THE CHAIRMAN OF THE LORA ALLIANCE SPEAKS OUT UNSCRAMBLE THE CODE: LTE CAT1, LTE-M AND NB-IOT… THE VERIZON M1 ROLL-OUT AND ITS MIGHTY PARTNERS
Real World Connected Systems Magazine. Produced by Intelligent Systems Source
Vol 18 / No 6 / May 2017
The Low-Power Wide Area Network is Taking Over
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CONTENTS
Real World Connected Systems Magazine. Produced by Intelligent Systems Source
LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM 12
2.0: Interview of Geoff Chairman, Chairman of the LoRa Alliance
18
2.1: 5 Reasons Why Telecom Companies Should Use LoRa Hussain Fakhruddin, CEO of Teksmobile
06
20
2.2 How to Build a Trusted IoT with Secure LoRa Networks? Loic Bonvarlet, Gemalto
Verizon and Its Mighty Partners Lead the Way
DEPARTMENTS 05
EDITORIAL
Follow the Money: Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)
LOW-POWER CELLULAR WIDE AREA NETWORK ACCELERATES IOT ADOPTION 06
1.0: Verizon and Its Mighty Partners Lead the Way by John W. Koon
10
1.1: Can LTE Address the Needs of Low-Power, Data-dribbling Nodes in the IoT?
20 How to Build a Trusted IoT with Secure LoRa Networks?
by Michael Bleakmore , Digi International
RTC Magazine MAY 2016 | 3
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4 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
EDITORIAL
Follow the Money: Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) by John Koon, Editor-In-Chief
While we are waiting for the coming of 5G, everyone is trying to cash in on LPWAN using 3G and 4G (LTE), other technologies. The question is not whether you can make money. It is how fast. The growth of IoT and LPWAN is unstoppable. So where are the opportunities?
IoT Applications
It is interesting to note the top IoT applications, as shown in the survey of 640 industrial IoT projects done by IoT Analytics GmbH, a Germany based IoT market research firm, to be Connected Industry, Smart City and Smart Energy. 44% of these projects are in America while 34% are in Europe. The Asia / Pacific region is particularly strong in Smart Energy projects (25%). www.iot-analytics.com IoT has become a worldwide phenomenon. Why is everyone so enthusiastic? In short, it makes us more productive in a meaningful way. Using the cloud /wireless connectivity, IoT provides users with insight which was not available before. But why low power?
What is Low-Power IoT?
In many IoT applications it is important for the remote devices to have long battery life as in the case of wearable health devices, smart agriculture, smart meter and industrial applications in remote areas. There are many names for LPWAN. Low-Power IoT, LPWA, Low-Power WAN and more. What technologies are behind LPWAN? Two types. Cellular and non-cellular. Cellular technologies include Low-Power LTE which has various flavors (refer to the Digi article in this issue). Behind the non-cellular technologies are the LoRaWAN and SigFox. What is LPWAN and who are the players? In short, it is a Low-Power technology which enables devices to have a battery life longer than 10 years in some cases. Other features include very low cost for low speed applications. Contrary to high-
Top IoT projects, as shown in the survey done by IoT Analytics, include Connected Industry, Smart City and Smart Energy.
speed network designed for video streaming, LPWAN targets applications requiring kilobit per second speed to send packets but cost is a key consideration as IoT devices/sensors are becoming cheaper by the day. There are three popular entities supporting LPWAN today. The first group includes the major carriers like Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile in America. Group 2 is LoRa Alliance. It is a non-profit consortium promoting the open specification on LoRaWAN (Long Range and Wide Area Network) (see interview). The driving force behind this group includes tech giants like Cisco, IBM and Comcast. The last one is SigFox which is a French-based company with presence in 32 countries attempting to develop an international “standard� to compete with LoRa and the like.
Opportunities promise to be great and competition will be fierce. Challenges including counter cyberattacks and increased security, safety and privacy will be at the top. We are constantly reminded how serious the cyberthreats can be. As recent as May 2017, the ransomware, code name WannaCry, has attacked 150 countries, the worst attack ever.
What is next?
To give you a quick understanding of this fast-growing market, the lead article will discuss the Verizon M1 roll-out and its mighty partner support. Additionally, we have invited experts to explain the meaning of various LTE network technical terms like M1 and Cat 1, what LoRa is all about as well as how to defend the network.
