The document discusses the advantages of open source technologies, particularly FOSS and OSHW, in enhancing urban living through community collaboration and innovation. It highlights the capabilities of LoRa technology in creating smart city applications by enabling long-range communication with low power consumption, detailing various IoT applications such as utility metering and environmental monitoring. It also emphasizes the importance of community-driven infrastructure like The Things Network (TTN) in promoting local engagement and development.

1. PlovdivConf, (C) 2018 Released under CC BY-SA-3.0
How the Open Source technologies can
help your city to become an better
place to live

2. $whoami
Tsvetan Usunov – owner of OLIMEX Ltd,
an company established 27 years ago in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Dealing with electronics,
open source hardware and software and
with many customers all around the world.

3. What is FOSS?

4. What is OSHW?

5. Advantages:
People love FOSS/OSHW, as they learn
while looking at how people has solved
given problem.
Even people who do not make FOSS/
OSHW love to learn new stuff.

6. Advantages:
(for the end user)
When one product is Open source the price
is under pressure. If the author can't
manufacture effectively, competitors step in
and prices fall.

7. Advantages:
Security for the business, which uses
OSHW, that the product will be available
even if the author stop manufacturing it.
Everything is open and can be produced as
long as there is demand.

8. Advantages:
Open Source products allow modifications
and tailoring to anyones needs.

9. Advantages:
End customer has full control over the code
and documentation, everything is open,
everyone can check the code and
hardware and if there are defects to be
fixed on time.

10. Advantages:
Open Source allow better products to be
designed.
By opening the design you can benefit from
your customer enthusiasm, free
consultations and tips how to improve it.

11. Advantages:
Your customers accept these products like
their own, as they contribute during the
design. You have not just buyers, but
collaborators which supports you.

12. Advantages:
You share knowledge, but also learn at the
same time.

13. Advantages:
You show to the world, how good designer
you are and your capabilities.

14. Advantrages:
Even if everything else is equal, when you
open your design you give to your
customers more value for your product.

15. Advantages:
End user is not dependant from single
source, having all documentation makes
easy the maintenance and repairs.

16. Advantages:
Once done it can be scaled and multiplied.

17. Disadvantage:
If you are passive user, without capability to
modify and develop this product may be not
exactly what you are looking for.

18. Even in this case you have options:
- to wait someone, who can do design and
develop and have same as your needs to
do this for you free of charge;
- or to pay to someone to make the
modifications you need and other people to
benefit from your paid contribution.

19. So ... How to make our city smart and
better place to live?

21. LoRa
LoRa (Long Range) technology was
developed in Europe by French company
named Cycleo. They have been bough by
Semtech in 2012.

22. LoRa advantages
Long Range: communication up to 10-15
km in free air, up to 1-2km in the city. Allows
mid size city to be covered with only few
Gateways

23. LoRa advantages
No subscription and and data traffic taxes.

24. LoRa advantages
Radio technology easy to install and
maintain.

25. LoRa advantages
Low consumption, no need for external
power supply, can work on battery for
years.

26. LoRa advantages
Secure communication, uses Chirp Spread
Spectrum modulation, which is used for
satelite and military communication for
decades. Very hard to jam. The receiver
can receive signals which are under the
noise level.

27. LoRa advantages
Encrypted connection with AES 128.

28. LoRa disadvantages
Long Range ;) When many nodes are in
their reach they can interference. One node
transmit between 0.056 and 1.4 seconds.
Maximum 48 nodes can be received by the
Gateway at the same time. So the
theoretical maximum is 857 devices to talk
per second.

29. LoRa disadvantages
Low data transmission speed 300-5500
bps, small data payload up to 50 bytes.

30. LoRaWAN IoT infrastructure

31. LoRaWAN applications
Utility metering – remote metering for
electricity, water, gas, thermal energy.
Infrastructure monitoring, tanks with
fluids, storages open/close logging.

