lora.stats(), ACK packet

[justin]

Hello, I am using the LoRa mode of FiPy+Pysense. I would like to ask if the lora.stats() would also record the ACK packets.

In the manual, it said
lora.stats()
Return a named tuple with useful information from the last received LoRa or LoRaWAN packet. The named tuple has the following form:
(rx_timestamp, rssi, snr, sftx, sfrx, tx_trials, tx_power, tx_time_on_air, tx_counter, tx_frequency)

I wondered if downlink ACK is also treated as a received packet. What I would really like to do is to get the timestamp and rssi/snr of the received downlink ACK packets.

Any thoughts are welcome. Many thanks.

[justin]

@jcaron Many thanks for the detailed explanation. Very helpful.

[jcaron]

@justin An ACK is not a special kind of packet, it's just a regular downlink which contains the relevant info, so it will be included in lora.stats. Note that some of the data returned by lora.stats is related to the last received packet, while some is related to the last sent packet. Some of the data is actually non-functional.

Note also that LoRa packets do not have ACKs, and LoRaWAN packets only have ACKs if you sent them as confirmed.

And finally, remember that in some regions, regulatory limits often mean you can't send all packets as confirmed packets as this make the gateway exceed duty cycle limitations or the like. There may also be network-level limits for the same reason (see TTN fair use policy for instance).