With the rapid development and popularization of modern Internet of Things (IoT) technology, wireless communication technology, as the underlying support for realizing seamless connectivity between people and things, and between things and things, is facing more complex needs for "communication". At this stage, the use of a single wireless communication technology to build a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) program has been unable to meet these needs, so the industry is in urgent need of new breakthroughs.
Low-power Bluetooth (BLE) and LoRa are two representative wireless communication technologies, which have unique advantages in near-range and long-range respectively, and have the characteristics of complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, applying BLE and LoRa as a combined solution to specific usage scenarios will give full play to the advantages of both and realize a more powerful "interconnection" function.
Just how capable is the BLE and LoRa combo?
In the field of industrial automation, industrial equipment often needs to run for a long time in harsh environments. The wireless networking solution of BLE and LoRa not only realizes remote monitoring and health management of many industrial equipment, but also improves the rate of equipment crop and reduces the maintenance pressure of inspectors.
Through the sensor module's sensing and collecting ability, the BLE module can transmit the industrial equipment status data (temperature, pressure, vibration, etc.) collected by the sensor module to the nearby deployed terminal nodes in a short distance, and then the LoRa gateway will summarize the data of each node and transmit it to the server in a long-distance range for coordination and management. At the same time, the BLE module can also be used for rapid configuration and commissioning of industrial equipment by field staff.
In the field of intelligent agriculture, the crop growth environment is the key, BLE and LoRa wireless networking solutions can realize environmental quality monitoring, intelligent irrigation and intelligent lighting and other functions, which help agricultural workers to accurately grasp the growth status of crops and improve the output efficiency of crops.
Through the sensor module's perception and collection ability, the BLE module can transmit the environmental data (temperature, humidity, gas content, etc.) collected by the sensor module in the growing area of the crops to the terminal nodes deployed in the vicinity over a short distance, and then the LoRa gateway will summarize the data from each node and transmit it to the server over a long distance for monitoring and management. After the data is uploaded to the server, the amount of irrigation and light level can be decided by AI analysis, and the intelligent irrigation equipment and lighting equipment can be adjusted automatically.
In the field of environmental monitoring, the atmosphere, water quality and noise and other environmental indicators are important ecological parameters to ensure the survival of living creatures, BLE and LoRa wireless networking solutions can provide important technical support for the urban neighborhoods, industrial parks and ecological protection zones of the environmental management, to ensure the harmonious development of man and nature.
Through the sensor module's sensing and collecting ability, the BLE module can transmit the environmental data collected by the sensor module such as air quality (PM2.5, CO₂, O₂, etc.), water quality parameters (PH, conductivity, turbidity, etc.) and noise intensity in the key area to the nearby deployed terminal nodes in a short distance, and then the LoRa gateway will summarize the data from each node and transmit it to the server for monitoring and management in a short distance to realize the data support and trend analysis for the assessment of environmental quality. The LoRa gateway then summarizes the data from each node and transmits it to the server for monitoring and management, in order to realize data support and trend analysis for environmental quality assessment.
In addition, BLE and LoRa wireless networking solutions have significant application advantages and huge market potential in many scenarios such as building automation, smart meter reading, asset location and smart warehousing.
"BLE+LoRa", the future is bright!
Taking HOPERF as an example, its products such as Bluetooth module HM-BT4531, LoRaWAN module RFM6601, and LoRa SPI module RFM90C can meet the requirements for building stable and reliable BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and LoRa wireless networking solutions.
-Bluetooth Module HM-BT4531
HM-BT4531 is a new generation of high-performance, ultra-low-power Bluetooth 5.2 chip CMT4531 based on the realization of the Bluetooth module, the use of 32-bit ARM ® Cortex ® - M0 kernel maximum frequency of 64MHz on-chip integration of 48KB SRAM 256KB FLASH integration of advanced 5.2 BLE RF transceiver, equipped with an integrated PCB antenna and an external antenna The device supports wireless data transmission function, through the communication with external MCU, it can quickly realize the wireless connection and data communication between BLE slave device and BLE master device such as cell phone, tablet, etc. The resource consumption of external MCU is low, and the development process is simple.
-LoRaWAN module RFM6601
RFM6601 is a low-power LoRa module developed based on the ASR6601 SoC chip, which has the advantages of low power consumption, high sensitivity, long-range communication, and cost-effective, and at the same time, it is able to provide a rich range of peripheral functions, including multiple general-purpose GPIOs, a 32.768 KHz external crystal oscillator, channel listening, high-precision RSSI, and a 12-bit high-speed ADC and DAC, etc.
-LoRa SPI module RFM90C
RFM90C is an ultra-low-power, high-performance LoRa transceiver module based on the SX1262 transceiver chip for a wide range of wireless applications from 150 MHz to 960 MHz.The RFM90C's high level of integration simplifies the peripheral materials required for system design, and the receive sensitivity of up to -137 dBm optimizes the link performance of the application. In addition, the RFM90C also supports Duty-Cycle operation mode, channel listening, high-precision RSSI, power-on reset, squelch output, etc., which makes the application design more flexible and can realize product differentiation. The ultra-low-power receiving mode further reduces the power consumption of the chip.
It is worthwhile to expect that, with the continuous development of BLE and LoRa technologies, the integration and innovation between them will become even closer, and more BLE+LoRa-enabled combination devices and solutions will appear in the future, providing more areas with smarter, more efficient and more reliable wireless communication services.