What is the future like?
It has only just begun. Verizon launched the M1 roll-out with partners. Members of LoRa Alliance has now climbed to 450. RTC Magazine MAY 2017 | 5
1.0 LOW-POWER CELLULAR WIDE AREA NETWORK ACCELERATES IOT ADOPTION
Verizon and Its Mighty Partners Lead the Way Still wondering if smart connected things are real? Wait no more. On March 31, 2017, Verizon with 2016 revenue of $126 billion officially launched a nationwide commercial 4G LTE Category M1 (or Cat M1) network. With 2.4 million square-mile coverage, this infrastructure will propel adoption of IoT including smart sensors. Depends on the applications, pricing can be as low as $2 per month per device. Verizon’s ecosystem includes manufacturers of chipsets, modules and devices - Qualcomm Technologies, Sequans, Telit, U-Blox, Sierra Wireless, Gemalto, Altair and others. by John Koon, Editor-In-Chief
How big is the LPWAN market? According to Berg Insight, a Sweden-based market research firm, the shipment of global cellular IoT devices will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.7% to reach 530 million units while non-cellular Low Power WAN (LPWA) including LoRa and Sigfox will grow from13.5 million units to 50-100 million in 2022. “LTE-M and NB-IoT are the latest in a long line of cellular standards already connecting hundreds of millions of devices worldwide”, says Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst and author of the report, “Alternative
6 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
non-cellular LPWA technologies have a very long way to go before they achieve the same prominence.” www.berginsight.com. For now, Verizon is the leader of the LPWAN game. In additional to the M1 roll-out, Verizon would help facilitate the development of IoT with a platform called ThingSpace which enables developers to create Cat M1 devices to have secured end-to-end connections. According to Verizon, ThingSpace is used by about 14,000 developers worldwide. With global agreements of mutual connectivity in more than 175 countries. These vast internation-
Figure 1 Operators around the world including Verizon and ATT in America, Telefonica and Orange in Europe and NTT DoCoMo in Japan start to adopt M1 in their networks. “We provide support to global operators to accelerate the adoption of LTE M1/NB1 worldwide with our dual-mode solutions,” commented Peter Carson, Senior Director of Marketing, Qualcomm.
al networks support IoT applications like asset management, industrial automation, wearables, smart city technologies and consumer electronics. The most powerful partner is Qualcomm who is the leader in 3G and 4G LTE cellular chipsets with over one billion devices shipped using its chips. Qualcomm’s vision is to continue that leadership with NB-5G solutions in the future. In 2015, Qualcomm introduced the MDM9206, a multimode silicon which supports Cat M1, Cat NB1 and EGPR making it useable in almost every part of the world. Figure. 1. The initial roll-out of the MDM9206 modem supports LTE category M1 (eMTC). Today Qualcomm is shipping the dual-mode silicon which supports both M1 and NB-1. With software update the early version can be configured to support the dual mode operation. MDM9206 helps make the LPWAN requirements of low-cost, Low-Power and low-bandwidth a reality. “Thanks to the improved building blocks for IoT solutions, every facet of our world is becoming connected,” said Mike Lanman, senior vice president, IoT and enterprise products, Verizon. “By utilizing solutions including Qualcomm Technologies’
MDM9206 modem, which is integrated with IoT platforms like Verizon’s ThingSpace, we can accelerate the delivery of connected services specifically tailored for rapidly growing markets like smart metering for utilities including electric, gas and water.”
Figure 2 London-based Telit, partner of Verizon and Qualcomm, has launched the ME910C1-NV, the first LTE Category M1 (Cat M1) module based on Qualcomm’s MDM9206 multimode modem to receive the Verizon certification. It also supports Verizon’s ThingSpace platform.
RTC Magazine MAY 2017 | 7
1.0 LOW-POWER CELLULAR WIDE AREA NETWORK ACCELERATES IOT ADOPTION London-based Telit, partner of Verizon and Qualcomm, has launched the ME910C1-NV, the first LTE Category M1 (Cat M1) module based on Qualcomm’s MDM9206 multimode modem to receive the Verizon certification. It also supports Verizon’s ThingSpace platform. Figure 2. Sequans Communications, a France-based 4G LTE chipmaker, has also introduced the Monarch LTE Cat M1/NB1 chips. At least four devices using this chip have been certified for Verizon’s Cat M1 network. They are Link Labs’ Cat M1 Sensor Suite, Encore Networks’ Cat M1 Router, Nimbelink’s Skywire Cat M1 modem (Figure 3) and Gemalto’s Cinterion EMS31 Cat M1 module. There are plenty of selections for the Verizon M1 network. To further understand the momentum of the Cellular IoT market, RTC Magazine asked two other Verizon partners to share their thoughts on this historical M1 launch.
