The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for Internet of Things, low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), has expanded the LoRaWAN standard with the addition of TS013-1.0.0, an application programming interface (API) for application payload decoder-encoders (codecs).
Adopting the new specification will allow device manufacturers and application server providers to reduce deployment complexity significantly. This will make it far easier and faster to deploy LoRaWAN devices at a massive scale.
LoRaWAN Payload Codec API Specification
When using LoRaWAN to transport application payloads, messages are very compactly encoded to minimise bandwidth usage. As messages reach the application server, they must be decoded to be read and processed. Previously, each device manufacturer or application developer had to write a specific codec for each device and application platform pair, which created friction for device onboarding.
With the new payload codec API specification, a codec can be developed once and used on any application platform, achieving considerable savings in terms of reduced complexity and accelerated time to market.
The LoRaWAN Payload Codec API standardizes an API for the JavaScript codecs for LoRaWAN devices to enable adoption by both device makers and application server vendors. A standard codec provides the capability to decode uplinks/downlinks and to encode downlinks, allowing new LoRaWAN devices to be easily integrated into any compatible platform.