UM2073

User manual
STM32 LoRa® software expansion for STM32Cube

Introduction
This user manual describes the LoRa® embedded expansion software implementation on
the STM32Lx Series; this software is called I-CUBE-LRWAN. This document also explains
how to interface with the LoRaWAN™ to manage the LoRa® wireless link.
LoRa® is a type of wireless telecommunication network designed to allow long range
communications at a very low bit-rate and enabling long-life battery operated sensors.
LoRaWAN™ defines the communication and security protocol that ensures the
interoperability with the LoRa® network.
The LoRa® software expansion is compliant with the LoRa Alliance™ specification protocol
named LoRaWAN™.
The I-CUBE-LRWAN main features are the following:
• Application integration ready
• Easy add-on of the low-power LoRa® solution
• Extremely low CPU load
• No latency requirements
• Small STM32 memory footprint
• Low-power timing services provided
The I-CUBE-LRWAN software is based on the STM32Cube HAL drivers (see Section 2).
This user manual provides customer application examples on NUCLEO-L053R8,
NUCLEO-L152RE and NUCLEOL476RG using Semtech expansion boards
SX1276MB1MAS, SX1276MB1LAS and SX1272MB2DAS.
This document targets the following tools:
• P-NUCLEO-LRWAN1, STM32 Nucleo pack for LoRa® technology
• B-L072Z-LRWAN1, STM32 Discovery kit embedding the CMWX1ZZABZ-091 LoRa®
module (Murata)
• I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1, LoRa® expansion board for STM32 Nucleo, based on the
WM-SG-SM-42 LPWAN module (USI®).

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Contents UM2073

Contents

1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1 Acronyms and abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 LoRa standard overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Network architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 End-device architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.2 End-device classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.3 End-device activation (joining) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.4 Regional spectrum allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Network layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
2.3.1 Physical layer (PHY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3.2 MAC sublayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4 Message flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4.1 End-device activation details (joining) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4.2 End-device data communication (class A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.5 Data flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 I-CUBE-LRWAN middleware description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 Hardware related components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4.1 Radio reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4.2 SPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4.3 RTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4.4 Interrupt lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4 I-CUBE-LRWAN middleware programming guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4.1 Middleware initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2 Middleware MAC layer functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2.1 MCPS services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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UM2073 Contents

4.2.2 MLME services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.2.3 MIB services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3 Middleware MAC layer callbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3.1 MCPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3.2 MLME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3.3 MIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3.4 Battery level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.4 Middleware utilities functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.5 Middleware utilities callbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.1 Delay Rx window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.2 Delay for MAC layer state checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.3 Delay for Tx frame transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.4 Delay for Rx frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.6 Middleware low-power functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.7 Middleware class A application function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.7.1 LoRa class A initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.7.2 LoRa class A FSM entry point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.8 LIB class A application callbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8.1 Current battery level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8.2 Board unique ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8.3 Board random seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8.4 Make Tx frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8.5 Make Rx frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5 Example description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.1 Single MCU end-device hardware description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Split end-device hardware description (two-MCUs solution) . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.3 Package description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4 End_Node application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1 Activation methods and keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.2 Debug switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.3 Sensor switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.5 PingPong application description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.6 AT_Slave application description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.7 AT_Master application description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

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6 System performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.1 Memory footprints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.2 Real-time constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.3 Power consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

7 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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UM2073 List of tables

List of tables

Table 1. List of acronyms and abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Table 2. LoRa classes intended usage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 3. LoraWAN regional spectrum allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table 4. Middleware initialization function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 5. MCPS services function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 6. MLME services function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 7. MIB services functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 8. MCPS primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 9. MLME primitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Table 10. Battery level function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Table 11. Timer server functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Table 12. Delay Rx functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 13. Delay for MAC layer state checking function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 14. Delay for Tx frame transmission function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 15. Delay for Rx frame function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 16. Middleware low-power functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Table 17. LoRa class A initialization function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Table 18. LoRa class A FSM entry point function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Table 19. Current battery level function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 20. Board unique ID function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 21. Board random seed function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 22. Make Tx frame function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 23. Make Rx frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 24. Nucleo-based supported hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 25. LoRa radio expansion boards characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 26. STM32L0xx IRQ priorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table 27. Switch options for the application's configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 28. BSP programming guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 29. Memory footprint values for End_Node application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 30. Document revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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List of figures UM2073

List of figures

Figure 1. Network diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 2. TX/Rx time diagram (class A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 3. Tx/Rx time diagram (class B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 4. Tx/Rx time diagram (class C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 5. LoRaWAN layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 6. Message sequence chart for joining (MLME primitives) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 7. Message sequence chart for confirmed-data (MCPS primitives) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 8. Message sequence chart for unconfirmed-data (MCPS primitives) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 9. Data flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 10. Project files structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Figure 11. Main design of the firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 12. Operation model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 13. LoRa state machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Figure 14. Concept for split end-device solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Figure 15. I-CUBE-LRWAN structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Figure 16. PingPong setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Figure 17. Rx/Tx time diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Figure 18. STM32L0 current consumption against time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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UM2073 Overview