8 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
Figure 3 Nimbelink’s Skywire Cat M1 modem is a complete pre-certified modem solution which helps OEM reduce the time-to-market and save the cost of certification according to Ven Dixit of Nimbelink.
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1.1 LOW-POWER CELLULAR WIDE AREA NETWORK ACCELERATES IOT ADOPTION
Can LTE Address the Needs of Low-Power, Data-dribbling Nodes in the IoT? For many Internet of Things (IoT) applications, high-throughput standards such as LTE-Advanced, with its throughput of 300Mbps, are overkill, since the amounts of data are relatively small. What’s more, devices and sensors are often deployed in far-flung, remote areas that often lack access to power, making a high-powered router unfeasible. by Michael Bleakmore, Digi International
To address this segment’s low-Power, low-bandwidth requirements, the3GPP, the cellular-standards body, is putting forth new “narrowband” standards. LTE Cat 1, LTE-M, and NB-IoT are designed to connect devices and sensors that dribble data and operate at very low power, allowing them to last multiple years on a battery. Figure 1. LTE Cat 1 networks are available in North America, Australia, and Japan, and are an excellent option for IoT devices that require cellular connectivity. With throughput speeds capped at 10Mbps, this standard is significantly less complex and less power-hungry that Cat 3 or Cat 4 technologies that support throughput of 100 and 150 Mbps. In the summer of 2017, carriers will activate their networks to support LTE-M in North America and NB-IoT in Europe. LTE-M has a maximum speed of about 1Mbps and NB-IoT caps out at 144Kbps, making them ideal for Low-Power, low-datarate applications. Figure 2. Water/wastewater pumps and valves, agricultural-moisture sensors, electric meters, telematics, and asset tracking are just a few examples of applications that can use devices which infrequently send only small amounts of data. In cold-chain lo-
gistics, temperatures must be controlled at all times during food shipments to prevent valuable inventory like meat, produce, and dairy from spoiling. In healthcare, pharmaceuticals may lose their efficacy or become toxic after even a brief variance outside its temperature range. To ensure product safety, it’s important to have an audit trail of in-transit temperatures from field or factory to end user. In such cases, a battery-powered sensor can record a time-stamped log of temperature variations, waking up periodically to take measurements and transmit readings to a central office for tracking. In commercial and industrial settings, IoT devices are commonly used to track environmental data that changes very slowly, such as temperature and humidity. To maximize battery life, the device typically spends most of its time in a Low-Power “sleep” mode, awakening periodically on a fixed schedule. During the waking period, the sensor gathers data and transmits it wirelessly to a central gateway. Then it returns to its sleep state until it’s time for the next measurement. Previously, device manufacturers understandably rejected cellular connectivity options because of the high-cost of carrier data plans. Today, with the emergence of these new Low-Power,
Figure 1 The relationship between bit rate and the various standards. Source: Digi International.
10 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
Figure 2 Smart sensors, devices and IoT aggregators require different speeds which correspond to the various LTE standards. Source: Digi International.
Figure 3 Capabilities and specifications of 4G LTE, LTE Cat1, LTE-M and NB-IoT.
