LoRa Basics Modem and LoRa Edge documentation

Overview - LoRa Edge™ Asset Management Platform

Introduction

The LoRa Edge™ Asset Management Platform is an innovative software and hardware solution designed to enable cost-effective and energy-efficient asset tracking and management solutions. Given the versatile and configurable components that make up the system, the platform is capable of addressing a variety of use cases.

Background

The basic components of the LoRa Edge Asset Management Platform are illustrated below. They include:

Some of these components are supplied by Semtech, some are supplied by the LoRaWAN ecosystem, and the remaining are custom-made, application-specific, components.

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Prerequisites / Dependencies

Common:

To take advantage of the capabilities offered by the LoRa Edge Asset Management Platform, an LR1110 radio transceiver is required. Additionally, the system must implement a bi-directional data path to Semtech’s LoRa Cloud Modem & Geolocation Services.

Prerequisites for LoRa Basics™ Modem:

The LR1110 chip is required for using the capabilities of this platform with Semtech’s modem firmware implementation operating on a third-party microcontroller unit (MCU). Portions of the LoRa Basics Modem can be extracted and used with custom physical and network layer specifications.

Prerequisites for LoRa Basics™ Modem-E:

In addition to needing the LR1110 chip, LoRa Basics Modem-E requires a fully-functional LoRaWAN network to operate. This includes both uplink and downlink data availability.

Example Use Cases

The following use cases explain how the features of the LoRa Edge Platform can be efficiently used to achieve various business goals:

Side Effects

The LoRa Edge Asset Management Platform has been designed to effectively handle the majority of asset tracking and management use cases. However, special circumstances may require deviations from the recommendations on these pages. The side effects of deviating from these recommendations should be discussed with Semtech’s Field Application Engineers to gather a full understanding before implementation.

Support

The LoRa Edge Platform is a multifaceted technical solution that provides the fundamental capabilities necessary for implementing an asset management solution. Although these pages document many of the details and best-practices that will lead to success, problems may still arise.

You can find a wealth of information and documents to help you solve any problems you encounter at both www.semtech.com and on the LoRa Developers Portal. Additionally, Semtech maintains a Developer’s Forum at https://lora-developers.semtech.com/knowledge-base/forum/. In the Forum, you can find community support for technical questions.

If none of these methods are sufficient for resolving a technical issue, Semtech may be able to provide direct support. To request direct support, submit a support request to https://semtech.force.com/ldp/ldp_support.