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Glossary

A

Term Description
ALOHA Random access protocol. LoRaWAN networks use an ALOHA based protocol so end devices do not need to peer with specific gateways.

B

Term Description
Border Gateway Receives message from Mesh Gateways and Silvanet Wildfire sensors using LoRaWAN and forwards them using one of three services - LTE-M, Ethernet or SWARM satellite.

C

Term Description
Chirp LoRA is based on Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) where a CHIRP (Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse) is a type of signal that is the carrier of data. Chirps have two types of signals: up-chirp and down-chirp. An up-chirp increases in frequency while a down-chirp decreases in frequency.

D

Term Description
Datagram A connectionless protocol that doesn’t guarantee delivery. It is 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 messages Messages sent from Gateways to devices lower down in the hierarchy; for example, messages sent from the Silvanet Cloud to Border Gateways, Border Gateways to Mesh Gateways or Mesh Gateways to sensors are downlink messages. SWARM satellites do not send downlink messages to Border Gateways.

E

Term Description
End device In Silvanet, it is a sensor that sends LoRa-modulated wireless messages to Gateways (Border or Mesh) and receives messages from Gateways.

F

Term Description
FUOTA Firmware Update Over the Air. LoRa allows sensor firmware to be updated over the Mesh Network.

G, H

Term Description
Gateway, Mesh Mesh Gateway: Receives messages from sensors and forwards the messages to the Border Gateway using a LoRaWAN mesh network. Messages sent from sensors hop through all Mesh Gateways within range.
Gateway, Border Border Gateway: Receives message from Mesh Gateways and Silvanet Wildfire sensors using LoRaWAN and forwards them using one of three services - LTE-M, Ethernet or SWARM satellite.

I

Term Description
IoT Internet of Things. Silvanet devices are IoT devices.
ISM radio band Industrial, Scientific, Medical. A license-free radio spectrum limited to certain bands of frequencies. These frequencies must tolerate interference generated by other devices using the same ISM radio frequencies.

J, K

L

Term Description
LoRa LoRA is a wireless modulation technique at the PHY layer based on Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) where a CHIRP (Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse) is a signal that carries data.
LoRaWAN LoRaWAN is built on top of LoRa in the MAC layer. It defines how devices use the LoRa hardware such as when the devices can transmit and receive messages as well as the format of the messages.
LTE-M Radios in Silvanet Border Gateways use LTE-M which is a type of 4G cellular network. It is designed for IoT devices to connect to mobile networks. Dryad Border Gateways use Cat M1 version. It is designed to allow IoT devices to go into Power Saving Mode to reduce energy consumption. It also allows FUOTA without draining the supercapacitors in the Border Gateway.

M

Term Description
Mesh Gateway Receives messages from sensors and forwards the messages to the Border Gateway using a LoRaWAN mesh network. Messages sent from sensors hop through all Mesh Gateways within range.
Mesh network A LAN topology in which nodes can connect directly in a non-hierarchical way to as many other nodes as possible to find the most efficient route to end nodes. Silvanet implements mesh networking.
ML Model A ML (machine learning) model is a program that has been trained to recognize certain types of patterns.
MQTT Client Server publish/subscribe messaging transport protocol used by third-parties to communicate with a Silvanet Network.

N

Term Description
Network Server Software that manages the entire network. In the Silvanet System, the Network Server is the Silvanet Cloud. If It receives multiple copies of the same message, it keeps a single copy of the message and discards the others (preventing message duplication).

O

Term Description
OTAA Over The Air Activation. FUOTA (Firmware Update Over the Air) uses OTAA to update sensor firmware.

P

Term Description
Packets, data (ISO model) 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 ensures 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.
Packets, Silvanet Created in the Site Management app and assigned to users for deploying devices in a Site.
PoE Power over Ethernet. The Border Gateway requires a PoE Injector (Adapter) that provides an input voltage range of between 36V and 57V. The PoE must be IEEE 802.3af compliant.

Q, R

S

Term Description
Supercapacitor A supercapacitor is a high capacity capacitor that can accept and deliver charges faster than batteries and tolerates many more charge and discharge cycles than rechargeable batteries.

T

U

Term Description
Uplink Messages Transmissions sent by end-devices to the Network Server relayed by one or many gateways. SWARM satellites only receive Phase 2 Alerts messages from Border Gateways.

V

Term Description
VOC A VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) is an organic chemical compound that evaporates easily at room temperature. VOCs are compounds that have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility. The gas sensor in the Silvanet Sensor detects VOCs.

W, X, Y, Z

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