data-dribbling standards –in many cases less than US$2/month for a 1 MB/month plan – the economics are becoming far more favorable. For deployments of approximately 10 devices per location – such as a cluster of storage tanks – it can be cheaper to embed cellular connectivity in each device rather than use a higher-bandwidth protocol and aggregate through a gateway. Figure 3. As carriers continue to build out their networks to the furthest and remotest areas, there are fewer dead zones to limit deployments. Long-range, two-way communication enables secure out-of-band connectivity to devices on third-party sites – without requiring access to those sites’ wireless networks. This is ideal for devices deployed in convenience stores or branch offices where Wi-Fi or other network connectivity can be unreliable. The scalability of cellular networks makes them well-suited for applications with a large number of devices in a single deployment for virtually any type of device. LTE, specifically, has been designed to greatly enhance capacity and operates with a more flexible architecture, allowing it to process a significant amount of data traffic. Cat 1, LTE-M, and NB-IoT are ideally suited for applications that require lower costs and greater battery life that can extend the range of IoT solutions. Coverage will vary by application, but is expected to be 7X better than traditional cellular networks. This includes improved connectivity in subterranean locations like basements, subway tunnels, and parking structures, which makes LPWA ideal for water meters, electric meters, alarm panels, and similar installations. What’s more, thanks to wide coverage and the expected high endpoint capacity per cell, con-
nectivity costs are expected to be much lower than broadband cellular service. In the push to create the next great IoT solution, it’s not enough to simply connect to the Internet of Things. You need to connect to the right type of network, the one that best fits the specific demands of your IoT devices and applications. Whether your ultimate decision is based on cost, mobility, battery life, or global reach, the new IoT standards for LTE might be a great fit for your application and merit careful consideration. Figure 4. Author bio: Michael Bleakmore manages product marketing for Digi International. Prior to Digi, Michael has work in marketing and product management roles at IBM, Microsoft and VMware. Michael has an MBA from the University of Minnesota. www.digi.com
Figure 4 Cat 1, LTE-M, and NB-IoT can penetrate deeper into built environment and can 7 times better than traditional cellular networks in basement and parking garages.
RTC Magazine MAY 2017 | 11
2.0 LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM
Interview of Geoff Chairman, Chairman of the LoRa Alliance There are two major driving forces in LPWAN; Cellular IoT (LTE) and LoRaWAN. John Koon, Editor-in-Chief of the RTC Magazine has recently talked with Geoff Chairman, Chairman of the LoRa Alliance to gain an understand of where the technologies are going. Mr. Mulligan is a consultant, developer and lecturer on the IoT, Privacy Geoff Mulligan, and Security and is the Chairman of the LoRa Alliance US representative to the ISO Smart and Sustainable Cities project and is Chairman of the LoRa Alliance and Executive Director and founder of the IPSO Alliance. In 2013 and 2014 while serving as a Presidential Innovation Fellow working on the Cyber-Physical Systems project for the White House with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) he co-created the SmartAmerica Challenge. Additionally, Mr. Mulligan is the Founder and President of Proto6, a technology consulting company focused on the Internet of Things, RF Sensors, IPv6, IP networks and open systems.
1. Can you explain what LoRaWAN (Long Range and Wide Area Network) technologies are and their benefits? The LoRaWAN specification is an openly available open standards based specification that defines how to interoperably send data over LoRa radios. The LoRaWAN spec supports the new class of radio technology called LPWA - Low Power Wide Area, the missing link in IoT communications - which are low cost and low power radios that can transmit over extremely long distances - 10s of kilometers - for multiple years on battery power. The LoRa radio technology is one such solution that provides true two-way communications for sensors and controllers and that supports features such as multi-path redundancy, power modulation, and gelocation. The LoRaWAN specifica-
12 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
tion then extends this to include roaming, security, reliability and management with an open business model.
2. What is the mission of LoRa Alliance? The purpose of the Alliance is to foster a strong ecosystem from “Silicon to Solutions”, meaning bringing together chip vendors, module vendors, software developers, network operators, solutions providers. The goal of the Alliance is to create and support the foundation of interoperable devices and networks around the world and to provide support to developers, OEMs, and system integrators and to build a stable open specification and certification program.
3. I am seeing excitement about LoRa in the market. Can you give us a sense of how big the LoRa market will be in 5 years? Today the Alliance has over 450 member companies from every end of the globe. There are LoRaWAN networks being deployed on nearly every continent (I haven’t heard about one on Antarctica yet!) and from major network operators. One of the strengths of the Alliance and specification is the foundation on an “Open for Business” model. The Alliance does not own or operate any network nor does it sell any devices or services. We work to facilitate these for our members. Companies are free to build their own network, partner with existing networks, subscribe to public networks or become their own public network operator – the customers know their needs better than anyone – our main goal is to enable everyone to build out the IoT.
