Is lpnGate the first truly open IoT gateway?

Gateway LoRaWAN do zastosowań w Przemysłowym Internecie Rzeczy

The beginnings

Some time ago we were faced with a project, that needed long-range wireless communication to obtain some data from remote sensors. We’ve done some market research to find a solution, but the hardware we’ve found was too expensive or the software was not meeting our expectations (and our customer’s). We wanted to have bigger control over the gateway in order to have it customized for the customer’s needs. He wanted to have the possibility to use it with his own specialized dashboard and database. We also wanted it to have the openness to make it a good, general purpose device for usage in the open public cloud network, such as The Things Network.

What is the lpnGate

We’ve decided to create our own custom device. It’s mostly based on off-the-shelf components, like long time proven and well liked APU2 board (used to create advanced routers or firewalls). The board uses open source firmware (coreboot). The operating system is based on well-known and stable OS for routers (OpenWRT) modified for our needs.

Hardware

Those are components used to create lpnGate:

  • APU2 board with coreboot firmware
  • RAK833 LoRa SX1301 gateway mPCIe card
  • 16GB SSD mSATA disk

Software

Main features of lpnGate’s software:

  • LPN Plant’s modified OpenWRT
  • first public release based on 18.06.1 version of OpenWRT
  • added support for dual-image OS
  • added swupdate integration for better over-the-air update support
  • RAK833 support included
  • hardware watchdog support
  • by default its designed as general purpose The Things Network gateway
  • open to modifications
  • standard RS232 port to be used as a debug port
  • contributions welcome!

How to start

Where to get

lpnGate is available to buy at our store: direct link

It could also be built by the end-user. All necessary components are also available.

Quick start

All the necessary steps to install the gateway and start using it are pretty straightforward. You can use the manual which is available on the product page.

Customizing image

lpnGate is open to modifications. OpenWRT is available on our github page. Let’s start by building our own custom image.

Building the image

Prerequisites

  • some kind of Linux distro (tested on Arch Linux and Ubuntu)
  • docker
  • git

Download development container

All the compiling is done inside a running container in order to mitigate differences between different Linux distributions.

All the commands are expected to be run in some kind of work directory, e.g. /home/user/work

First, we need to pull it from docker hub:

docker pull lpnplant/openwrt-docker

We can also build it manually using the Dockerfile from our repository.

We will need the script to start the image:

git clone https://github.com/lpn-plant/openwrt_docker.git

Build

First, let’s clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/lpn-plant/openwrt.git

Let’s start the container:

./openwrt_docker/scripts/run_docker.sh openwrt

And inside the container:

./scripts/feeds update luci
./scripts/feeds install luci
cp configs/apu_config .config
make oldconfig
make

This should be the compilation output:

make[1] world
make[2] toolchain/compile
make[2] package/cleanup
make[3] -C toolchain/binutils compile
make[3] -C toolchain/gdb compile
make[3] -C toolchain/fortify-headers compile
make[3] -C toolchain/yasm compile
make[3] -C toolchain/gcc/minimal compile
make[3] -C toolchain/kernel-headers compile
make[3] -C toolchain/glibc/headers compile
make[3] -C toolchain/gcc/initial compile
make[3] -C toolchain/glibc compile
make[3] -C toolchain/gcc/final compile
make[2] target/compile
make[3] -C target/linux compile
make[2] diffconfig
make[2] package/compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libubox host-compile
make[3] -C package/libs/ncurses host-compile
make[3] -C package/system/usign host-compile
make[3] -C package/system/fwtool host-compile
make[3] -C package/libs/toolchain compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/modules/luci-base host-compile
make[3] -C package/boot/grub2 host-compile
make[3] -C package/utils/lua host-compile
make[3] -C package/kernel/leds-apu2 compile
make[3] -C package/utils/e2fsprogs host-compile
make[3] -C package/utils/zoneinfo compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libnl-tiny compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libjson-c compile
make[3] -C package/utils/lua compile
make[3] -C package/firmware/linux-firmware compile
make[3] -C package/firmware/prism54-firmware compile
make[3] -C package/libs/zlib compile
make[3] -C package/system/fwtool compile
make[3] -C package/system/openwrt-keyring compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/protocols/luci-proto-ppp compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/themes/luci-theme-bootstrap compile
make[3] -C package/libs/mbedtls compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/protocols/luci-proto-ipv6 compile
make[3] -C package/libs/expat compile
make[3] -C package/libs/openssl compile
make[3] -C package/utils/bzip2 compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libconfig compile
make[3] -C package/libs/confuse compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libusb compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/config compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/get-serial compile
make[3] -C package/network/utils/curl compile
make[3] -C package/network/services/dropbear compile
make[3] -C package/utils/busybox compile
make[3] -C package/system/opkg host-compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libubox compile
make[3] -C package/kernel/linux compile
make[3] -C package/libs/ncurses compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/libs/luci-lib-ip compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/libs/luci-lib-jsonc compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/libs/luci-lib-nixio compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/contrib/package/lucihttp compile
make[3] -C package/libs/ustream-ssl compile
make[3] -C package/kernel/button-hotplug compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libftdi1 compile
make[3] -C package/libs/uclient compile
make[3] -C package/network/ipv6/odhcp6c compile
make[3] -C package/system/mtd compile
make[3] -C package/system/opkg compile
make[3] -C package/system/ubus compile
make[3] -C package/system/uci compile
make[3] -C package/utils/jsonfilter compile
make[3] -C package/system/usign compile
make[3] -C package/network/utils/iptables compile
make[3] -C package/network/utils/iwinfo compile
make[3] -C package/network/services/uhttpd compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/libmpsse compile
make[3] -C package/network/services/dnsmasq compile
make[3] -C package/network/services/odhcpd compile
make[3] -C package/system/ubox compile
make[3] -C package/network/config/netifd compile
make[3] -C package/system/rpcd compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/lora-gateway compile
make[3] -C package/system/procd compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/modules/luci-base compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/libs/rpcd-mod-rrdns compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/packet-forwarder compile
make[3] -C package/utils/util-linux compile
make[3] -C package/utils/bash compile
make[3] -C package/utils/xz compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/modules/luci-mod-admin-full compile
make[3] -C package/network/config/firewall compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/applications/luci-app-firewall compile
make[3] -C feeds/luci/collections/luci compile
make[3] -C package/boot/grub2 compile
make[3] -C package/system/fstools compile
make[3] -C package/utils/f2fs-tools compile
make[3] -C package/utils/e2fsprogs compile
make[3] -C package/base-files compile
make[3] -C package/libs/libarchive compile
make[3] -C package/lpn/swupdate compile
make[2] package/install
make[2] target/install
make[3] -C target/linux install
make[2] package/index
make[2] checksum

After the build, the images are available in bin/targets/x86/64-glibc.

Flashing the image

Careful! Uploading the wrong image may result in the device that is not functioning and which will need to be reflashed (the procedure how to do that, will be available in one of the next posts). Do it at your own risk!

There are several ways used to flash the new image. The easiest way is to use the lpnGate’s web interface:

luci_flash

And then you can upload a new image (supported image is one, that is ending with -combined-squashfs.img.gz). Use the Flash new firmware image part.

flash_new

You can also backup and restore your settings here.

Operation

lpnGate in its default form is used as a The Things Network public LoRa cloud gateway. After registering it (instructions available in the product manual) you can see the lora_pkt_fwd logs in the Status/System Log page in the lpnGate’s web interface:

