What is the Things Network
The Things Network originated in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2015.
The idea was to create a crowd funded Internet of Things network, that was open to the public.
The network uses LoraWAN spread spectrum wireless technology to enable data from environmental sensors, to get onto the Internet.
The network has quickly expanded through crowd funding and volunteers installing their own ‘Gateway’ devices.
The Gateway devices receive data that has been transmitted from sensors, and puts that data onto the Internet cloud.
Sensors can include pollution monitoring devices, Smart Parking detectors, flood warning sensors etc.
The LoraWAN that I mentioned is the wireless technology that allows the transfer of data from the sensor (which might be in a field a mile from the Gateway), to the receiving Gateway device.
LoraWAN Characteristics
Lorawan is suitable for applications that only require small amounts of data to be transferred at a time. Therefore LoraWAN would not be suitable for transmitting video from a CCTV camera (WIFI would be more suitable).
Data transfer is also quite slow.
What LoraWAN excels at is allowing small amounts of data to be sent over relatively long distances (such as 10Km), while consuming very low battery power.
The good communications range, and low battery power consumption make it ideal for the Internet of Things, or IOT for short.
To start using the Things Network, there are a few options available.
Firstly you can buy a ready made indoor Gateway that the initiators of the Things Network have now manufactured.
A second option is to buy a Gateway designed for commerical LoraWAN use. These Gateways are often designed for outdoor use, and feature weatherproof construction.
A third option to get onto the Things Network, if there is no local Gateway within range, is to build your own Gateway.
There are a few options and ways to build a Gateway, including using an RF board from RAK Wireless.
The option that I used to build my Gateway, uses an 880A LoraWAN Concentrator board from IMST of Germany.
The RF Concentrator board is controlled and connected to the Internet via a Raspberry Pi.
Full details for construction are given below.
Building the Gateway
For beginners to building their own gateway, I would recommend joining, or founding a local Things Network .
The Lorawan Gateway that I am going to describe here, is designed to operate on the Things Network, however other lora networks can easily be installed.
The main components that you will need are:-
1) A Concentrator board from IMST of Germany. The Concentrator board is the wireless communications part of the system, responsible for receiving the wireless data signals, from the remote environmental sensors (Air quality sensors etc).
2) A small computer to store the software that controls the Concentrator board. We are going to use the UK designed Raspberry PI 3.
A Micro SD Card, for holding the software used by the Raspberry PI. A small 4 GB card is fine.
3) A suitable Antenna (or Aerial), with pigtail connecting cable.
4) A suitable 2 Amp rated power supply, with a micro USB connector.
5) 7 Female to Female connecting leads, suitable for raspberry PI.
4) A suitable case, to house the components.
The first thing I need to make you aware of is the risk of static electricity, to your IMST ic880a Concentrator and Raspberry PI.
Static can damage the sensitive electronic components, therefore it is advisable to take precautions, such as not touching the board components, and wearing an anti static wrist strap.
The first thing you need to do is to format the micro SD card, that will be fitted to the raspberry PI, to hold the gateway software.
The SD card association has a free piece of software, for Windows PC and Mac, to do this. My card was already formatted, so I skipped this step.
The next step is to burn the actual software that will power your gateway, onto the Raspberry PI.
To do this, I used https://etcher.io/
I first installed Etcher onto my linux desktop computer. As most people use Windows PC, or Mac, you will need to find a suitable alternative to Etcher.
I also downloaded the operating system needed to run the Raspberry Pi, which is called Raspbian Stretch Lite , onto my desktop PC.
Put your micro SD card into your computers micro SD card reader. If your computer (like mine) does not have a card reader, then external USB plug in ones can be purchased cheaply (I got mine from my local Asda supermarket for £6).
Fire up Etcher, or whatever card burning software you prefer, and select the copy of Raspbian Stretch Lite , that you previously downloaded to your PC.
Follow the instructions, and burn the operating system software onto the micro SD card.