4. W hen should LoRa be used? Can you give us a use case that you would consider to be a perfect fit for LoRa? LoRaWAN networks are perfect for when the application requires low power, lower data rates, low cost end devices that require twoway communication over larger distances or penetration through various surfaces. The means applications for Smart Cities, Intelligent Transportation, Smart Agriculture, logistics management. It is also really the only solution when the customer wants to deploy and own their own network, such as for a building manager where they want their own self-contained system. The LoRa radio
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and LoRaWAN end devices are inexpensive and can run on batteries for years. They support two way communications, over the air updates, securing, device management and support the open standards that drive the Internet.
5. C ompare LoRa with Narrow-band LTE and SigFox, how would you describe the relations? Co-exist, competitive or totally different? As we all are aware the IoT solution space is very large and there is room for various solutions - just as there are many different types of fasteners (nails, tape, glue, screws) and many different LAN technologies - so too will there continue to be a few different IoT connectivity technologies, including BT, BTLE, and Wi-Fi. Yes there will be some competition between NBIoT, SigFox and the LoRa Alliance, but they each also have their own benefits. If a customer wants to contract with cellular service providers and wants SIM cards then NBIoT (when it becomes available) is the right choice. If the application only requires one-way communications and the network is available in your area and only needs a single network operator then perhaps they should consider SigFox. If the customer wants to own and operate their network, or they want flexibility of different
14 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
operators and broad device and solution options and they want to start deployments today, then they should take a strong look at the LoRa Alliance and our member’s offerings. There is plenty of room for co-existence, just as there is room for many tools on the network or application designers tool belt.
6. Finally, if companies are interested in exploring LoRa, what advice would you give them? TRY IT. Really, you can - today - buy the pieces to set up and pilot your own network for a trivial amount or utilize the connectivity provided by any of a number of the LoRaWAN network operators throughout the world. See how it works for your application. Performance numbers and claims are a fine starting point for comparisons, but business models, time to market, availability and real world experiences are far more important in the end. When making a technology decision ensure you err of the side of “open” as it generally provides the best path for future proofing. ank you, Geoff for your time to give us an overview of LoRa Th Let us chat again soon. https://www.lora-alliance.org/
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2.1 LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM
5 Reasons Why Telecom Companies Should Use LoRa LoRaWAN technology has been projected to grow at a rapid rate in the global LPWAN market. While Low-Power LTE is coming strong, the CEO of Teksmobile argued why LoRaWAN is better and presented these 5 strong reasons why LoRaWAN is better and why telecom companies (wireless device makers and OEMs) should use it. by Hussain Fakhruddin, CEO of Teksmobile
The popularity of LoRaWAN among telecom operators across the globe is increasing at a rapid rate. Just take a look at the strong tech companies behind the alliance. The recent trends have indicated that it is gaining strong momentum. In what follows, we will take a closer look at the major factors that should convince OEMs and wireless device manufacturers to adopt LoRaWAN. 1. U nrivalled battery performance - Devices working in a LoRa network do not operate at higher than 10-25 mW (in compliance with ISM frequency usage regulations). That, in turn, economizes on total data consumption levels and enhances the battery life of the devices to 9-10 years, on average. This figure is significantly higher than the battery performance of both LTE Cat-M (<2 years) and Narrowband (<8 years) devices. By nature, LoRa uses ‘low power’, and hence its battery performance is higher than that of its rivals.
around 250 base stations cover the entire of Switzerland, and for Netherlands, 500 base stations are enough. 4. Significant cost advantage - Implementation of the LoRa network protocol requires the presence of advanced LoRa gateways and concentrators. While at first these might seem to be an additional expense (NB-IoT, for example, does not need gateways) - the gateways are very competitively priced. In addition, the cost of the radio chipsets is less than $2 and the annual subscription fees are no more than $1 (for each device. There are no hefty upfront investments required - and that mitigates the overall business risk factor considerably.
2. Adaptive Data Rates - The Adaptive Data Rates (ADR) of LoRa networks offer a much-needed flexibility to telecom companies which opt for it. In accordance to the ‘LoRaWAN R1.0 Open standard for the IoT’ (2015), this LPWAN protocol works in a data range of 0.3Kbps to 50Kbps. The ADR is managed by the network server, with the help of specific algorithms (for individual devices). As a result, the overall network capacity is optimally utilized, LoRa implementation becomes that much easier and efficient, and device batteries get a further boost. 3. Superior coverage - One of the biggest advantages of LoRa technology is its seamless usability in all types of environments (urban and rural). In fact, in rural/semi-urban areas, the coverage of LoRa network shoots up 15-18 kilometers - while in urban locations (e.g., cities) too, the coverage is upwards of 10 kilometers. As a result, only a few LoRa base stations need to be set up, to cover entire cities (for the creation of ‘smart cities’). For instance, nearly the whole of Belgium (nine-tenths) is covered by 360 base stations, 18 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
Figure 1 LoRaWAN has many benefits that will propel the growth at a rapid rate. Among them are overcoming of the IoT bottleneck, low cost and great battery performance.