Fri Jan 25 18:09:31 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: JSON up: {"stat":{"time":"2019-01-25 17:09:31 GMT","rxnb":3,"rxok":3,"rxfw":3,"ackr":100.0,"dwnb":0,"txnb":0}}
Fri Jan 25 18:09:31 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 68 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:33 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:33 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Received pkt from mote: 2601186E (fcnt=34789)
Fri Jan 25 18:09:33 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:33 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: JSON up: {"rxpk":[{"tmst":1315826699,"chan":0,"rfch":1,"freq":868.100000,"stat":1,"modu":"LORA","datr":"SF7BW125","codr":"4/5","lsnr":9.2,"rssi":-22,"size":25,"data":"QG4YASYA5YcBmPuhiD8Am654loCN+8VJeg=="}]}
Fri Jan 25 18:09:33 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 67 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:35 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:35 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Disabling GPS mode for concentrator's counter...
Fri Jan 25 18:09:35 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: host/sx1301 time offset=(1548434858s:66898µs) - drift=95µs
Fri Jan 25 18:09:35 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Enabling GPS mode for concentrator's counter.
Fri Jan 25 18:09:35 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:39 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 70 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:42 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:42 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Received pkt from mote: 2601186E (fcnt=34790)
Fri Jan 25 18:09:42 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:42 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: JSON up: {"rxpk":[{"tmst":1324781579,"chan":0,"rfch":1,"freq":868.100000,"stat":1,"modu":"LORA","datr":"SF7BW125","codr":"4/5","lsnr":9.0,"rssi":-22,"size":25,"data":"QG4YASYA5ocBVpEVYHS5v/HAcho9nsiOOg=="}]}
Fri Jan 25 18:09:42 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 69 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:49 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 67 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:51 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:51 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Received pkt from mote: 2601186E (fcnt=34791)
Fri Jan 25 18:09:51 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:51 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: JSON up: {"rxpk":[{"tmst":1332941683,"chan":0,"rfch":1,"freq":868.100000,"stat":1,"modu":"LORA","datr":"SF7BW125","codr":"4/5","lsnr":9.2,"rssi":-22,"size":25,"data":"QG4YASYA54cBSiqaMhX0lcPxyB2jV+uqlg=="}]}
Fri Jan 25 18:09:51 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 67 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:09:59 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:59 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: Received pkt from mote: 2601186E (fcnt=34792)
Fri Jan 25 18:09:59 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:09:59 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: JSON up: {"rxpk":[{"tmst":1341602027,"chan":0,"rfch":1,"freq":868.100000,"stat":1,"modu":"LORA","datr":"SF7BW125","codr":"4/5","lsnr":10.0,"rssi":-24,"size":25,"data":"QG4YASYA6IcBgXnUUi8vHECHtddlOW69RQ=="}]}
Fri Jan 25 18:09:59 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 67 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:10:00 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 66 ms
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]:
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ##### 2019-01-25 17:10:01 GMT #####
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ### [UPSTREAM] ###
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # RF packets received by concentrator: 4
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # CRC_OK: 100.00%, CRC_FAIL: 0.00%, NO_CRC: 0.00%
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # RF packets forwarded: 4 (100 bytes)
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # PUSH_DATA datagrams sent: 5 (954 bytes)
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # PUSH_DATA acknowledged: 100.00%
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ### [DOWNSTREAM] ###
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # PULL_DATA sent: 3 (100.00% acknowledged)
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # PULL_RESP(onse) datagrams received: 0 (0 bytes)
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # RF packets sent to concentrator: 0 (0 bytes)
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # TX errors: 0
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # BEACON queued: 0
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # BEACON sent so far: 0
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # BEACON rejected: 0
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ### [JIT] ###
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # SX1301 time (PPS): 1317812326
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: src/jitqueue.c:471:jit_print_queue(): INFO: [jit] queue is empty
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ### [GPS] ###
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: # GPS sync is disabled
Fri Jan 25 18:10:01 2019 daemon.info lora_pkt_fwd[3134]: ##### END #####

In the log above, you can see that gateway received 4 messages from mote with address 2601186E. The data is encoded in base64 and encrypted. Gateway only passes the data to the cloud server, it can’t access it by itself.

Other possible uses

lpnGate is general purpose gateway, which means it could also act as an advanced router or firewall. It has full functionality of the OpenWRT operating system, that includes installing packages and configuring network interfaces. After installing an additional mPCIe WiFi card like, e.g. one form our shop, you can also get working WiFi access point. At this point (version 18.06.1.1), a modified system with drivers will be required, but possibly we will add support to the official software version in next releases.

Summary

lpnGate is a very versatile device. It is designed to use as an advanced IoT LoRa gateway, that is open to the modifications by the community. It can be used also as a router, firewall or even as a small general purpose server.

In LPN Plant we connect consulting, technical expertise and financial effectiveness to design and implement low power wireless solutions for industry. If you looking for LoRaWAN product developers or just need support in a small piece of your system feel free to set up call with us using calendly. If you enjoying this type of content feel free to sing up to our newsletter and share content on social media.

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