The Internet of Things (IoT) communication protocols are complex, but two “star players” stand out:
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One is NB-IoT, represented by telecom operators.
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The other is LoRa, represented by internet giants.
Last month, Tencent made a high-profile entry into the LoRa Alliance, bringing more attention to LoRa.
This month, even China Unicom from the telecom camp announced its entry into LoRa.
The importance of LoRa in the “big family” is evident!
LoRaWAN is a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) IoT communication protocol launched by the LoRa Alliance. So, what is LoRa Light? How does it differ from LoRaWAN, and what is their relationship?
What is LoRa Light?
LoRa Light is also an IoT communication protocol, belonging to the low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) communication protocols, just like LoRaWAN.
From the name Light, it is clear that its application is related to lighting. Indeed, LoRa Light is a communication protocol specifically designed for smart street lighting.
It was independently developed by Aiou Chuangxiang Intelligent Technology Company based on the needs of urban road lighting. It is used in Aiou’s smart street lighting solutions, responsible for data transmission communication between the streetlight gateway controller and node controllers.
Why is LoRa Light needed?
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First, IoT application scenarios are diverse and vary greatly.
Requirements can differ significantly between different scenarios. Therefore, no single communication technology or protocol can perfectly meet the needs of all IoT application scenarios.
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Second, road lighting applications have their own particularities.
For example, while both are lighting, road lighting vs. home lighting, and lighting application scenarios vs. other IoT application scenarios have different requirements. A communication protocol tailored to the application scenario is undoubtedly more suitable.
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Additionally, the road lighting market is vast.
With the global development of smart cities and urbanization in China, there is significant growth potential in road lighting, making it necessary to develop dedicated communication protocols to ensure better adaptability and reliability.
Based on this, Aiou Chuangxiang Intelligent Technology Company has developed LoRa Light, a smart streetlight-specific IoT communication protocol with complete independent intellectual property rights, perfectly adapting to the vast IoT application field of road lighting.
Currently, smart streetlight controllers using the LoRa Light communication protocol have been exported to multiple international markets, and several cities in China have begun commercial deployment.
What are the advantages of LoRa Light?
First, LoRa Light has the core advantages of long transmission distance and low power consumption!
As a dedicated protocol for smart streetlights, LoRa Light fully leverages the native technical advantages of LoRa while also considering the characteristics of strong real-time communication, a large number of connections, and high bandwidth requirements for streetlights, achieving the best adaptation of distance, power consumption, and cost.
The Aiou Chuangxiang smart streetlight controller using LoRa Light has a wireless power consumption of less than 100mW, while meeting the low latency and high bandwidth requirements for real-time control of streetlights and timely alerts for abnormal conditions, with a coverage radius of up to 4km (in ideal conditions with low bandwidth, high power, and unobstructed suburban areas, it can reach over 25km).
Additionally, due to the linear distribution of streetlights, traditional mesh networks cannot meet their needs. LoRa Light adopts point-to-point and many-to-many methods, which have higher fault tolerance and more stable and reliable communication.
At the same time, LoRa Light also has advantages such as low cost, security, scalability, and strong anti-interference capability.
The main differences between LoRa Light and LoRaWAN are:
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LoRa Light is launched by Aiou Chuangxiang Intelligent Technology Company, primarily for the specific scenario of road lighting;
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LoRaWAN is launched by the third-party organization LoRa Alliance, similar to a general-purpose protocol;
Both are logically on the same level, both based on the common technology of LoRa.
Industry experts believe that in the diverse world of IoT, it is impossible for one company or one technology to dominate. IoT communication protocols will also show a trend of parallel development and mutual supplementation, jointly promoting the development of IoT applications.
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