Compact server for private LoRa networks

Open-source LoRaWAN Server that integrates both the network-server and the application-server. This is useful for application providers that operate their own LoRa network, or for device and application developers.

The server:

• Communicates with (any number of) remote LoRaWAN gateways. It currently supports:
  • All gateways based on the Packet Forwarder, such as the Semtech LoRa demo kit and LORANK-8 gateways.
• Performs all required encryption and integrity checks.
• Invokes modules with the application logic. It provides examples for:
  • Semtech/IMST LoRaMote
  • Microchip LoRa(TM) Technology Mote
• Supports (any number of) Class A devices.
• Supports both the activation by personalization and the over-the-air activation.
• Supports unconfirmed data uplink and downlink.
• Supports the EU 868 band.
• Runs on all major operating systems, including Windows, Linux, OS X and Solaris, even in a Docker container.
• Is free, distributed under the MIT license.

The server aims to be an all-in-one software package for small private LoRa networks. However:

• You still need to buy your LoRaWAN Gateway.
• You will need to deploy and maintain it yourself. (With my support.)
• It will probably never support the sophisticated management features of the commercial-grade network-servers.

Let me know if you (intend to) use the lorawan-server. The API may change and some functions may not be implemented. I will gladly assist you. Please add an Issue if you find a bug or miss a feature.

Installation

You will need the Erlang/OTP 18 or later.

• On Linux, try typing yum install erlang or apt-get install erlang.
• On Windows, install the 32-bit or 64-bit Binary File.

Then download the binary release lorawan-server-0.1.0.tar.gz and unpack it by:

mkdir lorawan-server
mv lorawan-server-0.1.0.tar.gz lorawan-server/
cd lorawan-server
tar -zxvf lorawan-server-0.1.0.tar.gz

Review the lorawan-server/releases/0.1.0/sys.config with the server configuration. For example:

[{lorawan_server, [
    % UDP port listening for packets from the packet_forwarder Gateway
    {forwarder_port, 1680},
    % HTTP port for web-administration and REST API
    {http_admin_port, 8080},
    % default username and password for the admin interface
    {http_admin_credentials, {<<"admin">>, <<"admin">>}}
]}].

You may need to enable communication channels from LoRaWAN gateways in your firewall. If you use the firewalld (Fedora, RHEL, CentOS) do:

cp lorawan-forwarder.xml /usr/lib/firewalld/services
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=lorawan-forwarder
firewall-cmd --reload

Configuration of the packet_forwarder

Edit the global_conf.json in your Gateway and update the server_address, serv_port_up and serv_port_down as necessary.

For example:

{
    "gateway_conf": {
        "gateway_ID": "AA555A0000000000",
        "server_address": "server.example.com",
        "serv_port_up": 1680,
        "serv_port_down": 1680,
        "keepalive_interval": 10,
        "stat_interval": 30,
        "push_timeout_ms": 100,
        "forward_crc_valid": true,
        "forward_crc_error": false,
        "forward_crc_disabled": false
    }
}

Usage

Run the lorawan-server release by:

cd lorawan-server
bin/lorawan-server

You can administrate and manage the server via a set of web-pages or via a REST API. By default, the server listens on HTTP port 8080 and expects "admin" as both username and password.

REST API

The following REST resources are made available:

Resource	Methods	Explanation
/applications	GET	Supported LoRaWAN applications
/users	GET, POST	Users of the admin interface
/users/ABC	GET, PUT, DELETE	User ABC
/gateways	GET, POST	LoRaWAN gateways
/gateways/123	GET, PUT, DELETE	Gateway with MAC=123
/devices	GET, POST	Devices registered for over-the-air activation
/devices/123	GET, PUT, DELETE	Device with DevEUI=123
/links	GET, POST	Activated devices
/links/123	GET, PUT, DELETE	Activated device with DevAddr=123

Web Admin

The management web-pages are available under /admin. It is just a wrapper around the REST API.

To register a new gateway, create a new Gateways list entry.

To add a personalized device, create a new Links list entry. To add an OTAA device, create a new Devices list entry and start the device. The Links list will be updated automatically once the device joins the network.

Development

The lorawan-server is designed to be highly extensible. I encourage you to Learn You Some Erlang and develop your own applications.

Custom application handlers

To implement a new application you need to create a new lorawan_application_xxx.erl module and register it in the lorawan_application.erl.

Your module just needs to export a handle/5 function for data processing.

handle(DevAddr, my_app, AppID, PortIn, DataIn) ->
    %% application logic
    %% ...
    {send, PortOut, DataOut}.

Build Instructions

You will need the following prerequisites:

• Rebar3, the Erlang build tool. Please follow the installation instructions.
• npm, the JavaScript package manager.
  • On Linux, try typing yum install npm or apt-get install npm.
  • On Windows, install the Node.js.

Then build and release the lorawan-server by:

git clone https://github.com/gotthardp/lorawan-server.git
cd lorawan-server
rebar3 release

The release will be created in lorawan-server/_build/default/rel/lorawan-server.

Copyright and Licensing

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Petr Gotthard

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.