32. LoRaWAN applications
Tracing of cars, people, pets.

33. LoRaWAN applications
Environmental monitoring: temperature,
humidity, air pressure, dust, CO2, fires,
flooding, earthquake vibrations.

34. LoRaWAN applications
Healthcare patient monitoring, eldier
people pulse,temperature, fall SOS
sensors.

35. LoRaWAN applications
Industrial monitoring – machine work
time hours, maintenance alerts,
machine output logger, working
conditions, tank levels.

36. LoRaWAN applications
Ciry Parking management, free
parking locator apps.
Management of parking
subscriptions, different city zones.

37. LoRaWAN applications
City public transport monitoring and
logging.

38. LoRaWAN applications
City Waste containers
management, full container alerts.

39. LoRaWAN applications
City street lighting management.

40. LoRaWAN applications
Informative displays, traffic
information.

41. LoRaWAN applications
Interractive buttons. Call for
help, for hotels - taxi call.

42. LoRaWAN applications
Over the air updatable e-
labels for storage and retail
management.

43. LoRaWAN applications
Home security, fire, motion sensors.

44. LoRaWAN applications
Remote watering of green areas.

45. What is available
Motes
https://lora-alliance.org/
130+ different products in range
$12 - $500

46. One of most popular is RN2483
Microchip $9.20-$12,80
active 40mA, sleep 25 uA
(but Errata says up to 100-150 uA – less than
6 months on battery)

47. popular among hobby - R95W
transciever $4.70-$6.50, do not use
Semtech IC, no certification

48. What is on the market
Gateways
Cisco, Kerlink, Lorier $xxxx
TTG EUR 300
Cheapest solution RAK831 no
server, no antenna about $150

49. Why these Gateways are so expensive?
Semtech is single source for LoRa
gateway ICs and sells SX1301 Gateway
DSP for $50 / 1000 pcs
So there will be no cheap under $100
gateway anytime soon.

50. What if you do not want to implement
LoRaWAN but just LoRa network.
Then you do not need Gateway, you can
use single LoRa note to communicate
with all other – the disadvantage you
have to make your own protocol and to
poll the nodes. Works for small local on-
site networks.

51. The good news:
We work on OSHW LoRa and
LoraWAN solutions.

52. LoRa868 modem
Based on Semtech SX1276,
with embedded and external
antenna
Target price EUR 5.00

53. LoRa868WAN mote
Modem, Antenna, Battery
Cortex-M23, 64KB Flash, 16KB
RAM, 0.8mA active, 2uA sleep,
1.5us wakeup, LoRaWAN stack
GPIOs, ADC, DAC, SPI, I2C,
UART
Target EUR 15.00

54. LoRa868WAN-PARK
Modem, embedded antenna,
battery, Low Power MCU with
LoRaWAN stack
strong IP67 box
Low power sensitive earth
magnetic field sensor
Target price EUR 35.00

55. LoRa868WAN-LIGHT
Modem, antenna, battery, Low
Power MCU with LoRaWAN
stack, electricity metering
(burned lamp detection), RTC,
tamper protection
Target price EUR 50.00

56. LoRa868WAN-ENV
Modem, antenna, battery, IP67 box,
Low Power MCU with LoRaWAN
stack, temperature, humidity, air
pressure, dust, flooding, fire,
vibrations, CO2 sensors
Target price EUR 30-50 depend on
sensor configurations

57. FOSS Software:

58. Infrastructure made by the
community

59. TTN is all around the world

60. Even in Bulgaria

61. Even in Plovdiv

62. This is so unacceptable! Sozopol has 12
TTN gateways and Plovdiv just one!

63. How is TTN organized

64. What is the data format

66. How you can help?
- if you are good in software – you can
join TTN development
- if you are good in hardware- join our
project with ideas and tips
- or develop your own FOSS app which
ises LoRa and LoRaWAN

67. Questions?