1 Overview

1.1 Acronyms and abbreviations

Table 1. List of acronyms and abbreviations
Term Definition

ABP Activation by personalization

APP Application
API Application programming interface
BSP Board support package
FSM Finite state machine
HAL Hardware abstraction layer
IOT Internet of things
LoRa Long range radio technology
LoRaWan LoRa wide-area network
LPWAN Low-power, wide-area network
MAC Media access control
MCPS MAC common part sublayer
MIB MAC information base
MLME MAC sublayer management entity
MPDU MAC protocol data unit
OTAA Over-this-air activation
PLME Physical sublayer management entity
PPDU Physical protocol data unit
SAP Service access point

1.2 References
• LoRa Alliance specification protocol named LoRaWAN version V1.0 - 2015, January -
Released
• IEEE Std 802.15.4TM - 2011. Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-
WPANs)

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LoRa standard overview UM2073

2 LoRa standard overview

2.1 Overview
This section provides a general overview of the LoRa and LoRaWAN recommendations,
focusing in particular on the LoRa end-device which is the core subject of this user manual.
LoRa is a type of wireless telecommunication network designed to allow long range
communication at a very low bit-rate and enabling long-life battery operated sensors.
LoRaWAN defines the communication and security protocol ensuring the interoperability
with the LoRa network.
The LoRa software expansion is compliant with the LoRa Alliance specification protocol
named LoRaWAN.
Table 2 shows the LoRa classes usage definition. Refer to Section 2.2.2 for further details
on these classes.

Table 2. LoRa classes intended usage

Class name Intended usage

– Battery powered sensors or actuators with no latency

constraint.
A - All
– Most energy efficient communication class
– Must be supported by all devices.
– Battery powered actuators.
– Energy efficient communication class for latency controlled
B - Beacon downlink.
– Based on slotted communication synchronized with a
network beacon.
– Main powered actuators.
C - Continuous – Devices which can afford to listen continuously.
– No latency for downlink communication.

Note: While the physical layer of LoRa is proprietary, the rest of the protocol stack (LoRaWAN) is
kept open and its development is carried out by the LoRa Alliance.

2.2 Network architecture

LoRaWAN network is structured in a star of stars topology, where the end-devices are
connected via a single LoRa link to one gateway as shown in Figure 1.

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UM2073 LoRa standard overview

Figure 1. Network diagram

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2.2.1 End-device architecture

The end-device is made of an RF transceiver (also known as radio) and a host STM32
MCU. The RF transceiver is composed of a modem and an RF up-converter. The MCU
implements the radio driver, the LoRaWan stack and optionally the sensor drivers.

2.2.2 End-device classes

The LoRaWAN has several different classes of end-point devices, addressing the different
needs reflected in the wide range of applications.

Bi-directional end-devices - class A - (all devices)

• Class A operation is the lowest-power end-device system
• Each end-device uplink transmission is followed by two short downlink receive
windows
• Downlink communication from the server shortly after the end-device has sent an
uplink transmission (see Figure 2)
• Transmission slot is based on own communication needs of the end-device (ALOHA-
type of protocol).

Figure 2. TX/Rx time diagram (class A)

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LoRa standard overview UM2073

Bi-directional end-devices with scheduled receive slots - class B - (beacon)

• Mid power consumption
• Class B devices open extra receive windows at scheduled times (see Figure 3)
• In order for the end-device to open the receive window at the scheduled time, it
receives a time-synchronized beacon from the gateway.

Figure 3. Tx/Rx time diagram (class B)

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Bi-directional end-devices with maximal receive slots - class C - (continuous)

• Large power consumption
• End-devices of class C have nearly continuously open receive windows, only closed
when transmitting (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Tx/Rx time diagram (class C)

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2.2.3 End-device activation (joining)

Over-the-air activation (OTAA)
The OTAA is a joining procedure for the LoRa end-device to participate in a LoRa network.
Both the LoRa end-device and the application server share the same secret key known as
AppKey. During a joining procedure, the LoRa end-device and the application server
exchange inputs to generate two session keys:
• a network session key (NwkSKey) for MAC commands encryption
• an application session key (AppSKey) for application data encryption

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Activation by personalization (ABP)

In the case of ABP, the NwkSkey and AppSkey are already stored in the LoRa end-device
that sends the data directly to the LoRa network.

2.2.4 Regional spectrum allocation

The LoRaWAN specification varies slightly from region to region. The European, North
American and Asian markets have different spectrum allocations and regulatory
requirements. See Table 3 for more details.