5. Ease of deployment - Instead of the traditional mesh architecture, a LoRa setup follows the ‘star-of-stars topology’ - for easier setup and deployment by telecom providers. The network architecture leaves little room for possible errors, and implementation is far from being costly. What’s more - thousands (literally!) of nodes/devices can be connected with a single gateway, lowering management-related pressures. The ‘Chirp Spread Spectrum’ (CSS) is used in the physical layer of the LoRa infrastructure. It is also possible to keep the radio-frequency (RF) link budget constant, while bringing down the transmitter power - to gain more battery performance. Other significant advantages of the LoRa technology include its superior scalability, robust security features, support for bi-directional communication and the fact that it is available ‘open standard’. LoRa has also found favor among telecom companies in smart cities, since it can be used to create a vast range of IoT applications, right from smart parking slots, public lights and waste management tools, to connected car support, home automation, water and pollution meters, predictive maintenance sensors, and even city drones. In early-February this year, Actility joined hands with Inmarsat to create the world’s very first global LoRaWAN network. The application of LoRa in private networks is also increasing - with many companies using the technology to establish ‘smart workspaces’. The protocol can be integrated with 5G-supported base stations as well, ensuring future viability. The LPWAN market has moved on from its infancy stage and is well into its ‘early maturity’ phase. There are plenty of scopes for telecom companies to move on to the LoRa platform and expand their businesses - the technology has way too many advantages to be ignored. Author Bio: Hussain Fakhruddin is a senior mobile apps and API architect. He is the
founder/CEO of Teksmobile and has worked on more than 1000 mobile app development projects. Hussain is very experienced in APIs, IoT and LPWAN technologies and a frequent participant of leading tech events. Hussain enjoys reading, travels and watching movies. http://www.teksmobile.se/
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RTC Magazine MAY 2017 | 19
2.2 LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM
How to Build a Trusted IoT with Secure LoRa Networks? The Internet of Things (IoT) is swiftly transforming our world with enhanced convenience, efficiency and safety offering countless opportunities to improve the way we work and live. But the sophisticated hackers have increased their level of attacks. How to counter the cyberattacks? by Loic Bonvarlet, IoT Services Marketing Director, Gemalto
IHS estimates that IoT connections will grow from 15 billion in 2015 to more than 30 billion things by 2020. The majority of these connected things do not require the bandwidth and speed of traditional cellular wireless networks. Instead, most IoT devices demand cost-efficient, Low-Power connectivity solutions that can support long-lived global deployments. This has given rise to the expansion of new LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Networks). In particular, LoRa networks, the most mature of the LPWAN technologies, are gaining traction in the IoT marketplace. LoRa was designed to deliver wireless connectivity for battery-powered things that need to operate for a decade or more, things like tracking and tracing devices, smart meters and smart city applications. It offers extreme efficiency and provides long20 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
range connectivity making it ideal for cost sensitive applications deployed in hard-to-reach locations. Unlike cellular 3GPP-based technologies, LoRa networks do not depend on SIM cards for authentication and security. Because security and trust are paramount to the success of the LoRa technology, the LoRa Alliance, aconsortium of industry leaders workingon LPWAN standards for IoT, has specified strong security architecture requirements to protect networks and the devices that operate on them.
