Internet of Things (IoT) – LoRaWAN w praktyce

Internet of Things (IoT) is an IT concept consisting in connecting material objects both together and to the internet. This term is complicated to define. Most people associate this term with smartphones or computers, but the world of IoT is definitely wider. IoT was used for the first time in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, who is an expert in technical solutions, but it took more than a decade for people to take this idea seriously. Currently, almost all of the elements surrounding us can be equipped with a chip that allows them to connect to the Internet. The idea of the IoT is that it should encompass all the items that can be connected to the global network. This article firstly discusses issues related to the low-power wide-area LoRaWAN network, which was created for the needs of communication with IoT. Next, the network architecture and its characteristic features are described, followed by a list of available transmission channels for individual regions and description of components of expressions allowing to select the transmission parameters for the application requirements. Next, the article describes practical implementation of IoT with the use of LoRaWAN standard on the example of a system for archiving impulse readings from gas meter index of a bellows gas meter. Finally, this article describes the construction of the device and the principle of its operation. Most importantly, the results of the test aimed at checking the correctness of data transmission from the pulse transmitter to the network server, proving the correct operation of the system, were given in this article. This article also presents an example of the implementation for the module built aimed at the optimization of gas consumption. The results of checking the maximum range of the system built were also given. This correctness of data transmission at a distance of 690 meters in urban areas and 915 meters in the area with single-family houses was found.