Table 3. LoraWAN regional spectrum allocation

Region Supported Band [MHz] Duty cycle Output power

EU Y 868 <1 % +14 dBm

EU Y 433 <1 % +10 dBm
<2 % (BW<250 kHz) or
US Y 915 <4 % (BW>=250 kHz) +20 dBm
Transmission slot < 0.4 s
CN N 779 <0.1 % +10 dBm

2.3 Network layer

The LoRaWAN architecture is defined in terms of blocks, also called “layers”. Each layer is
responsible for one part of the standard and it offers services to higher layers.
The end-device is made at least of one physical layer (PHY), which embeds the radio
frequency transceiver, a MAC sublayer providing access to the physical channel, and an
Application layer (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. LoRaWAN layers

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2.3.1 Physical layer (PHY)

The physical layer provides two services:
• the PHY data service which enables the Tx/Rx of physical protocol data units (PPDUs)
• the PHY management service which enables the personal area network information
base (PIB) management.

2.3.2 MAC sublayer

The MAC sublayer provides two services:
• the MAC data service which enables the transmission and reception of MAC protocol
data units (MPDU) across the physical layer
• the MAC management service which enables the PIB management.

2.4 Message flow

This section describes the information flow between the N-user and the N-layer. The
request to a service is done through a service primitive.

2.4.1 End-device activation details (joining)

Before communicating on the LoRaWAN network, the end-device has to be associated or
activated following one of the two activation methods described in Section 2.2.3.
The message sequence chart (MSC) in Figure 6 shows the OTAA activation method.

Figure 6. Message sequence chart for joining (MLME primitives)

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2.4.2 End-device data communication (class A)

The end-device transmits data by one of the following methods: through a confirmed-data
message method (see Figure 7) or through an unconfirmed-data message (see Figure 8).
In the first method, the end-device requires an "Ack" (acknowledgment) to be done by the
receiver while in the second method, the "Ack" is not required.
When an end-device sends data with an "Ackreq" (acknowledgment request), the end-
device should wait during an acknowledgment duration (“AckWaitDuration") to receive the
acknowledgment frame (refer to Section 4.3.1: MCPS).
If the acknowledgment frame is received, then the transmission is successful, else the
transmission failed.

Figure 7. Message sequence chart for confirmed-data (MCPS primitives)

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Figure 8. Message sequence chart for unconfirmed-data (MCPS primitives)

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2.5 Data flow

The data integrity is ensured by the network session key (NwkSKey) and the application
session key (AppSKey). The NwkSKey is used to encrypt and decrypt the MAC payload
data and the AppSKey is used to encrypt and decrypt the application payload data. See
Figure 9 for the data flow representation.

Figure 9. Data flow

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The NwkSKey is shared between the end-device and the network server. The NwkSKey
provides message integrity for the communication and provides security for the end-device
towards the network server communication.
The AppSKey is shared between the end-device and the application server. The AppSKey
is used to encrypt/decrypt the application data. In other words, the AppSKey provides
security for the application’s payload. In this way, the application data sent by an end-device
can not be interpreted by the network server.

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3 I-CUBE-LRWAN middleware description

3.1 Overview
This I-CUBE-LRWAN package offers a LoRa stack middleware for STM32 microcontrollers.
This middleware is split into several modules:
• LoRaMac layer module
• LoRa utilities module
• LoRa crypto module
• LoRa core module
The LoRa core module implements a LoRa state machine coming on top of the LoRaMac
layer. The LoRa stack module interfaces with the BSP Semtech radio driver module.
This middleware is provided in source-code format and is compliant which the STM32Cube
Hal driver.
Refer to Figure 10 for the structure of the project files.

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Figure 10. Project files structure

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The I-CUBE-LRWAN package includes:

• The LoRa stack middleware:
– LoRaWAN layer
– LoRa utilities such as timer server, power management and delay management
– LoRa software crypto engine
– LoRa state machine
• Board support package:
– Radio Semtech drivers
– Sensor ST drivers
• STM32L0 HAL drivers
• LoRa main application example

3.2 Features
• Compliant with the specification for the LoRa Alliance protocol named LoRaWAN
• On-board LoRaWAN class A and class C protocol stack
• EU 868MHz ISM band ETSI compliant
• EU 433MHz ISM band ETSI compliant
• US 915MHz ISM band FCC compliant
• End-device activation either through over-the-air activation (OTAA) or through
activation-by-personalization (ABP)
• Adaptive data rate support
• LoRaWAN test application for certification tests included
• Low-power optimized

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3.3 Architecture
Figure 11 describes the main design of the firmware for the I-CUBE-LRWAN application.

Figure 11. Main design of the firmware

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The HAL uses Cube APIs to drive the MCU hardware required by the application. Only
specific hardware is included in the LoRa middleware as it is mandatory to run a LoRa
application.
The RTC provides a centralized time unit which continues to run even in Low-power mode
(Stop mode). The RTC alarm is used to wake up the system at specific timings managed by
the timer server.
The radio driver uses the SPI and the GPIO hardware to control the radio (see Figure 11).
The radio driver also provides a set of APIs to be used by higher level software.
The LoRa radio is provided by Semtech, though the APIs have been slightly modified to
interface with the STM32Cube HAL.
The radio driver is split in two parts:
• The sx1276.c (or sx1272.c) contains all functions which are radio dependent only.
• The sx1276mb1mas.c, sx1276mb1las and sx1272mb2das contain all the radio board
dependent functions.
The MAC controls the PHY using 802.15.4 model. The MAC interfaces with the PHY driver
and uses the timer server to add or remove timed tasks and to take care of the
'Tx time on air'. This action ensures that the duty-cycle limitation mandated by the ETSI is
respected and also carries out AES encryption/decryption algorithm to cypher the MAC
header and the payload.
Since the state machine, that controls the LoRa class A, is sensitive, an intermediate level
of software has been inserted (lora.c) between the MAC and the application

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(refer to MAC’s “upper layer” on Figure 11). With a set of APIs limited as of now, the user is
free to implement the class A state machine at application level.
The application, built around an infinite loop, manages the low-power, runs the interrupt
handlers (alarm or GPIO) and calls the LoRa class A if any task has to be done. This
application also implements the sensor read access.

