Internet of Things


Geolocation everywhere M


By Marc Pegulu, vice president of IoT product marketing and strategy for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group


arket fragmentation is a significant issue affecting the roll out of billions of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Different


connectivity solutions lead to multiple systems with increasing levels of complexity, driving up costs for an enterprise rolling out large, complex global networks. These networks may be fixed but increasingly incorporate mobile elements, whether around the factory, through the warehouse, on the road or at sea. The development of a single chip that supports the use of Semtech’s LoRa devices on the unlicensed sub-GHz and global 2.4GHz bands as well as the satellite S-Band can dramatically simplify the development and global deployment of LoRa Edge devices that use geolocation.


This geolocation capability enables a wide range of asset management applications in which a low power, cost effective tracking device can relay its location to a Cloud service quickly and efficiently.


Like its predecessor, the latest LoRa Edge LR1120 device has the ability to scan radio packets in the 2.4GHz band, such as Wi-Fi, and can access global navigation satellite service (GNSS) signals between 1.9GHz and 2.2GHz. The data is transmitted to the Cloud via a low power, wide area network gateway using LoRa in the unlicensed sub-GHz bands. LoRa devices are designed for low power operation, allowing trackers to operate with extended battery life.


By definition, geolocation needs to work worldwide, especially in tracking shipments of goods and containers from Asia to Europe and the US. The current parts are utilised by many LoRaWAN network operators to track equipment, feeding the data to global databases to provide real time information and actionable insights that help to optimise the global supply chain performance. However, these bands are


38 March 2023 Components in Electronics www.cieonline.co.uk


different in the US, Europe and China, which presents challenges. Additionally, there may not be a local network gateway using LoRa available for the connection.


By extending the connectivity of this single chip to use the 2GHz and 2.4GHz bands, coupled with cloud native connections, operators can significantly expand their geolocation capabilities.


Now, a tracker unit can sniff the local radio environment to determine its location and transmit data directly to a satellite circling the globe in low earth orbit. Multiple operators are launching satellite networks that support LoRa devices using the S-band, and the latest


firmware in the chip supporting the new protocols allows these trackers to directly connect to those satellites anywhere in the world.


This can dramatically simplify geolocation platform rollout at the edge of the network. A single tracker design can be used worldwide, simplifying network stocking and management. Automatic on-boarding into the network is key when there may be hundreds of thousands of trackers used throughout the supply chain. The tracker sends the basic data to the cloud, which performs data calculations. This ensures the tracker uses minimal energy to provide the longest possible battery life and a


‘fit and forget’ approach and delivers tracker locations to a dashboard accessible anywhere in the world.


Adding 2GHz and 2.4GHz capability expands IoT opportunities. The current sub- GHz band in Europe cap available time to send data in order to avoid one user dominating the band. Adding 2.4GHz capability provides higher bandwidth for different types of sensor data, although with a shorter range that the 868MHz and 915MHz and 920MHz sub-GHz versions offer. Multi-band gateways will now support both sub-GHz for connections over distances of many kilometres as well as 2.4GHz links for higher bandwidth and


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