Running cable to a tank farm, pipeline valve or remote well can cost more than the instrument itself. Low power radio links let battery sensors report across kilometres for years, with one gateway covering a whole site.
Many industrial measurements change slowly and sit far from control rooms. A low power wide area network moves small readings over long distances while batteries last for years.
What Is LoRaWAN?
LoRaWAN is a low power wide area network protocol that uses LoRa chirp spread spectrum radio to send small data packets over several kilometres from battery powered devices to gateways, which forward them to a network server. It fills the gap between short range WirelessHART meshes and cellular links.
Advantech notes that one LoRaWAN gateway can cover a whole city, or hundreds of square kilometres in open rural areas. Sensors can run for years without maintenance.
LoRa is the radio modulation, while LoRaWAN is the network protocol on top that handles addressing, security and data rates. The LoRa Alliance maintains the specification.
The data usually ends up in cloud or edge platforms through MQTT or similar interfaces.
How a LoRaWAN Network Is Built
LoRaWAN uses a star of stars topology, where devices talk to all gateways in range and the network server keeps one copy. No mesh routing is needed, which saves battery.
This architecture differs from classic polling, as compared in SCADA vs IIoT. Control actions stay in PLCs, while LoRaWAN carries monitoring data.
7 Smart LoRaWAN Facts
In India, LoRaWAN uses the 865 to 867 MHz licence free band under the IN865 regional plan. Europe uses EU868 and the United States uses US915.
Over the air activation, called OTAA, is preferred because it creates fresh session keys at every join.
Device Classes
Uplink followed by two short receive windows.
Adds scheduled receive slots with beacons.
Receiver almost always on.
Most industrial LoRaWAN sensors use Class A, sending a reading every few minutes and sleeping in between. Downlinks to Class A devices wait until the next uplink.
Wireless transmitters for pressure and temperature, described in wireless pressure transmitters, often offer LoRaWAN versions.
Industrial LoRaWAN Applications
The LoRa Alliance oil and gas paper describes a Chevron deployment with 30 gateways and 3000 devices. It also cites battery life of more than 10 years for suitable sensors.
Condition monitoring fits well with predictive maintenance, where a reading every 10 minutes is plenty.
Battery Life Formula
Life in years = Capacity ÷ Average current ÷ 8760
Example:
Sleep 5 µA, transmit 45 mA for 0.4 s, 96 messages per day
Average = 0.005 + 45 × 0.4 × 96 ÷ 86400 = 0.025 mA
3600 mAh cell ÷ 0.025 mA ≈ 144000 h ≈ 16 years before derating
Real LoRaWAN battery life is lower because of sensor power, self discharge and cold temperatures. Apply a derating of 30 to 50 percent for planning.
Battery Life Calculator
In LoRaWAN, higher spreading factors lengthen transmit time and shorten battery life. Good gateway placement keeps devices at fast data rates.
- Very long range.
- Years of battery life.
- Low cost licence free spectrum.
- Easy to add sensors.
- Low data rate.
- Not for fast control loops.
- Duty cycle limits on air time.
- Downlinks are slow for Class A.
Battery sizing principles are similar to battery backup time calculations, just at microamp levels.
LoRa Alliance Oil and Gas PDF
LoRaWAN for Industrial IoT Video
LoRaWAN FAQ
Related Articles
- Wireless Pressure Transmitters for IIoT
- MQTT for Industrial IoT
- SCADA vs IIoT
- WirelessHART Questions and Answers
- Types of Communication Protocols
External References
What We Learn Today
- LoRaWAN links battery sensors to gateways over kilometres.
- Class A devices, adaptive data rate and duty cycles save power.
- Use it for monitoring, not fast control loops.