Semtech is adding to its LoRa portfolio with the LoRa Smart Home, as LoRa is becoming a fast-growing low-power network. As the name implies, it’s intended for smart-home applications that can take advantage of LoRa’s low power and lower bandwidth. The Smart Home includes a transceiver that provides low power, broad coverage for indoor, and neighborhood area IoT devices connecting to sensors and actuators for safety, environmental, and convenience use cases. 

First hearing about this, you may wonder what LoRa can do that WiFi or Bluetooth can’t. But when you add in the long-range and low-power capabilities, it makes a lot of sense, especially to have LoRa co-exist with those other protocols. While you won’t be sending video around the house over LoRa, there are some applications that could immediately benefit, like garage-door openers, smart door locks, and lighting. Such devices could come in with a lower bill of materials and a lower power specification compared to current offerings.

The new transceiver is intended for battery-powered sensors with multi-year operation. It features 600 nA of sleep current and 4.6 mA of active receive current consumption. With support for LoRa modulation for low power LAN use cases and (G)FSK modulation for legacy use cases, this device is compatible with existing LoRaWAN-based networks and supports proprietary protocols. Continuous frequency coverage from 150 to 960 MHz allows for support of all major sub-GHz ISM bands around the world.

Other features of Semtech’s LoRa Smart Home, dubbed the LLCC68, include a sensitivity to up -126 dBm, +22 dBm of output power with a high-efficiency PA, and small size (4 by 4 mm). A dcv-to-dc converter and a low-drop-out regulator are integrated into the device.

For more information, please visit: https://www.semtech.com/lora/lora-applications/smart-homes-buildings