Once you have successfully burned your Raspbian Stretch Lite, onto your SD card, insert it into the Raspberry Pi (the slot is on the underside of the Pi).
The next thing to do is to connect your Raspberry Pi to a suitable monitor (I used a TV, that had a HDMI connection), and also connect a USB keyboard, power supply, and mouse.
The power supply should be 5 Volts DC, and Raspberry Pi power supplies are widely available. I used a USB phone charger, with 5 Volts output, and a current rating of 2000mA.
Boot up your Raspberry Pi (connect the power), and you will see lots of computer code scrolling across your screen (if you have done everything successfully, so far).
When the Raspberry Pi asks you for a user name and password, use the following default ones (the bit after the ‘ : ‘ ).
Username: Pi
Password: Raspberry
After you have successfully logged in, type:
sudo raspi-config
Numbered options will now hopefully be on your monitor screen.
Select [5] Interfacing Options, and then P4 SPI
Then select [7] Advanced Options , and then [A1] Expand Filesystem.
You now need to exit the raspi-config utility, either by hitting the ‘CTRL’ and ‘X’ keys, or by typing sudo reboot
Next you are going to Configure the locales and time zone.
Type this in, to set the locales, and follow instruction.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure localesNext, type this in to set time zone.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdataThe next stage is to update the raspberry Pi software, do this by typing:
sudo apt-get updateThen install any upgrades to the operating system software, by typing sudo apt-get upgrade
Next we are going to install Git , which is needed to be able to download the Things Network software from Github.
Type:
sudo apt-get install gitThe next step is to create a user called TTN (the things network). This user will eventually replace the default raspberry pi user, which we will delete.
sudo adduser ttnThen: sudo adduser ttn sudo
Logout, by typing logout
Once you have logged out, log back in using the user name and password that you have just set up, when you added a user.
You can now delete the default Raspberry Pi user, by typing
sudo userdel -rf piSet the WIFI SSID and password details, which can be found on the back of your home router / Hub (usually).
To set the WIFI details type
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf Once you have typed in the above text, you should see some code on the screen. Add the following to the end of the existing code, making sure that you enter your SSID and password details, in place of the shown text.
network=
{
ssid="The_SSID_of_your_wifi"
psk="Your_wifi_password"
}
Now we are going to clone the installer from Github. This will download the software which runs the gateway, from the Github repository. Type each of the following three code lines into your Pi, one at a time, hitting the return key after each line of code.
git clone -b spi https://github.com/ttn-zh/ic880a-gateway.git ~/ic880a-gateway
cd ~/ic880a-gateway
sudo ./install.sh spiIdentifying the LoraWAN Gateway
The software will give the gateway the default name of ttn-gateway.
This however may need to be changed, to prevent issues with other Things Network Gateways within wireless range.
Wiring it Up
The next step is to connect the Concentrator board, to the Raspberry Pi, and also connect the antenna.
The components including the antenna should be mounted in a protective box, and the antenna connected to the Concentrator board.
It is very important that the Concentrator board is not powered up, with no suitable antenna connected, of damage could occur to the board.
Once the antenna is connected, then the next step is to connect the Concentrator to the Raspberry Pi.
Connect using female to female connecting wires, as follows:
| iC880a Concentrator pin | Description | RPi physical pin |
| 21 | Supply 5V | 2 |
| 22 | GND | 6 |
| 13 | Reset | 22 |
| 14 | SPI CLK | 23 |
| 15 | MISO | 21 |
| 16 | MOSI | 19 |
| 17 | NSS | 24 |
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
It is important that you identify the correct pins, by referring to the manufactures data sheets (Both IMST & Raspberry Pi).
We accept no liability for loss or damage caused, by following these information only instructions.
For help, and to learn more about the Things Network Gateway, or what the Things Network can do, why not get in touch with me.
@acraigmiles
www.craigmiles.co.uk
Craig Miles (C) 2018 -2021 , all images and content, unless stated separately.
LoRaWAN architecture and uses in Sensing
Lorawan IOT Gateway construction