LoRa may hold the key to zero carbon tracking technology
Maintenance-free, energy harvesting can be used for zero carbon asset management. Analogue and mixed-signal semiconductor company, Semtech,
Ryoden, a LoRa ecosystem and network provider have used the RE microcontroller family from Renesas to connect directly to the LoRa Cloud using Semtech’s LoRa Edge platform (LR1110).
LoRa Edge allows for geolocation capabilities driven by energy harvesting, the battery-free energy solution. It also has security features, making it suitable for tracking of personal valuables, transportation and logistics, animals, and healthcare equipment and assets.
Dr. Shiro Kamohara, senior principal specialist from Renesas’ low power product department, says: “The energy harvesting RE family represents the evolution of microcontroller products that have the advantages of being maintenance-free while keeping top-class efficiency. Through our collaboration with Semtech, we are able to offer a cost-efficient green energy solution for our customers.”
The energy-efficient RE family microcontroller is based on the Arm Cortex M0+. It has a built-in controller which can make a battery-less, maintenance-free product. It also has security capabilities that are critical to the IoT and can help protect IoT embedded devices from viral infections and eavesdropping.
When integrated with Semtech’s LR1110, the power consumption of the product is reduced, reports Semtech. Semtech’s LoRa device-to-Cloud platform enables the rapid development and deployment of low power, cost-efficient and long range IoT networks, gateways, sensors, module products, and IoT services worldwide. Semtech’s LoRa technology provides the communication layer for the LoRaWAN standard, which is maintained by the LoRa Alliance, an open IoT alliance for low power wide area network (LPWAN) applications that has been used to deploy IoT networks in over 100 countries. Semtech is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance.
“With the low power nature and end-to-end security of the LoRa Edge platform, the embedded LoRa Basics Modem-E native modem software operating on the LoRaWAN standard, and the LoRa Cloud geolocation and device and application services, the Renesas RE Family is one of the most power-efficient MCUs available on the market,” says Sree Durbha, director of product management in Semtech’s wireless and sensing products group.
Target applications for the LoRa Edge platform with Renesas RE include asset management, tracking of goods through the supply chain and several other use cases requiring continuous indoor or outdoor tracking.
Ryoden is a member of the Mitsubishi Electric Group and is a LPWAN (low power wide area network) communication carrier. It provides data communication services that utilise IoT devices. In addition, the company manages and operates network servers as a network service provider for LoRaWAN communications, and provides related applications and support services.
