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LoRa Basics™ Modems: Walk-through
LoRa Cloud™ Services¶
To begin, go to the LoRa Cloud™ portal and register for an account.
LoRa Cloud Join Server¶
The LoRa Cloud Join Server service allows you to claim pre-provisioned LoRa Edge™ devices. If you want to move your devices to another join server after they have been claimed, you can extract the AppKey or re-key the end node.
Warning
All Semtech modem modules come with default keys registered on the join server. However, Semtech’s LoRa Basics™ for end nodes devices cannot be used with the LoRa Cloud Join Server service. If you are using a modem based on LoRa Basics for end nodes, you can skip this chapter.
Create an Application Owner and Use the Free Allowance¶
To begin, create an application owner. By creating different application owners, you can segregate permissions and parameters for groups of devices. To create an application owner, go to the LoRa Cloud Join Server Application Owner page and take the following steps:
Click NETWORK SERVERS.
Enter a name for the application owner.
Click CREATE A NEW OWNER.
Under Free Allowance, click ASSIGN.
In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.
Video walk-through: Creating an Application Owner
Note
The free allowance lets you claim up to 100 devices a year at no charge.
Using LoRa Cloud Join Server¶
There are two ways to use the LoRa Cloud Join Server service, depending on whether or not your LoRaWAN® network server is in the list of recognized network servers.
Figure 1: Network Servers Compatible with LoRa Cloud Join Server
If your network server is listed, it is linked to the LoRa Cloud Join Server. In this case, all you need to do is claim the device and the keys will be securely exchanged between the network server and the join server.
If your network server is not listed, there is no connection between the LoRa Cloud Join Server and the network server. You will need to claim the modem and then export the AppKey from the join server to be able to register the device with your network server. In this case, because there is no communication between the network server and the join server, the key exchange is only between the network server and the device.
Figure 2: LoRa Cloud Join Server Scenarios
Note
The JoinEUI is used to route join requests to the LoRa Cloud Join Server server.
Over-the-Air Activation with LoRa Cloud Join Server¶
By default the Join Server will refuse to process all join requests from any network server,
so to allow this option, go to Application Owner Bindings
tab then select Accept all join requests from any Network Server (not recommended)
and click on the SAVE BINDINGS button.
Figure 3: LoRa Cloud Join Server - NS Bindings
Note
The option to allow all LoRaWAN network servers is only for development purposes.
In production, network servers should be selected using the option
Accept join requests only from the list of Network Servers specified below.
Now, when joining a device to a network using Over-the-Air Activation (OTAA), you need only to claim the device.
Claiming a Device¶
Claiming a device is the process of proving to the join server that the claimant owns the device. This process relies on a unique code derived from internal data, called a PIN.
To claim a device, you must get the DevEUI, ChipEUI, JoinEUI and PIN from the modem (see your modem page), and then see the the LoRa Cloud Device Join page on the LoRa Cloud portal.
Click CLAIM INDIVIDUAL DEVICE.
In the EUI field, enter the DevEUI.
In the PIN field, enter the PIN.
Click CLAIM DEVICE.
Video walk-through: Claiming a device
Note
The ChipEUI and JoinEUI are only required if the DevEUI or the JoinEUI have been changed.
Exporting the AppKey¶
Once you have claimed the device follow these steps to export device’s AppKey:
Figure 4: LoRa Cloud Join Server Export *AppKey*
Check the devices you want to export.
Click EXPORT DEVICE KEYS to download the CSV file.
Note
The line separator used in the CSV file is \n (Linux format).
LoRa Cloud™ Modem & Geolocation Services¶
The LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services provide a full set of lifecycle management features for LoRa® devices operating on a LoRaWAN network. These features include but are not limited to:
Comprehensive device telemetry
Device and application configuration
Clock synchronization
Advanced data transport services with robustness against packet loss and transparent data fragmentation (buffer streaming and file upload).
Geolocation
The purpose of these services is to dramatically simplify the process of developing managed endpoint solutions and to make LoRa devices more accessible to application developers.
All LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services frames are sent at the application level. This means that the LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services server does not need to know the device’s security keys because your application server will forward decrypted data.
Tokens¶
A token is required for the application server to authenticate calls to the LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services server. To create a token, you first need to create an owner. You only need to do this once. After an owner is created, you can start adding tokens or use the auto-generated tokens:
Video walk-through: Creating a token
Go to the DEVICE OWNERS page.
Click CREATE NEW OWNER.
Give the owner a name.
Click SUBMIT.
Go to the MANAGE TOKENS page to use them.
LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services URL¶
The LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services URL depends on the region in which the device will be deployed. The API URL is displayed at the top of the Manage Tokens page on the LoRa Cloud portal:
Figure 4: LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services URL¶
Device Registration¶
When data is received from a device, it is automatically registered with the LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services server. This means that the device does not need to be registered beforehand.