How to build a LoRaWAN gateway

1. Article purpose

This article explains step by step how to create your own The Things Network LoRaWan gateway based on the STM32MP1.

STM32MP1 LoRaWan gateway

2. The different parts needed

The concentrator LoRaWan RAK831 (https://www.rakwireless.com/en/WisKeyOSH/RAK831)

Concentrator LoRaWan

The antenna (https://store.rakwireless.com/products/lora-antenna)

Antenna

Warning

It is mandatory to plug the antenna on the concentrator before powering up the board

The converter board

Converter board

The bundle: (pick the EU one)
https://fr.aliexpress.com/store/product/LoRa-Gateway-Developer-Kit-RAK831-LoRa-LoRaWan-Module-with-Raspberry-base-on-SX1301-433-868-915MHz/2805180_32830271395.html

3. Prerequisites

The prerequisites from Installing the OpenSTLinux distribution must be executed.

4. How to create the LoRaWan gateway layer

To start you need to add the LoRaWan gateway layer to your Distribution Package environment.

 cd <working directory path of distribution>/openstlinux-4.19-thud-mp1-19-02-20/layers/meta-st
 git clone "https://gerrit.st.com/stm32mpuapp/meta/meta-st-stm32mpu-app-lorawan"

5. How to build the binaries

The next step is to create the build for the LoRaWan gateway

 cd <working directory path of distribution>/openstlinux-4.19-thud-mp1-19-02-20
 DISTRO=openstlinux-weston-extra MACHINE=stm32mp1-lorawan-a7 source layers/meta-st/scripts/envsetup.sh
 bitbake st-image-lorawan

This may take some time.

6. How to create the SD card

The final step is to populate the SD card:

 cd <working directory path of distribution>/openstlinux-4.19-thud-mp1-19-02-20/build-openstlinuxwestonextra-stm32mp1-lorawan-a7
 cd tmp-glibc/deploy/images/stm32mp1-lorawan-a7/scripts/
 ./create_sdcard_from_flashlayout.sh ../flashlayout_st-image-lorawan/FlashLayout_sdcard_stm32mp157c-lorawan-a7-mx-trusted.tsv
 sudo umount `lsblk --list | grep mmcblk0 | grep part | gawk '{ print $7 }' | tr '\n' ' '`
 sudo dd if=../flashlayout_st-image-lorawan/../flashlayout_st-image-lorawan_FlashLayout_sdcard_stm32mp157c-lorawan-a7-mx-trusted.raw of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=8M conv=fdatasync status=progress

(more informations in the How to populate the SD card with dd command page)
You can now assemble the modules to the board.

Information

STM32MP157X-DKX - hardware description and GPIO expansion connector for more informations

This is how it should look:

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How to plug the modules

7. Launching the binaries on the board

This part explains how to launch the LoRaWan service on the board.

 cd /usr/local/lorawan-gateway/
 ./LoRaWan_gateway_launcher.sh 

• During the launcher script, enter your prefered server, up and down ports when it is asked.
  

Information

If you want to use https://www.thethingsnetwork.org in europe Their server is router.eu.thethings.network Up and down ports 1700

• Important: at the end of the script, copy your EUI before the restart of the gateway
  

In any case, all those informations can be found or changed manually in the global_conf.json and local_conf.json files in /usr/local/lorawan-gateway/ on the board.

8. How to proceed on The Things Network

Login or create an account on https://www.thethingsnetwork.org

1. Go into your Console.
   
2. Clic on GATEWAYS.
   
3. Clic on register gateway.
   
4. Check I'm using the legacy packet forwarder and enter your EUI you previously copied.
   
5. Enter a description of the gateway, this is the name you can see on the map of the site.
   
6. Select your Frequency Plan.
   
7. Select your Router (for europe choose ttn-router-eu).
   
8. You can place your gateway on the map by clicking on it or by entering directly the precise coordinates.
   
9. Tell if your antenna is indoor or outdoor.
   

SD memory card (https://www.sdcard.org)