LoRa Security Architecture Gemalto, the global leader in digital security, worked closely with LoRa Alliance partners to develop security standards and
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2.2 LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM
SIDE BAR The Gemalto Trusted Key Manager LoRa end-to-end security strengthens the IoT ecosystem and allows all stakeholders to trust the integrity of devices, data and networks. The Gemalto Trusted Key Manager solution is ideal for LoRa deployments providing benefits for all ecosystem players:
IoT Device Makers • Removes the burden of security provisioning, saving time and money • Simplifies device production and distribution, allowing one unique key credential provisioning for all LoRa operators and global markets • Makes devices generic allowing dynamic secure activation anywhere, on a public or a private network • Simplifies device lifecycle management and automates the secure LoRa network join process
architecture to safeguard LoRa networks and the IoT ecosystem. LoRaWAN security was designed to fit the general LoRaWAN criteria: low power consumption, low implementation complexity, low cost and high scalability. And because devices are deployed in the field for long periods of time (years), security must be future-proof. The LoRaWAN security design adheres to state-of-the-art security principles: use of standard, well-vetted algorithms and end-to-end security. It safeguards the integrity of LoRa networks, devices and data via mutual authentication, integrity protection and confidentiality. This is achieved by providing three levels of remote credential provisioning for: 1. LoRa devices 2. LoRa networks 3. Application servers that need access to device data The secure handshake: authenticating the device and network Unlike network-specific SIM cards used for authentication in traditional cellular networks, LoRa devices are generic and can be operated on any LoRa network. The network routes a device ´join request´ to a secure ´join server´ which will verify the identity of the device and provides the needed session keys to the network and the application provider. Thestrong mutual authentication process between the IoT device and the LoRa network ensures the integrity of the LoRa IoT solution. It is imperative that this process is managed by an experienced and trusted partner.
A mutual authentication deep dive The security mechanisms specified for LoRaWAN authentication rely on the well-tested and standardized AES1 cryptographic algorithms. These algorithms have been analyzed by the cryptographic community for many years, are NIST approved and widely adopted as a best security practice for constrained
LoRa Network Operators • Simplifies device network onboarding and allows seamless LoRa network operator change, which is crucial when devices change ownership
IoT Application Servers and End Users • Ensures complete confidentiality and integrity of accessed data
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22 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
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2.2 LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES ARE GAINING MOMENTUM nodes and networks. LoRaWAN security uses the AES cryptographic primitive combined with several modes of operation: CMAC2 for integrity protection and CTR3 for encryption. Each LoRaWAN device is personalized with a unique 128 bit AES key (called AppKey) and a globally unique identifier (EUI-64-based DevEUI), both of which are used during the device authentication process. Allocation of EUI-64 identifiers requires the assignor to have an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) from the IEEE Registration Authority. Similarly, LoRaWAN networks are identified by a 24-bit globally unique identifier assigned by the LoRa Alliance. It is this secure authentication handshake between the device and the networkthat ensures a highly reliable join procedure. The remote, double keyprovisioning mechanism just describedensures that only authorizeddevices can connect to authorized networks. Figure 1.
Authenticating the application In addition to authentication between the device andnetwork, another set of keys is provisioned using the same standards at applicationlevel for mutual authentication between the device andthe application servers. This ensures complete dataconfidentiality for application servers or solution providerswho are given specific keys to access the device data theyare authorized to see. These strong encryptiontechniques ensure that data transferred over the network has notbeen altered, is coming from a legitimate source and isundecipherable to eavesdroppers.
Building a trusted IoT with secure LoRaWAN technology Low Power Wide Area Network, and LoRa in particular, hold huge potential for realizing the IoT vision of a world of smart ‘things’ in an increasingly interconnected planet. We just have to
24 | RTC Magazine MAY 2017
make sure that our next steps are made on solid ground – and that only comes through a deep understanding of the accompanying vulnerabilities, the tools and the processes that must be used to protect ourselves, our businesses and our communities. The LoRa Alliance security specification was designed to provide the sure footing needed and to enable trust in growing LoRa-based IoT deployments. Working with experienced and trusted security partners is essential to strengthening the LoRa security ecosystem and providing the confidence needed to unleash the power of the IoT. Author Bio: Loic Bonvarlet joined Gemalto in 2011. He has 17 years of experience in Telecoms and wireless covering development, support, technical sales and marketing. In his current role, Loic is in charge of the IoT Services Product Marketing for Gemalto including the Sensorlogic Application Enablement platform and agent, module services, MIMs and associated services, security and the Secure Element for IoT. Previously, Loic managed the application engineering team for Gemalto M2M for the North American market, helping customer integrate Cinterion products in their M2M devices. Loic holds a Master of Engineering in Telecoms and networks from Grenoble Institute of Technology and works out of the Gemalto office in La Ciotat, France. www.gemalto.com
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