September 19, 2023 — A groundbreaking collaboration between LPWAN industry leaders and LoRa Alliance® members Semtech, Actility, Arad, and Deviceroy has the world’s first commercial implementation and successful end-to-end interoperability test for the innovative relay feature utilizing LoRaWAN connectivity. This cutting-edge advancement enables LoRaWAN packets from remote, isolated or hard to reach devices to be relayed by battery-operated relay nodes. This coverage extension is provided through a low-cost solution further lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the LoRaWAN deployment. The relay feature promises to be a game changer for LoRaWAN-based use cases such as water, gas, and electricity metering, where stringent service level agreements demand cost efficient and unparalleled coverage for all devices within a geographical footprint.
The LoRa Alliance is an open, non-profit association with the mission to support and promote the global adoption of the LoRaWAN standard. Members collaborate in a vibrant ecosystem of device makers, solution providers, system integrators and network operators, delivering the interoperability needed to scale IoT across the globe, using public, private, and hybrid networks. Crucially, the relay feature utilizing LoRaWAN is defined by the LoRa Alliance as an integral part of the LoRaWAN standard. This innovation aligns with the LoRa Alliance’s commitment to advance and standardize LoRaWAN-based technology to meet the evolving needs of the IoT landscape.
Semtech, a pioneering force in LoRa technology, has seamlessly integrated the relay feature for both end-devices and relay nodes into their latest LoRa Basics™ Modem v4 stack. This integration fortifies the potential of LoRaWAN to provide low cost, exceptional coverage and connectivity across various applications.
Actility, a trailblazer in IoT connectivity solutions, has integrated the relay feature utilizing LoRaWAN into its renowned ThingPark™ Wireless and ThingPark™ Enterprise network platforms in Release 7.3. This inclusion is also available in the free-to-use Community edition of ThingPark™, which can be immediately used by developers to test their relay implementations utilizing LoRaWAN. To learn more, visit actility.com/relay.
Deviceroy, a key player in the IoT device industry, plays a pivotal role with Aria Relay, serving as a powerful range extender for LoRaWAN. Aria Relay ensures bidirectional connectivity, enabling data between remote or isolated devices and their destinations to flow reliably, significantly expanding network coverage. To learn more about the Aria Relay, visit deviceroy.com/relay.
The three vendors – Semtech, Actility, and Deviceroy – have successfully completed interoperability testing and achieved reliable end-to-end bidirectional communication with devices that can connect only through a LoRaWAN-based relay. This achievement underscores the reliability and seamlessness of the relay feature in real-world scenarios.
Arad, a visionary in water metering solutions, is poised to deploy the relay feature utilizing LoRaWAN within its water meter networks. This implementation has the potential to revolutionize utility management, offering unparalleled connectivity in even the most challenging environments.
The introduction of the relay feature utilizing LoRaWAN signals a new era in IoT connectivity, reshaping the possibilities for a more connected future across industries by enabling customers to add battery-operated, easy-to-deploy relay nodes that act as network extenders. These relay nodes can be placed in remote locations or in areas where signal strength is weak due to extreme distances or circumstances, effectively extending the range of existing gateway(s) and networks using LoRaWAN connectivity.
