Lora Gateway range?



  • Hi total newbie so please excuse stupid questions.

    I have a small computer with text files on it (getchip.com)

    I'd like to be able to get those text files a mile away (or better) on my mobile phone.

    Can I connect a LoPy to my small computer somehow and set it as a gateway to 'read' those text files and send it over LoRa

    Then I take another LoPy and connect to it via bluetooth and read those text files?

    What's the maximum data rate I could get over a mile?

    If this is possible what should I be googling?



  • C.H.I.P. (getchip.com) is a small computer running Linux. It has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

    LoPy is a micro-computer that runs run Python programs (using a mostly hidden real-time operating system). It has built-in Bluetooth (with basic support so far), Wi-Fi and a LoRa radio.

    To communicate with a mobile phone (which has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) you have many options, including:

    C.H.I.P -- Wi-Fi --> LoPy -- LoRa --> LoPy -- Wi-Fi --> phone
    C.H.I.P -- Wi-Fi --> LoPy -- LoRa --> LoPy -- Bluetooth --> phone
    C.H.I.P -- Bluetooth --> LoPy -- LoRa --> LoPy -- Bluetooth --> phone
    C.H.I.P -- wired SPI --> LoPy -- LoRa --> LoPy -- Bluetooth --> phone
    C.H.I.P -- USB --> LoPy -- LoRa --> LoPy -- Bluetooth --> phone
    etc...

    The first option may be the simplest to implement today.



  • Hi @sam_uk, the LoPy (and all Pycom modules so far) run FreeRTOS, which has a tiny memory footprint. Is also the Espressif's officially supported OS, but please understand that is an RTOS and not a fully blown OS. Perhaps another route can be taken to implement the protocol.



  • On top on LoRa physical layer you can implement whatever protocol you want if you do not want to use a LoRaWAN network. However consider the legal regulations, e.g. in Europe on 868MHz you are not allowed to exceed the 1% transmit duty ratio.



  • @sam_uk So the Lopy is running a linux kernel? Is it possible to use alternate kernels? Eg one with Batman-adv built in?



  • @vruizvil

    How about getting this running?

    Layer 1 LoRa

    Layer 2 Ax25

    Layer 3 Mesh Datagram Protocol (Network) layer, and may be carried over any wireless or wired data link, whether over a shared medium (eg, CSMA/CA used in Wi-Fi) or a dedicated medium (eg, AX.25 packet radio, serial cable).

    MDP is written in C I think though, unclear if that can run on Micropython devices?



  • @sam_uk Well, your aproach must be possible with lopy!! I believe in the Pycom team, they'll help us with news uppgrades and libraries, i'm sure.



  • @sam_uk I think... mesh network is inside the IP level, to solve the mobility problem on wireless systems. I don't know if Lora has a full OSI network level



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