Glossary
A
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| ABP | Activation By Personalization |
| ADR | Adaptive Data Rate |
| ALOHA | Random access protocol. LoRAWAN networks use an ALOHA based protocol so end devices do not need to peer with specific gateways. |
| AppEUI | Application Extended Unique Identifier |
| AppKey | Application Key |
| Application servers | Software responsible for securely processing application data |
| AppSKey | Application Session Key |
| AS | Application Server |
B
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| BW | Bandwidth |
C
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access |
| CHIRP | Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse |
| CID | Command IDentifier (MAC Command) |
| CR | Coding Rate |
| CRC | Cyclic Redundancy Checks are used to protect against errors in transmissions |
| CRC | Check Redundancy Cycle |
D
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Datagram | A connectionless protocol. It doesn’t guarantee delivery. “A self-contained, independent entity of data carrying sufficient information to be routed from the source to the destination computer without reliance on earlier exchanges between this source and destination computer and the transporting network.” |
| DevAddr | Device Address |
| DevEUI | Device Extended Unique Identifier |
| Downlink | Transmission from Gateways to Sensors |
| Downlink messages | Messages sent from devices higher up in the hierarchy (Mesh Gateways and Border Gateways) to End Devices; SWARM satellites do not send downlink messages to Border Gateways |
E
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| End Device | Sensors that send LoRa modulated wireless messages to gateways and receive messages wirelessly back from gateways |
F
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| FDM | Frequency Division Multiplexing |
| FFT | Fast Fourier Transform |
G
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Gateways | Receive messages from end devices and forwards the messages to the Network Server using a backhaul service such as 4G/Ethernet/Satellite. Messages sent from End Devices hop through all Gateways within range |
| GDPR | General Data Protection Regulations |
H
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| HSM | Hardware Security Module |
| HTTP | HyperText Transfer Protocol |
I
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| IoT | Internet of Things |
| ISM radio band | Industrial, Scientific, Medical. A license-free radio spectrum limited to certain bands of frequencies. These frequencies must tolerate interference generated by ISM applications. |
J
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Join Server | Software that processes join-request messages sent by End Devices |
| JoinEUI | Join Extended Unique Identifier |
| JS | Join Server |
| JSON | JavaScript Object Notation |
K
L
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| LoRa | Long Range Device to Cloud platform from Semtech. LoRa is a wireless modulation technique derived from Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) technology. It encodes information on radio waves using chirp pulses - similar to the way dolphins and bats communicate! LoRa modulated transmission is robust against disturbances and can be received across great distances. See this video for a detailed description. |
| LoRaWAN | Long Range Wide Area Network. LoRaWAN is a Media Access Control (MAC) layer protocol built on top of LoRa modulation. It is a software layer which defines how devices use the LoRa hardware, for example when they transmit, and the format of messages. |
| LPWAN | Low Power Wide Area Network |
| LTE-M | Long Term Evolution Cat M1 |
M
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| MIC | Message Integrity Code |
| MIC | Message Integrity Control |
| MQTT | OASIS standard messaging protocol for IoT. It is a M2M/”Internet of Things” connectivity protocol. It is a lightweight publish/subscribe messaging protocol designed for M2M telemetry in low-bandwidth environments. mqtt.org. |
| MQTT | Message Queuing Telemetry Transport |
N
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| NB-IoT | NarrowBand Internet of Things |
| Network Server | Software that manages the entire network. If the Network Server receives multiple copies of the same message, it keeps a single copy of the message and discards the others (message deduplication). |
| NS | Network Server |
| NwkSKey | Network Session Key |
O
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| OTAA | Over The Air Activation |
| QoS | Quality of Service |
| RSSI | Received Signal Strength Indication |
P
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Packets | According to the ISO model, packets are data units within the Network Layer. It includes the source and destination IP addresses, as well as other information. Packets are, essentially, a connection-oriented protocol. It eEnsures each single packet is not dropped or compromised. It is considered reliable communication. An ACK packet is usually sent as a reply. If no ACK packet is received, the packet is simply resent. |
Q, R
S
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| SDR | Software Digital Radio |
| SE | Secure Element |
| SF | Spreading Factor |
| SNR | Signal over Noise Ratio |
| Supercapacitor | A high capacity capacitor that can accept and deliver charges faster than batteries and tolerates many more charge and discharge cycles than rechargeable batteries. It provides a large amount of power for a relatively short time. It is best suited for applications where a very high number of charge/discharge cycles or longer lifetime is required. They also have low risk of spark hazard. (Wikipedia). |
T
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| TDM | Time Division Multiplexing |
| TDOA | Time Distance of Arrival |
| TOA | Time of Arrival. Used to perform geopositioning. |
| ToA | Time-on-Air. Compared to a lower spreading factor, sending a fixed amount of data (payload) with a higher Spreading Factor and a fixed bandwidth needs longer time-on-air. See LoRaWAN LR-FHSS Time-on-Air (ToA) |
| TTI | The Things Industries |
| TTN | The Things Network |
| TTS | The Things Stack |
U
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Uplink Messages | Transmissions sent by end-devices to the Network Server relayed by one or many gateways. Only Border Gateways send Red Alert messages to SWARM satellites. |
V
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) | Organic chemical compounds that evaporate easily at room temperature. They vaporize into air and dissolve in water. Organic compounds are chemicals that contain carbon and are found in all living things, especially trees. VOCs are also emitted from oil and gas fields and diesel exhaust. From the US EPA: “Any compound of carbon, excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,” and related chemicals. |