3.4 Hardware related components

3.4.1 Radio reset

One GPIO from the MCU is used to reset the radio.This action is done once at the
initialization of the hardware (refer to Table 25: LoRa radio expansion boards characteristics
and to Section 5.1: Single MCU end-device hardware description).

3.4.2 SPI
The sx127x radio registers are accessed through the SPI bus at 1 Mbit/s (refer to Table 25
and to Section 5.1).

3.4.3 RTC
The RTC calendar is used as a timer engine running in all power modes from the 32 kHz
external oscillator. By default, the RTC is programed to provide 1024 ticks (sub-seconds)
per second. The RTC is programed once at initialization of the hardware when the MCU
starts for the first time. The RTC output is limited to a 32-bit timer that is around a 48 days
period.
If the user needs to change the tick duration, note that the tick duration should remain below
1 ms.

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3.4.4 Interrupt lines

Four GPIO lines are dedicated to receive the interrupts from the radio (refer to Table 25 and
to Section 5.1).
The DIO0 is used to signal that the LoRa radio has successfully completed a requested task
(TxDone or RxDone).
The DIO1 is used to signal that the radio has failed to complete a requested task
(RxTimeout).
In FSK mode, a FIFO-level interrupt signals that the FIFO-level has reached a predefined
threshold and needs to be flushed.
The DIO2 is used in FSK mode and signals that the radio has successfully detected a
preamble.
The DIO3 is reserved for future use.
Note: The FSK mode in LoRaWAN has the fastest data rate at 50 kbit/s.

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4 I-CUBE-LRWAN middleware programming guidelines

This section gives a description of the LoRaMac layer APIs. The PHY layer being
proprietary (see Section 2.1: Overview) is out of the scope of this user manual and has to be
viewed as a black box.

4.1 Middleware initialization

The initialization of the LoRaMac layer is done through the "LoraMacinitialization" function.
This function does the preamble run time initialization of the LoRaMac layer and initializes
the callback primitives of the MCPS and MLME services (see Table 4).

Table 4. Middleware initialization function

Function Description

LoRaMacStatus_t LoRaMacInitialization Do initialization of the LoRaMac layer module

(LoRAMacPrimitives_t *primitives, (see Section 4.3: Middleware MAC layer
LoRaMacCallback_t *callback) callbacks)

4.2 Middleware MAC layer functions

The provided APIs follow the definition of “primitive” defined in IEEE802.15.4-2011 (see
Section 1.2: References).
The interfacing with the LoRaMac is made through the request-confirm and the indication-
response architecture. The application layer is able to perform a request, which the
LoRaMAC layer confirms with a confirm primitive. Conversely, the LoRaMAC layer notifies
an application layer with the indication primitive in case of any event.
The application layer may respond to an indication with the response primitive. Therefore all
the confirm/indication are implemented using callbacks.
The LoRaMAC layer provides MCPS services, MLME services and MIB services.

4.2.1 MCPS services

In general, the LoRaMAC layer uses the MCPS services for data transmissions and data
receptions (see Table 5).

Table 5. MCPS services function

Function Description

LoRaMacStatus_t LoRaMacMcpsRequest
Requests to send Tx data
(McpsReq_t *mcpsRequest)

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4.2.2 MLME services

The LoRaMAC layer uses the MLME services to manage the LoRaWAN network
(see Table 6).

Table 6. MLME services function

Function Description

LoRaMacStatus_t LoRaMacMlmeRequest Used to generate a join request or request for a

(MlmeReq_t *mlmeRequest) link check

4.2.3 MIB services

The MIB stores important runtime information (such as MIB_NETWORK_JOINED,
MIB_NET_ID) and holds the configuration of the LoRaMAC layer (for example the
MIB_ADR, MIB_APP_KEY). The provided APIs are presented in Table 7.

Table 7. MIB services functions

Function Description

LoRaMacStatus_t LoRaMacMibSetRequestConfirm
To set attributes of the LoRaMac layer
(MibRequestConfirm_t *mibSet)
LoRaMacStatus_t LoRaMacMibGetRequestConfirm
To get attributes of the LoRaMac layer
(MibRequestConfirm_t *mibGet)

4.3 Middleware MAC layer callbacks

Refer to Section 4.1: Middleware initialization for the description of the LoRaMac user event
functions primitives and the callback functions.

