LoRaWAN: Almost a Russian Standard

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In addition, AFK Sistema (represented by the Sitronics and Sputniks groups of companies)planscreate a multi-satellite IoT system of 157 small and ultra-small spacecraft for remote sensing, navigation and fire monitoring.

On July 31, 2023, TC 194 announced the start of public discussion of the PNST, which provides for an Internet of Things protocol adapted for use in a multi-satellite low-orbit constellation. In response to a question from a ComNews correspondent about the purpose of creating a national standard, TC 194 Chairman germany whatsapp resource Nikita Utkin said: "The PNST affects not only the system, but also its components, namely regional interface stations and subscriber devices, which have many varieties, with a total of tens of millions in production, and all their characteristics are interconnected with the PNST protocol."

The technology and protocol of satellite IoT LoRa/LoRaWAN adopted by the developers of PNST is a technological platform of the Internet of Things used in almost all countries of the world. Its domestic version - LoRaWAN RU - acquired the form of a preliminary national standard in Russia (PNST 516-2021 "Information Technology. Internet of Things. Specification") on January 7, 2021, as applied to terrestrial LPWAN LoRa networks.

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The development of the domestic version of the LoRaWAN standard - a global Internet of Things (IoT) technology - has entered the final stage. Already in the first quarter of 2021, we can expect the release of the preliminary national standard (PNST) LoRaWAN RU by Rosstandart. It will become the third Russian national standard of IoT protocols presented, following the NB-FI protocols (it is used by the domestic developer WAVIoT) and OpenUNB (the corresponding equipment is manufactured by GoodWAN).

Valentin Anpilogov, Deputy General Director of JSC VISAT-TEL, the author of the concept of the IoT Marathon project system, notes that LoRa/LoRaWAN is used all over the world. "This is the only technology so far that is resistant to the Doppler effect and ensures operation at a signal level below the noise. At the same time, manufacturers of end devices mainly use not chips (they are produced for LoRaWAN networks by the American company Semtech - ComNews note ), but LoRa modules, which are produced in millions per month in China, in many countries in Asia, Europe, America, and also in Russia," he said. According to Valentin Anpilogov, it is impossible to impose sanctions on the supply of Semtech chips for modules, especially since China already produces them on its own (we are talking about Hope Microelectronics Co., Ltd. from Shenzhen). The Deputy General Director of VISAT-TEL estimates the number of LoRa module manufacturers in the world at no less than several thousand.

The official history of the IoT Marathon system (then called Aurora) began back in 2017, after VISAT-TEL presented its concept to Roscosmos State Corporation. The ideology of the system envisaged the creation of a globally distributed seamless environment by integrating a low-orbit system and national cellular networks or LPWAN LoRa networks to provide IoT services (and more) in any country in any region of the Earth. At the same time, the price of subscriber funds and satellite IoT services was planned to be comparable to the tariffs of cellular networks. The developer of the concept specifically noted that for the IoT Marathon there is no need to develop and create a proprietary subscriber segment, as is the case in any traditional satellite communication system. Given the choice of LoRa technology, the subscriber segment already exists and is estimated at tens, if not hundreds of millions of end devices.

Together with JSC VISAT-TEL, several other Russian companies were involved in the development of the IoT Marathon project on their own initiative at the technical proposal stage: JSC ITC Severnaya Korona, FSUE Research Institute of Radio, LLC Laboratory of Internet of Things (LIV), LLC ARD Satcom Service, LLC Radio Communication Technologies, LLC Goodwin and many others, and at the initial stage, also FSUE Space Communications (RPKS).