The LoRa Alliance has expanded its certification scheme for LoRaWAN-based IoT devices to include Relay feature testing, and also authorised a new test lab in Brazil, its first in Latin America. The facility, in Atibaia, near São Paulo, is owned by German test company DEKRA. Besides, ahead of its LoRaWAN Live event in Munch at the end of the month (June 19-20), the alliance has launched an online certification process and a self-testing option for member companies.
The alliance said the updates show the “maturity” of the LoRaWAN certification scheme, which has already approved “the most” IoT devices in the low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) space. IoT providers have “multiple approaches” to certify their devices, it said, and also to be featured in its LoRaWAN Marketplace, its online brochure for developers and solution providers to browse certified components and solutions.
The Relay feature in the LoRaWAN standard is presented by the alliance as “critical… for utilities and satellites… to amplify and extend the reach of LoRaWAN”. Operators can install relays in their networks to enable longer and better signal penetration, including through obstacles like buildings, without the need for additional gateways. It goes alongside optional feature tests for things such as firmware updates over the air (FUOTA) and static context header compression (SCHC).
The authorization of DEKRA’s facility in Atibaia, in the southeast of Brazil, as a test lab (ATL) is a response to “strong growth… in the Latin America and South America regions”, said the alliance. “A local ATL means members no longer [have to] ship products outside of the continent, which offers time and cost savings,” said the LoRa Alliance in a statement. It claimed increasing membership in the region. Local testing will promise local manufacturing, it added.
The new LoRaWAN web certification system (LWCS) is supposed to automate the certification process and reduce paperwork. Basically, an LWCS account enables direct (“digital”) comms between device makers, test companies, and the alliance itself – thereby “reducing human error and unnecessary administrative time”, it said. The service works for external ATL approvals, internal self-test approvals, and also “certification by similarity”.
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The LoRa Alliance is offering members the chance to be authorized to self-test their own devices and submit results directly to it for final sign-off and certification. It stated: “[This] streamlines the… process and decreases time-to-market for new certified devices while maintaining the highest standards of quality and performance”. The alliance said it will continuously audit the capabilities of authorized members.
Donna Moore, chief executive at the LoRa Alliance, said: “IoT needs certified devices to ramp to billions of sensor deployments. The benefit of certification – knowing devices are correctly configured – underlies trust in a technology’s ability to scale. LoRaWAN already has the most certified devices and the largest variety of certified devices in the LPWAN space. [This shows] our commitment to accelerate and simplify the certification process for device manufacturers.”
Juan Carlos Soler, vice president of digital and product solutions at DEKRA, commented: “DEKRA’s designation as the first… authorized test lab in South and Latin America is a significant step to enabling global access for LoRaWAN devices. Our commitment to fostering a safe and secure worldwide adoption of LoRaWAN, while supporting local and international customers, is now strengthened by our lab in Brazil.”
Gustavo Zarife, country manager at LoRaWAN operator Everynet in Brazil, said: “This initiative… is aligned with the vibrant [market] for LoRaWAN and IoT in the region… Everynet worked with the LoRa Alliance to expand the certification program to Latin America. As a next step, Everynet will work closely with the local ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of LoRaWAN certification, and increase the quality of available devices.”