4.3.1 MCPS
In general, the LoRaMAC layer uses the MCPS services for data transmission and data
reception (see Table 8).

Table 8. MCPS primitives

Function Description

Event function primitive for the called callback to be

void (*MacMcpsConfirm)
implemented by the application. Response to a
(McpsConfirm_t *McpsConfirm)
McpsRequest
Event function primitive for the called callback to be
Void (*MacMcpsIndication)
implemented by the application. Notifies application that a
(McpsIndication_t *McpsIndication)
received packet is available

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4.3.2 MLME
The LoRaMAC layer uses the MLME services to manage the LoRaWAN network
(see Table 9).

Table 9. MLME primitive

Function Description

void (*MacMlmeConfirm) Event function primitive so called callback to be

(MlmeConfirm_t *MlmeConfirm) implemented by the application

4.3.3 MIB
N/A

4.3.4 Battery level

The LoRaMAC layer needs a battery-level measuring service (see Table 10).

Table 10. Battery level function

Function Description

uint8_t HW_GetBatteryLevel (void) Get the measured battery level

4.4 Middleware utilities functions

A timer server is provided so that the user is able to request timed-tasks execution. As the
hardware timer is based on the RTC, the time is always counted, even in Low-power modes.
The timer server provides a reliable clock for the user and the LoRa stack. The user may
request as many timers as the application requires.
Four APIs are provided as shown in Table 11:

Table 11. Timer server functions

Function Description

void TimerInit Initialize the timer and associate a callback

(TimerEvent_t *obj, void (*callback) (void)) function when timer elapses
void TimerSetValue
Set the timer a timeout value on milliseconds
(TimerEvent_t *obj, uint32_t value)
void TimerStart (TimerEvent_t *obj) Start the timer
void TimerStop (TimerEvent_t *obj) Stop the timer

The timer server is located in Middlewares\Third_Party\Lora\Utilities.

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4.5 Middleware utilities callbacks

4.5.1 Delay Rx window

Refer to Section 2.2.2: End-device classes. See Table 12 for the delay Rx functions.

Table 12. Delay Rx functions

Function Description

Set the RxDelay1 (ReceiveDelayX -

void OnRxWindow1TimerEvent (void)
RADIO_WAKEUP_TIME)
void OnRxWindow2TimerEvent (void) Set the RxDelay2

4.5.2 Delay for MAC layer state checking

Table 13 presents the function for the delay for MAC layer state.

Table 13. Delay for MAC layer state checking function

Function Description

Check the state of the MAC every

void OnMacStateCheckTimerEvent (void)
"MAC_STATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT"

4.5.3 Delay for Tx frame transmission

Table 14 presents the function for delay for the Tx frame transmission.

Table 14. Delay for Tx frame transmission function

Function Description

void OnTxDelayedTimerEvent (void) Set timer for Tx frame transmission

void OnTxNextPacketTimerEvent (void) Set timeout for next packet Tx scheduling

4.5.4 Delay for Rx frame

Table 15 presents the function for the delay for Rx frame.

Table 15. Delay for Rx frame function

Function Description

void OnAckTimeoutTimerEvent (void) Set timeout for received frame acknowledgment

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4.6 Middleware low-power functions

The APIs presented in Table 16 allow to manage the Low-power mode of the core MCU.

Table 16. Middleware low-power functions

Function Description

void LowPower_Disable Disable the Low-power mode following the state

(e_LOW_POWER_State_Id_t state) parameter
void LowPower_Enable Enable the Low-power mode following the state
(e_LOW_POWER_State_Id_t state) parameter
uint32_t LowPower_GetState (void) Get the current low-power state
void LowPower_Handler (void) Cortex M deep-sleep management

4.7 Middleware class A application function

The interface to the MAC is done through the MAC interface file "LoRaMac.h".

Standard mode
In standard mode, an interface file (see MAC upper layer in Figure 11) is provided to let the
user start without worrying about the LoRa state machine. The interface file is located in
Middlewares\Third_Party\Lora\Core\lora.c.
The interface file implements:
• an example of finite state machine managing the LoRaMAC
• the LoRa certification test cases that are not visible to the application layer

Advanced mode
In this mode, the user accesses directly the MAC layer by including the MAC in the user file.

Operation model
The model of operation proposed for this LoRa class A (see Figure 12) is based on finite
state machine (FSM) running in the main thread of the application. LoRa FSM transition is
triggered either by a timer event or by a radio event.

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Figure 12. Operation model

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LoRa state machine

Figure 13 describes the state machine of LoRa.
On reset after system initialization done, LoRa FSM goes into “DEVICE_STATE_INIT”.
The LoRa FSM does a join network request when using the “over_the_air_activation”
method and goes into “DEVICE_STATE_SLEEP”.
When using the “activation by personalization”, the network is already joined and therefore
jumps directly to state send.
From “DEVICE_STATE_SLEEP”, if the end-device has joined the network when a
“TimerEvent” occurs, the LoRa FSM goes into a temporary DEVICE_STATE_JOINED
before going into DEVICE_STATE_SEND.
From “DEVICE_STATE_SLEEP”, if the end-device has joined the network when an
“OnSendEvent” occurs, the LoRa FSM goes into DEVICE_STATE_SEND.

