Hello,
we have a field-application device based on a RPi (called HUB) that communicates over LTE or Wi-Fi to an own server. From the HUB hang other physical devices and the communication between these devices and with the HUB is over RF.
Recently and little by little some municipalities are implementing a "smart" layer to allow watching the sensors installed over all the town. This "smart" layer they use is a LoraWan Network Server.
What we want to do is let the HUB be able to transmitt data to the LNS but without adding extra hardware, and of course, develop only one project that works over any LNS.
The first attempt we have in our hands is a ChirpStack LNS, so we want to start the development stage installing the ChirpStack over a docker or Rocky linux VM and then try to figure out how to let the HUB communicate with the LNS.
We have read some solutions for avoiding add some extra hardware to our HUB and let's the LNS allow several nodes via one LoraWan Gateway :
- Physical LoraWan Gateway with Lorawan-Ethernet converter (it's not soure let's several nodes in only one GW)
- Connecting to the MQTT broker (but I think not all the LNS have this feature always ready and it's not soure let's several nodes in only one GW)
- With Virtual UDP Packet Forwarder, it seem allow us to list all our devices as a nodes in an only Gateway (Virtual UDP Packet Forwarder one), but I've to go indeep to check the responses level our HUB could receive.
- Using API's, but I think each LNS has it own API.
- Others?¿?
In the other side of the LNS we will have an own server that will collect from the LSN the data sent by the hub (store the data in DB) and then respond to the LNS for and then the LNS sends the response to the HUB, I don't know if using the Virtual UDP Packet Forwarder solution it will work.
In summary, now we have several devices (nodes) hanging from a concentrator device called HUB that connects to an own cloud. We want transform this schema inserting a LSN between the HUB and our cloud, to let's the municipality watch our nodes states in their LNS application.
Could you please set light in our minds of what is the better solution for our application?
Thanks a have nice day
Albert