Camarillo, California, May 4, 2021 – Semtech Corporation, a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, and EchoStar Corporation subsidiary EchoStar Mobile, a mobile satellite services provider offering connectivity across Europe through a converged satellite and terrestrial network, announced the launch of an initiative to test satellite connectivity services enabled by the LoRaWAN protocol.
“With our technology collaborator, Semtech, and as a new member of the LoRa Alliance, we are excited to explore the use of next-generation LoRaWAN network technology to bring new satellite-based connectivity services to the Internet of Things (IoT) market,” said Telemaco Melia, senior Director of Commercial Operations at EchoStar Mobile, in a press release. “New LoRa satellite services are expected to bring lower price points to the market, opening up a larger addressable opportunity across key industries including logistics, asset tracking, transportation, utilities, agriculture, and maritime.”
The LoRa Alliance, an open, non-profit global association that develops, maintains and promotes the LoRaWAN protocol for low power wide area networks (LPWANs), recently expanded the LoRaWAN protocol to include Long Range – Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (LR-FHSS) data rates. LR-FHSS extends the LoRaWAN protocol’s support to enable direct data links from end nodes to satellites by leveraging either the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) unlicensed band, or, in the case of EchoStar Mobile, through licensed spectrum, which provides a differentiated service versus the ISM band. LR-FHSS can support millions of end nodes and delivers a new level of robustness for IoT services.
Image credit: Semtech