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From “DEVICE_STATE_SLEEP”, if the end-device has not joined the network when a
“TimerEvent” or “OnSendEvent” occurs, the LoRa FSM goes into DEVICE_STATE_JOIN. In
this case the LoRa FSM requests a new join network request.
From “DEVICE_STATE_SEND”, the LoRa FSM prepares and sends Tx packets (if any).
Then the LoRa FSM goes into “DEVICE_STATE_SLEEP”.
On “OnSendEvent”, the LoRa FSM goes back to the “DEVICE_STATE_SEND” to send next
scheduled packet.

Figure 13. LoRa state machine

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4.7.1 LoRa class A initialization

Table 17. LoRa class A initialization function

Function Description

void lora_Init Initialization of the LoRa class A

(LoRaMainCallback_t *callbacks, LoRaParam_t* LoRaParamInit) finite state machine

4.7.2 LoRa class A FSM entry point

Table 18. LoRa class A FSM entry point function

Function Description

void lora_fsm (void) LoRa class A FSM entry point

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4.8 LIB class A application callbacks

4.8.1 Current battery level

Table 19 presents the current battery level function.

Table 19. Current battery level function

Function Description

uint8_t HW_GetBatteryLevel (void) Get the battery level

4.8.2 Board unique ID

Table 20 presents the board unique ID function.

Table 20. Board unique ID function

Function Description

void HW_GetUniqueId (uint8_t *id) Get a unique Identifier

4.8.3 Board random seed

Table 21 presents the board random seed function.

Table 21. Board random seed function

Function Description

uint32_t HW_GetRandomSeed (void) Get a random seed value

4.8.4 Make Tx frame

Table 22 presents the make Tx frame function.

Table 22. Make Tx frame function

Function Description

void LoraTxData To prepare and format a CONFIRMED or

(lora_AppData_t *AppData, UNCONFIRMED frame application to be sent.
FunctionalState* IsTxConfirmed) The user is free to implement its own code here

4.8.5 Make Rx frame

Table 23 presents the make Rx frame function.

Table 23. Make Rx frame

Function Description

To prepare and format a CONFIRMED or

void LoraRxData (lora_AppData_t *AppData) UNCONFIRMED frame application to be sent.
The user is free to implement its own code here

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5 Example description

5.1 Single MCU end-device hardware description

The Application layer, the Mac Layer and the PHY driver are implemented on one MCU. The
End_Node application is implementing this hardware solution (see Section 5.4)
The I-CUBE-LRWAN runs on several platforms such as:
• STM32 Nucleo platform stacked with a LoRa radio expansion board
• B-L072Z-LRWAN1 Discovery board (no LoRa expansion board required)
Optionally a ST X-NUCLEO-IKS01A1 sensor expansion board can be added on Nucleo and
Discovery boards. The Nucleo-based supported hardware is presented in Table 24.

Table 24. Nucleo-based supported hardware

LoRa radio expansion
SX1276MB1MAS SX1276MB1LAS SX1272MB2DAS
board / Nucleo board

NUCLEO-L053R8 Supported Supported Supported

Supported
NUCLEO-L073RZ Supported Supported (P-NUCLEO-
LRWAN1(1))
NUCLEO-L152RE Supported Supported Supported
NUCLEO-L476RG Supported Supported Supported
1. This particular configuration is commercially available as a kit P-NUCLEO-LRWAN1.

The I-CUBE-LRWAN software expansion package can easily be tailored to any other
supported device and development board.
The main characteristics of the LoRa radio expansion board are described in Table 25.

Table 25. LoRa radio expansion boards characteristics

Board Characteristics

SX1276MB1MAS 868 MHz (HF) at 14 dBm and 433 MHz (LF) at 14 dBm
SX1276MB1LAS 915 MHz (HF) at 20 dBm and 433 MHz (LF) at 14 dBm
SX1272MB2DAS 915 MHz and 868 MHz at 14 dBm

The radio interface is described below:

• The radio registers are accessed through the SPI
• Three interrupt lines are mandatory: DIO0, DIO1 and DIO2. The DIO3, DIO4 and DIO5
lines are not essential to run a LoRa link as only the DIO0, DIO1 and DIO2 are used in
this application
• One GPIO from the MCU is used to reset the radio
• One MCU pin is used to control the antenna switch to set it either in Rx mode or in Tx
mode.

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The hardware mapping is described in the hardware configuration files at:

• Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\classA\inc\platform_hw_conf.h for End_Node project
• Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\PingPong\inc\platform_hw_conf.h for PingPong
project
At any of above locations, the platform can be either STM32L0xx, STM32L1xx, STM32L4xx
or MLM32L0xx (Murata modem device).

Interrupts
Table 26 shows the interrupt priorities level applicable for the Cortex system processor
exception and for the STM32L0 Series LoRa application-specific interrupt (IRQ).

