LoRa Alliance opens certification center in Latin America

The LoRa Alliance, a global association of companies that support the LoRaWAN open standard for low-power wide area networks (LPWANs) in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, has announced the creation of the institution’s first Authorized Test Laboratory (ATL) in Latin and South America.

Located in Atibaia, near the city of São Paulo (Brazil), on the premises of Dekra, a German inspection, testing and certification services company, the new ATL for LoRaWAN devices will allow testing to be carried out locally, without the need to ship products outside the continent, resulting in time and cost savings in seeking LoRaWAN certification. This should encourage rapid growth in the number of association members and device manufacturing in the region.

“Having Dekra as the first LoRa Alliance authorized test lab in South America and Latin America is a significant step in enabling LoRaWAN devices to access the global market. Our commitment to promoting a secure worldwide adoption of LoRaWAN technology, while supporting local and international customers, is now strengthened by our lab in Brazil, which will continue to grow with testing and certification services in the region,” says Juan Carlos Soler, Dekra’s Vice President of Digital Products and Solutions Business.

The executive highlights Dekra’s experience in testing and certification and says that the company is ready to help customers obtain LoRaWAN certification and related electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), radio frequency (RF) and product safety tests to ensure optimum performance in various network environments.

Other LoRa Alliance initiatives

In addition to the creation of the first ATL in Latin America, the LoRa Alliance has announced three other initiatives in its LoRaWAN certification program. One of these is the addition of LoRaWAN Relay testing for the devices to be certified. Relay is an essential feature for utilities and satellite companies, in particular, to amplify and extend the reach of LoRaWAN signals, allowing communication over longer distances and through obstacles such as buildings and rough terrain that can prevent direct communication between end devices and gateways/base stations.

The certification tests for Relay are in addition to the growing number of tests for the program’s optional features, such as over-the-air firmware updates (FUOTA) and static context header compression (SCHC), all designed to ensure that certified devices are fully compliant with all aspects of the LoRaWAN standard, the LoRa Alliance points out.

Another initiative is related to the launch of the LoRaWAN Web Certification System (LWCS) to reduce bureaucracy and simplify the certification process. The creation and use of LWCS accounts will ensure continuous digital communication between certifying members, ATLs and the LoRa Alliance and automation of the certification process, eliminating human error and reducing unnecessary time spent on administrative tasks. LWCS can work with traditional certification through an ATL, certification by similarity and certification by self-test.

The third initiative has to do with the new Self-Test Program for LoRa Alliance Members, which offers the option of being allowed to self-test their own devices and send the results directly to the association to apply for certification. This will simplify processes and consequently reduce the time it takes to launch new certified devices on the market, without sacrificing quality and performance standards. To guarantee the quality of the program, the LoRa Alliance will continuously audit the capacity of authorized members.

“The huge benefit of certification is knowing that devices are configured correctly and will work as expected. It really underpins the market’s confidence in a technology’s ability to scale. LoRaWAN already has the largest number and variety of certified devices in the LPWAN space. With the initiatives announced today, we are continuing our commitment to continually accelerate and simplify the certification process for end-device manufacturers. In addition, we are excited to have a new ATL in Brazil to streamline the certification process in that region,” says Donna Moore, CEO and President of the LoRa Alliance.