LoRa & LoRaWAN
LPWAN & Long Range · 8 specs
Direct Answer
LoRa (Long Range) is a proprietary Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) physical radio modulation developed by Semtech, paired with the open LoRaWAN MAC protocol governed by the LoRa Alliance. Operating in unlicensed sub-GHz bands (868 MHz EU, 915 MHz US), it delivers transmission ranges from 5 to 15+ kilometers with 10+ year battery life.
Source: LoRa Alliance / Semtech Corporation / Regional Parameters RP2-1.0.3 · Last reviewed Aug 28, 2026
Specs
| Physical Modulation | LoRa (Chirp Spread Spectrum / CSS) |
| MAC Layer Protocol | LoRaWAN (Class A, Class B, Class C) |
| Operating Frequency Bands | EU868 (863–870 MHz), US915 (902–928 MHz), AS923, AU915 |
| Spreading Factors | SF7 (fastest / shortest) to SF12 (slowest / maximum link budget) |
| Bandwidths Available | 125 kHz, 250 kHz, 500 kHz |
| Max Link Budget | Up to 157 dB (receives signals below thermal noise floor) |
| Typical Range | 2–5 km (urban) / 15–20 km (rural line-of-sight) |
| Device Classes | Class A (All battery nodes / bi-directional), Class B (Beacon slots), Class C (Continuous listen) |
Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) Physical Layer
LoRa modulation encodes data onto linear frequency chirps (signals whose frequency increases or decreases continuously across the allocated channel bandwidth). By utilizing variable Spreading Factors (SF7 to SF12), LoRa trades data rate (from 250 bps up to 50 kbps) for extreme sensitivity. Because chirps are resilient to Doppler shift and multipath fading, LoRa receivers can decode signals up to 20 dB below the ambient RF noise floor.
LoRaWAN Star-of-Stars Topology and ADR
LoRaWAN gateways operate as transparent relays, forwarding raw RF packets from end nodes directly to a central Network Server over IP backhaul (The Things Network, AWS IoT, ChirpStack). Adaptive Data Rate (ADR) algorithms dynamically optimize each sensor's spreading factor and RF output power to minimize airtime and maximize network capacity.