Table 26. STM32L0xx IRQ priorities

Interrupt name Preempt priority Subpriority

RTC 0 NA
EXTI2_3 0 NA
EXTI4_15 0 NA

5.2 Split end-device hardware description (two-MCUs solution)

The Application layer, the Mac Layer, and the PHY driver are separated. The LoRa
End_Node is composed of a LoRa modem and a host controller. The LoRa modem is
running the Lora stack (Mac Layer and the Phy Layer) and is controlled by a Lora host
implementing the application layer.
The AT_Master application implementing the Lora host on a NUCLEO board, is compatible
with the AT_Slave application (see Section 5.6). The AT_Slave application demonstrates a
modem on the CMWX1ZZABZ-091 LoRa module (Murata). The AT_Master application is
also compatible with the I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 expansion board featuring the WM-SG-SM-
42 LPWAN module from USI (see Section 5.7).
This split solution allows to design the application layer without any constraint linked to the
real time requirement of LoRaWAN stack.

Figure 14. Concept for split end-device solution

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The interface between the LoRa modem and the LoRa host is a UART running AT
commands.

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5.3 Package description

When the user unzips the I-CUBE-LRWAN, the package presents the structure shown in
Figure 15.
Figure 15. I-CUBE-LRWAN structure

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The I-CUBE-LRWAN package contains four applications: End_Node, PingPong, AT_Slave

and AT_Master. For each application, three toolchains are available: MDK-ARM, IAR and
SW4STM32.

5.4 End_Node application

This application reads the temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure from the
sensors through the I2C. The MCU measures the supplied voltage through VREFLNT in order
to calculate the battery level. These four data (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure
and battery level) are sent periodically to the LoRa network using the LoRa radio in class A
at 868 MHz.
In order to launch the LoRa End_Node project, the user should go to
\Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\End_Node and choose his favorite toolchain folder (in the
IDE environment). The user selects then the LoRa project from the proper target board.

5.4.1 Activation methods and keys

There are two ways to activate a device on the network, either by OTAA or by ABP.
The file \Projects\\Multi\Applications\LoRa\End_Node\comissioning.h gathers all the data
related to the device activation. The chosen method, along with the commissioning data, are
printed on the virtual port and visible on a terminal.

5.4.2 Debug switch

The user must go to \Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\End_Node\inc\hw_conf.h to enable
the debug mode or/and the trace mode by commenting out
#define DEBUG/ #define TRACE.
The debug mode enables the DBG_GPIO_SET and the DBG_GPIO_RST macros as well
as the debugger mode even when the MCU goes in low-power. The trace mode enables the
DBG_PRINTF macro.
Note: In order to enable a true low-power, both “#define” mentioned above must be commented
out.

5.4.3 Sensor switch

When no sensor expansion board is plugged on the set-up, the #define
SENSOR_ENBALED must be commented out on the
\Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\End_Node\inc\hw_conf.h.
Table 27 provides a summary of the main options for the application configuration.

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Table 27. Switch options for the application's configuration

Project Switch option Definition Location

Application uses over-the- air

OVER_THE_AIR_ACTIVATION Commissioning
activation procedure
Static or dynamic end- device
STATIC_DEVICE_EUI Commissioning
identification
Static or dynamic end- device
STATIC_DEVICE_ADDRESS Commissioning
address
REGION_EU868

LoRa REGION_EU433
stack REGION_US915
REGION_AS923
REGION_AU915 Enable the EU band selection Compiler option setting
REGION_CN470
REGION_CN779
REGION_IN865
REGION_KR920
DEBUG Enable "Led on/off" hw_conf.h
TRACE Enable "printf". hw_conf.h
Sensor
Enable the call to the sensor
SENSOR_ENABLED hw_conf.h
board

Note: The maximum payload length allowed depends on both the region and the selected data
rate, so the payload format must be carefully designed according to these parameters.

5.5 PingPong application description

This application is a simple Rx/Tx RF link between two LoRa end-devices. By default, each
LoRa end-device starts as a master and transmits a "Ping" message and wait for an answer.
The first LoRa end-device receiving a "Ping" message becomes a slave and answers the
master with a "Pong" message. The PingPong is then started.
In order to launch the PingPong project, the user must go to the
"\Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\PingPong” folder and follow the same procedure as for
the LoRa End_Node project to launch the preferred toolchain.
Hardware and software set-up environment
To setup the STM32LXxx-NUCLEO, connect the NUCLEO (or the B-L072Z-LRWAN1)
board to the computer with a USB cable type A to mini B to the ST-LINK connector (CN1).
Ensure that the CN2 ST-LINK connector jumpers are fitted. See Figure 16 for a
representation of the PingPong setup.

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Example description UM2073

Figure 16. PingPong setup

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5.6 AT_Slave application description

The purpose of this example is to implement a LoRa modem controlled though AT
command interface over UART by an external host.
The external host can be a host-microcontroller embedding the application and the AT driver
or simply a computer executing a terminal.
This application is targeting the B-L072Z-LRWAN1 Discovery board embedding the
CMWX1ZZABZ-091 LoRa module. This application uses the Cube Low Layer drivers APIs
targeting the STM32L072CZ to optimize the code size.
The AT_Slave example implements the Lora stack driving the built-in LoRa radio. The stack
is controlled through AT command interface over UART. The modem is always in Stop mode
unless it processes an AT command from the external host.
In order to launch the AT_Slave project, the user must go to the
"\Projects\Multi\Applications\LoRa\AT_Slave” folder and follow the same procedure as for
the LoRa End_Node project to launch the preferred toolchain.
For more details, refer to the application note AN4967 which gives the list of AT commands
and their description.

