Radionode RN320 LoRaWAN Sensor Integration Guide with Losant Platform

Contents

Introduction

This guide explains how to connect the RN-320 sensor series to the Losant platform.

The Radionode RN320 series is a robust, battery-operated wireless environmental sensor, professionally engineered for durability and extreme longevity, boasting an unbelievable 10-year battery life (RN320-BTH model with 17,000mAh) facilitated by LoRaWAN technology for easy, wide-range network setup.

This specific RN320-BTH model excels with an embedded high-accuracy temperature and humidity sensor, critical data protection via a retransmission function that prevents sample drops, and permanent local storage on a microSD card. User interaction is enhanced by an E-paper display, loud buzzer (97dBA), and a 3-Color LED indicator (Best, Moderate, Bad), while quick access to comprehensive remote monitoring is ensured by simple QR code registration to the Radionode365 service. It also offers easy installation with a magnet and wall bracket.

General Features of RN320 Device

Long Range Wireless / LoraWAN ®
E-Paper Display
Loud Buzzer 97dBA
3 Color LED Indicator (Best, Moderate, Bad)
Long Battery Life (17000mAh)
MicroSD Card supported
Easy Installation with Magnet and Wall Bracket

In this integration scenario we use the RN320-BTH series for the demo.

Prerequisites

To continue with this guide, you will need the following:

RN320-BTH Temperature & Humidity Cloud Data Logger
LoRaWAN® gateway (e.g., Radionode LoRaWAN Gateway)
Configured integration on a networks server and ThingsBoard
Network Server account (The Things Stack)
Losan account

Device Connection: The Things Stack Community Setup

Register Application

The first step is to register in the The Things Stack cloud console. Next, create an application in The Things Stack console.

Go to the console and open the Applications section.
Press the Add application tab and then fill in the Application ID and Application Name.
Click Create application.

Payload Decoder

To ensure successful data transmission, both the device and the network server must be correctly configured. Our device submits data in binary format.

In this documentation, we explain how to add the payload formatters in the TTN platform.

In the application tab, click on Payload formatters and select the Uplink option.
Copy and paste the payload formatter code below into the editor.

function decodeUplink(input) {
  const res = Decoder(input.bytes, input.fPort);
  if (res.error) {
    return { errors: [res.error] };
  }
  return { data: res };
}

function Decoder (bytes, port) {
  const readUInt8 = b => b & 0xFF;
  const readUInt16LE = b => (b[1] << 8) + b[0];
  const readInt16LE = b => {
    const ret = readUInt16LE(b);
    return (ret > 0x7FFF) ? ret - 0x10000 : ret;
  };
  const readUInt32LE = b => (b[3] << 24) + (b[2] << 16) + (b[1] << 8) + b[0];
  const readInt32LE = b => {
    const ret = readUInt32LE(b);
    return (ret > 0x7FFFFFFF) ? ret - 0x100000000 : ret;
  };
  const readFloatLE = b => {
    const buf = new ArrayBuffer(4);
    const view = new DataView(buf);
    for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) view.setUint8(i, b[i]);
    return view.getFloat32(0, true); // ieee754 float
  };

  const head = readUInt8(bytes[0]);
  const model = readUInt8(bytes[1]);

  if (head === 11) {
    // Check-in frame
    const timestamp = readUInt32LE(bytes.slice(2, 6));
    const date = new Date(timestamp * 1000);
    const yyyy = date.getUTCFullYear();
    const mm = (date.getUTCMonth() + 1).toString().padStart(2, '0');
    const dd = date.getUTCDate().toString().padStart(2, '0');
    const verFormatted = parseInt(`${yyyy}${mm}${dd}`);
    const interval = readUInt16LE(bytes.slice(6, 8));
    const splrate = interval;
    const bat = readUInt8(bytes[8]);
    const millivolt = readUInt16LE(bytes.slice(9, 11));
    const volt = (millivolt / 1000).toFixed(3);
    const freqband = readUInt8(bytes[11]);
    const subband = readUInt8(bytes[12]);

    return {
      head,
      ver: verFormatted,
      interval,
      splrate,
      bat,
      volt,
      freqband,
      subband
    };
  }
  else if (head === 12 || head === 13) {
    // Sensor / Hold
    const tsmode = readUInt8(bytes[2]);
    const timestamp = readUInt32LE(bytes.slice(3, 7));
    const splfmt = readUInt8(bytes[7]);

    if (splfmt !== 2) {
      return { error: "Unsupported Sensor Data Format: " + splfmt };
    }

    const raw_size = 4;
    const data = bytes.slice(8);
    const ch_count = data.length / raw_size;
    const data_size = data.length;
    let offset = 0;
    let temperature = null, humidity = null;

    if (ch_count < 2) {
      return { error: "Unsupported Sensor Data Size:" + ch_count };
    }

    temperature = parseFloat(readFloatLE(data.slice(offset, offset + raw_size)).toFixed(2));
    if (temperature <= -9999.0) temperature = null;
    offset += raw_size;

    humidity = parseFloat(readFloatLE(data.slice(offset, offset + raw_size)).toFixed(2));
    if (humidity <= -9999.0) humidity = null;

    return {
      head,
      model,
      tsmode,
      timestamp,
      splfmt,
      data_size,
      temperature,
      humidity
    };
  }

  return { error: "Unsupported head frame: " + head };
}

End Device Registration Details

To register the End Device, enter these details:

Input Method: Select the end device in the LoRaWAN Device repository (Radionode devices are already registered in the Thing Stack platform).
End Device Brand: Choose this option (Dekist Co.Ltd).
Model: You can choose among the Radionode LoRaWAN models.
Cluster: Choose the cluster where the device can be added.

Finalizing End Device Registration

Next, you need to enter the DevEUI correctly in the slot provided. You can find the DevEUI on the sticker on the side of the device.
After this, add an End Device ID in the given slot.
Click the button to complete the end device registration.

Losant Setup

After logging in to the Losant platform:

Click the Webhook tab.
Click the Add Webhook button.

Webhook Configuration

Next, choose the type of webhook you want to create to enable communication from TTN (The Things Network).
You should choose the HTTP option.

Next give a name to the Webhook and Create the webhook as shown in the figure below.

Copy Webhook URL

After creating the webhook:

Copy the URL (as shown in the image below).
You’ll need to use this copied URL when creating the Webhook in the TTN (The Things Network) platform.

TTN Webhook Configuration

Log in to the TTN Console and select the target Application.
Navigate to Integrations → Webhooks.
Click Add Webhooks (as shown in the figure below).

Creating the Webhook

Add a Name for the Webhook ID.
Paste the copied URL (from the Losant platform) into the webhook template in the TTN platform.
Click Create Webhook to enable the integration.

Creating a Workflow in the Losant Platform

The next step is to create a workflow in the Losant platform to process the incoming data.

In the workflow name, give a unique name for your workflow and Click create workflow button.

Exactly drag and drop the blocks as shown in the figure to create the workflow and then copy the workflow ID as shown in the figure.

The Things Stack Payload Formatters Uplink Menu

Adding a Device

Navigate to the Devices tab.
Click the Add device button.
You will see a screen similar to the one below. Select the Standalone option.

Configuring Device Details

On the device details page:

Device ID: Paste the ID you copied from the workflow template into the Device ID field.
Name & Description: Add a name and description of your choice, as shown in the figure below.

Selecting Device Keys

On the device page:

Set the Device Class to Standalone.
Choose the Key values from your sensor.
Select the following as Keys and their respective values:
- temperature
- humidity
- timestamp