foundation strategically evolving LoRaWAN to
achieve the significant scaling that is taking place in IoT. Not
only is our technology best of breed and proven across multiple
multimillion-sensor deployments, but it is also backed by the
largest ecosystem with the greatest number and diversity of
certified devices. Further, it offers the widest variety of
deployment options across terrestrial networks and satellite NTNs,
including hybrid networking approaches. As such, it is the only
LPWAN that can address the requirements of any organization looking
to deploy large-scale, low-power IoT solutions today.”
The roadmap outlines the planned enhancements of several
critical features already incorporated in the LoRaWAN standard:
Expanding Addressable Markets
- Enhances connectivity for NTN LoRaWAN through, for example,
further optimization of the long range–frequency hopping spread
spectrum (LR-FHSS), which enables LoRaWAN to far surpass the
projected network-capacity requirements of massive IoT.
- Make relay enhancements that increase LoRaWAN signals’ reach in
noisy or physically challenging environments to allow sensors to be
deployed anywhere.
- Add fast and low-power network discovery, which offers new
deployment options where coverage is not permanent, like mobile
gateways, allowing walk-by or drive-by applications and adding
significant value for key markets like utilities, where LoRaWAN
dominates in terms of deployment volumes.
Hyperscalability
- Simplify deployments with easier device profile management and
device migration.
- Carry GS1-compliant identifiers, such as RFIDs, barcodes,
electronic product codes (EPC) over LoRaWAN, to enable devices
connected via LoRaWAN to be used for product/asset
identification.
- Facilitate LoRaWAN end-device onboarding by LoRaWAN networks
with automated device profile downloads, which automatically
request the device profiles from online repositories using a
standard API, building on prior work of LoRa Alliance QR code.
Core Network Management
- Strengthen device interoperability by standardizing the
application server and gateway interfaces.
Certification
- Drive customer confidence through the addition of firmware
updates over the air and relay to LoRaWAN certification testing,
allowing end-device manufacturers to validate the performance of
these features.
- Give end users confidence in cross-vendor device
interoperability by adding advanced interoperability testing into
the LoRaWAN certification test suite. This testing will validate
that devices from different manufacturers can effectively exchange
and make use of each other’s information.
Physical/Link Layer Development
- Introduce crypto-agility to LoRaWAN, so the variety of current
and future crypto-suites can be used as add-ons with the LoRaWAN
Link Layer without having to evolve the latter.
As IoT moves from millions to billions of connections, as is
forecast in the next few years, network scalability is a key
consideration that is addressed in the current standard and slated
for future enhancements. Smart metering is one key market where
LoRaWAN has established a market-leading position with the current
specification delivering abundant network capacity to address
market requirements. Recognizing the growth in IoT connections that
will be enabled by satellite and other NTNs, the Alliance developed
LR-FHSS for massive, global LoRaWAN connectivity. As part of its
planned roadmap, the LoRa Alliance will continue to enhance and
expand the standard based on market needs and new use cases.
One example that illustrates LoRaWAN’s existing high-capacity
capability is the ZENNER network, with nearly 7.5 million sensors
running on more than 100,000 gateways in 15 countries to support
energy providers, the housing industry, cities and municipalities,
municipal utilities and industrial operations. As this example
shows, the LoRaWAN standard easily addresses today’s IoT capacity
requirements.
“ZENNER has moved this proven technology to its larger-scale
deployments with water, gas and electric municipalities. In the
United States, ZENNER has already installed systems in seven
communities this year alone. LoRaWAN technology makes an open
standard system easy to install and at a lower cost for our
customers. In addition, utilities can offer a mass number of other
services to their customer base due to this open standard, which
will enrich their customers as well as themselves. ZENNER is
currently testing LoRaWAN satellite communication and how that fits
into our IoT direction. To date it has shown great promise and at a
reasonable cost for our customers. We are seeing an immense amount
of interest in LoRaWAN that will feed the growth of our company on
a global basis. The LoRa Alliance is the organization that has laid
out the plan that got us here and has structured plans that take us
into the future. ZENNER is a proud sponsor of the Alliance and
values its other members. As a company we cannot ask for a better
organization to help us in developing our IoT
strategy.” — Rich Sanders, president, ZENNER USA, and
treasurer, LoRa Alliance Board of Directors
“From its inception, the technical and performance advantages of
LoRaWAN have been embraced by customers needing a comprehensive
solution for deploying and managing large-scale sensor-based
applications. The ongoing innovation represented in the development
roadmap presented by the LoRa Alliance today continues to firmly
establish the technology as a standout choice for a growing number
of use cases, including those requiring enhanced or expanded
connectivity delivered by relays, mobile gateways and
non-terrestrial networks. For Netmore and our global customers,
these advantages translate to leadership positions in service
optimization, cost savings, regulatory compliance and resource
conservation. This is most evident in the utility and energy
sectors, where metering and infrastructure monitoring solutions are
rapidly scaling, network deployment times and costs are being
reduced, and compliance and ROI are being achieved faster—all while
contributing positively to the planet. Netmore is a strong
supporter of the LoRa Alliance and the LoRaWAN ecosystem. With
LoRaWAN, Netmore is not just leading, we’re defining the market.
And with our unwavering focus on sustainability and environmental
stewardship, we’re not just a network operator, but a proud
catalyst for a greener, more sustainable world.” — Ove
Anebygd, CEO, Netmore Group AB, and LoRa Alliance Board Member
“It is tremendously validating to look at the future of the
LoRaWAN standard and know that we are building from an
exceptionally broad and solid foundation,” continued Moore. “Time
after time, our members share their real-world deployments that are
successfully using LoRaWAN at scale to improve the well-being of
people and the planet while running profitable enterprises. This
truly exemplifies the strength, breadth and depth of the LoRaWAN
standard today and the unlimited potential of LoRaWAN as we
continue to evolve and enhance its features.”
About LoRaWAN Live Munich
On June 19 & 20, the LoRa Alliance will return to Germany
for LoRaWAN Live in Munich. The program is ideal for anyone
interested in or working with LoRaWAN. As the official LoRaWAN
event of the year, LoRaWAN Live offers a unique opportunity to
share insights, experiences and visions with a vibrant and engaged
ecosystem from multiple industries across the globe. The event will
feature an agenda filled with technical sessions, a products and
solutions marketplace, mainstage keynotes and VIP speakers, live
demonstrations focusing on various use cases and markets, and
plenty of opportunities for networking and business meetings.
Learn more and register here.
Editors and analysts interested in attending LoRaWAN Live Munich
can contact the Alliance at lora-alliance@kiterocket.com to make
arrangements.
About LoRa Alliance®The LoRa
Alliance® is an open, nonprofit association that has become one of
the largest and fastest-growing alliances in the technology sector
since its inception in 2015. Its members closely collaborate and
share expertise to develop and promote the LoRaWAN® standard, which
is the de facto global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWAN
connectivity. LoRaWAN has the technical flexibility to address a
broad range of IoT applications, both fixed and mobile, and a
robust LoRaWAN Certification program to guarantee that devices
perform as specified. The LoRaWAN standard has been deployed by
more than 170 major mobile network operators globally, with
connectivity available worldwide. More information:
lora-alliance.org
LoRa Alliance®, LoRaWAN® and LoRaWAN CertifiedCM are licensed
marks.
MEDIA CONTACT:KiterocketStephanie Quinn, LoRa
Alliance PR, +1 480 316 8370, squinn@kiterocket.com
An infographic accompanying this announcement is available
at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/90ddf45a-8f5e-4ecb-b3c9-e004f8440056