5.7 AT_Master application description

The purpose of this application is to read sensor data and to send them to a Lora Network
through an external Lora Modem. The AT_Master application implements a complete set of
AT commands to drive the LoRa stack which is embedded in the external LoRA modem.
External LoRA modem is targeting either the B-L072Z-LRWAN1 Discovery board or the I-
NUCLEO-LRWAN1 board (based on the WM-SG-SM-42 USI module).
This application uses the STM32Cube HAL drivers APIs targeting the STM32L0 Series.
For more details, refer to the application note AN4967 which gives the list of AT commands
and their description.

BSP programming guidelines

Table 28 gives a description of the BSP (board support package) driver APIs to interface
with the external LoRa module.

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Table 28. BSP programming guidelines

Function Description

ATEerror_t Modem_IO_Init (void) Modem initialization

void Modem_IO_DeInit (void) Modem de-initialization
ATEerror_t Modem_AT_Cmd (ATGroup_t,
Modem IO commands
at_group, ATCmd_t Cmd, void *pdata)

Note: The NUCLEO board communicates with expansion board via UART (PA2,PA3). The
following modifications shall be applied: (cf. chapter 5.8 of UM1724).
• SB62 and SB63 should be closed
• SB13 and SB14 should be opened to disconnect STM32 UART from STLINK

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6 System performances

6.1 Memory footprints

The values in Table 29 have been measured for the following configuration of the Keil
compiler (ARM compiler 5.05):
• Optimization: optimized for size level 3
• Debug option: off
• Trace option: off
• Target: P-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 (STM32L073+ SX1272MB2DAS)

Table 29. Memory footprint values for End_Node application

Project Flash (bytes) RAM (bytes) Description

Application layer 8014 190 Includes all microlib

LoRa stack 16054 2412 Includes MAC + RF driver
Hardware abstraction level 11413 1390 -
Memory footprint for the
Total application 35564 4256
overall application

6.2 Real-time constraints

The LoRa RF asynchronous protocol implies to follow a strict TX/Rx timing recommendation
(see Figure 17 for a Tx/Rx diagram example). The SX1276MB1MAS expansion board has
been optimized for user-transparent low-lock time and fast auto-calibrating operation. The
LoRa software expansion design integrates the transmitter startup time and the receiver
startup time constraints.

Figure 17. Rx/Tx time diagram

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Rx window channel start

The Rx window opens the RECEIVE_DELAY1 for 1second (+/- 20 microseconds) or the
JOIN_ACCEPT_DELAY1 for 5 seconds (+/- 20 microseconds) after the end of the uplink
modulation.
The current scheduling interrupt-level priority has to be respected. In other words, all the
new user-interrupts must have an interrupt priority > DI0#n interrupt (see Table 26) in order
to avoid stalling the received startup time.

6.3 Power consumption

The power-consumption measurement has been established for the Nucleo boards
associated to the SX1276MB1MAS shield.

Measurements setup:
• No DEBUG
• No TRACE
• No SENSOR_ENABLED

Measurements results:
• Typical consumption in stop mode: 1.3 µA
• Typical consumption in run mode: 8.0 mA

Measurements figures:
• Instantaneous consumption over 30 seconds
The Figure 17 shows an example of the current consumption against time on a
microcontroller of the STM32L0 Series.

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Figure 18. STM32L0 current consumption against time

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7 Revision history

Table 30. Document revision history

Date Revision Changes

27-Jun-2016 1 Initial release.

Updated:
– Introduction
– Section 2.1: Overview
10-Nov-2016 2
– Section 3.2: Features
– Section 5: Example description
– Section 6: System performances
Updated:
– Introduction with reference to the CMWX1ZZABZ-xxx
LoRa module (Murata).
– Section 5.1: Hardware description: 3rd hardware
4-Jan-2017 3 configuration file added.
– Section 5.2: Package description: AT_Slave
application added.
Added:
– Section 5.5: AT_Slave application description
Updated:
– Introduction with I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 LoRa
expansion board.
– Figure 10: Project files structure
– Section 5.1: Single MCU end-device hardware
description
– Figure 15: I-CUBE-LRWAN structure
– Section 5.4: End_Node application
– Section Table 27.: Switch options for the application's
21-Feb-2017 4 configuration
– Section 5.5: PingPong application description
– Section 5.6: AT_Slave application description
– Table 29: Memory footprint values for End_Node
application
Added:
– Section 5.2: Split end-device hardware description
(two-MCUs solution)
– Section 5.7Section 5.7: AT_Master application
description.
Added:
– Note to Section 5.4: End_Node application on
maximum payload length allowed
18-Jul-2017 5
– Note to Section 5.7: AT_Master application
description on the NUCLEO board communication
with expansion board via UART

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