Ai-Thinker has a variety of LoRa series, LoRaWAN series, LoRa gateway and other products, but, how to choose easily for your specific needs?
Due to its long transmission distance and low power consumption, LoRa technology has a wide range of application prospects in the field of IoT. And, it has been widely and successfully applied in many fields such as smart buildings, smart industrial parks, asset tracking, smart agriculture and livestock management.
I remember using LoRa for Flow meter reading monitoring from 800 meters. We test it and it worked fine but the module manufacturers claim of 8KM range, we never saw that kind of distance in the real field testing. I understand it depends a lot of surroundings, antenna, etc. but still I feel manufacturers should share some realistic examples as well so that developers can take right decision and spend less time in evaluation if the data itself is not suitable for their needs.
Here is a table which can help see all the features of all A-thinker LoRa modules at one place.
Aithinker Ra-01/Ra-02 LoRa Series
Module with it’s core chip
Power consumption/acceptance sensitivity
Frequency band selection:
- The Ra-01, Ra-01S, Ra-01SC, and Ra-02 modules support the frequency band 410MHz to 525MHz.
- The Ra-01H, Ra-01SCH, and Ra-01SH modules support the frequency band 803 to 930MHz.
Antenna:
- In terms of antenna forms, Ra-01 and Ra-01H modules are compatible with half-hole pads/through-hole pads (antennas need to be welded).
- Ra-01S, Ra-01SC, Ra-01SCH, and Ra-01SH are compatible with the half-hole pad/through-hole pad (antennas must be welded) /IPEX.
- The Ra-02 antenna is an IPEX.
Communication distance :
- In open environment, the transmission distance of Ra-01, Ra-01H and Ra-01S with spring antenna is about 2.8km.
- The transmission distance of the Ra-02 module with a sucker antenna is about 4km.
- The transmission distance of the Ra-01SC module with a sucker antenna is about 4.7km.
Ai-thinker LoRaWAN Series Module
Ra-08/Ra-08H module is used for ultra-long range spread spectrum communication. Its chip, the ASR6601, is a general-purpose LPWAN wireless communications SoC that integrates an RF transceiver, modem, and a 32-bit RISCMCU. The MCU uses the ARM core, the memory is 128KB FLASH, 16KB SRAM, and the operating frequency can reach 48MHz.
Ra-08/Ra-08H module supports both LoRa modulation and traditional (G)FSK modulation for LPWAN use cases; The transmitter also supports BPSK modulation and (G)MSK modulation, and the receiver supports (G)MSK modulation. The Ra-08/Ra-08H module supports the ClassA/B/C communication mode.
Ra-08, Ra -08H module supports UART/GPIO/ADC, DAC/I2C/I2S/SPI/PWM interface.
LoRaWAN supports AT command control, Ra-08 supports the secondary development of Linux and Windows environment SDK, and uses the MCU of the module to achieve functions.
In addition to supporting AT firmware programs, Ra-08(H) module can also use LoRaWAN gateway for data transmission, helping developers to simplify development steps and quickly and easily get started.
Main functions and parameters for Ai-thinker Ra-08 Series Modules
Power consumption/acceptance sensitivity:
Antenna:
In terms of antenna form, Ra-08, Ra-08H modules are compatible with a variety of connections such as half-hole pad/through hole pad (need to weld antenna) /IPEX , and support more scheme selection.
Communication distance:
The transmission distance of the Ra-08 and Ra-08H modules with the sucker antenna is about 4.8km.
Access mode:
Ai-Thinker Ra-08 and Ra-08H modules support OTAA and ABP two modes of network access.
Accessible ecology:
Ai-Thinker Ra-08H module can be connected to TTN server, etc., to realize data sending and receiving.
More information, please access Ai-Thinker DOCS website
Video series is available to help you gain information quickly
I am running an Embedded Design House, CAPUF Embedded Pvt. Ltd, located in Bangalore, India. At CAPUF, we help companies build embedded products with our hardware and firmware design services.
We also help in design optimizations for power consumption, cost, mass manufacturing, and performance.
Additionally, we develop PCB testing jigs and provide cloud-based device / production monitoring solutions.