Aim
LoRaWAN gateway's main purpose is to forward the LoRaWAN packets emitted by end-devices and received by the gateway to a LoRaWAN Network Server (LNS) and vice-versa.
The packet forwarder is the program running on a LoRa gateway that allow this feature. It is then the bridge between the LoRa technology and the IP technology. This is the main program of a LoRa gateway.
On Wirnet™ iSeries, the packet forwarder is composed on two main programs: lorad and a forwarder
lorad is responsible for the LoRa hardware. Its main purpose is to provide an abstraction of the LoRa chipsets to other processes. It initializes the hardware, configures it (channel frequencies, LBT, diversity, …), and uses it to send/receive LoRa packets or to achieve frequency scans.
The forwarder can be either:
- BasicStation that implements the LoRa Basics™ Station protocol
- lorafwd that implements GWMP protocol (a.k.a the Semtech UDP Packet Forwarder)
- any other forwarder may go on top of lorad
Lorad configuration
lorad is running by default with its configuration file /etc/lorad/lorad.json.
The file allows to configure:
- the frequency plan
- the antenna gain and insertion loss
- the beacon configuration (for Class B cases)
Frequency plan
Kerlink provides lorad configuration file examples to ease channel plan configuration of your gateway.
These files respect the LoRaWAN Regional parameters provided by the LoRa Alliance.
They are available in /usr/share/lorad/frequency_plans/sx130x directory.
On Wirnet™ iBTS, the directory is /usr/share/lorad/frequency_plans/sx1301ar
Available conffiles are:
| Frequency plan | Country | LBT enabled | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS923-1-JP.json | Japan | Yes | |
| AS923-1.json | Asia-1 | No | |
| AS923-2.json | Indonesia, Vietnam | No | |
| AS923-3.json | Asia-3 | No | |
| AS923-4.json | Israel | No | |
| AU915-CB01.json | Australia | No | Australia Channel Blocks 0 matches to the channels 0 to 7 |
| AU915_64CH.json | Australia | No | Applicable only on Wirnet™ iBTS Highway (not supported yet) |
| EU868.json | Europe | No | |
| EU868_2x8CH.json | Europe | No | Applicable only on Wirnet™ iBTS (not supported yet) |
| IN865.json | India | No | |
| KR920.json | Korea | Yes | |
| RU864.json | Russia | No | |
| US915-CB01.json | United States | No | US Channel Blocks 0 matches to the channels 0 to 7 |
| US915_64CH.json | United States | No | Applicable only on Wirnet™ iBTS Highway (not supported yet) |
| f868.json | No | It is the default file used if the hardware radio of your gateway is 868 MHz. It links to EU868.json | |
| f915.json | No | It is the default file used if the hardware radio of your gateway is 915 MHz. It links to US915-CB01.json | |
| f923.json | No | It is the default file used if the hardware radio of your gateway is 923 MHz. It links to AS923-1.json |
Calibration and antenna gain
Frequency plan configuration files are incomplete as is to fully configure lorad. It needs the calibration part to be valid.
They are available in /usr/share/lorad/boards
In order to choose the correct file according to your gateway, you must know the codename and the hardware region of your gateway
How to know the codename
The codename is a 4-characters word and is a part of the hostname: klk-<codename>-xxxxxx
You can retrieve the codename according to your gateway on this page
Using terminal, you can do the following command:
env | grep CODENAME
How to know the hardware region
The hardware region is one of the 3 declinations in which you bought your gateway. Depending on the gateway is a 868, 915 or 923 MHz, the hardware region is "f868", "f915", "f923".
Using terminal, you can do the following command:
env | grep HWRADIO
Create your valid configuration file
You can use a frequency plan among those suggested as examples or create your own. In order to apply it, you need to do the following command:
sudo conflex -ajo /etc/lorad/lorad.json <freq_plan.json> <calibration.json>
This command will merge the frequency plan and the calibration into a valid configuration file, called lorad.json.
On Wirnet™ iBTS, the command is slightly different than on other gateways.
Please use:sudo conflex -azo /etc/lorad/lorad.json <freq_plan.json> <calibration.json>
Activation
Every time you need to apply your modification, do the command:
sudo systemctl restart lorad
Troubleshooting
Logs of lorad are available with the command
sudo journalctl -fu lorad
You can activate debug logs using following commands
sudo sed -i "s:info:debug:g" /usr/lib/systemd/system/lorad.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart lorad