Cross compiling for ARM with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

The goal of cross compiling is to compile for one architecture on machine running another one. In this post, I’ll try to explain the steps required to be able to compile software that is executable on ARM-based hardware using a “normal” x64-based PC or virtual machine. ARM-based devices are usually limited in processing power and are mostly running stripped-down, embedded versions of Linux. This makes it sometimes difficult to compile on the target device directly.

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LoRaWAN simply explained

LoRaWAN stands for Long Range Wide Area Network. It’s a standard for wireless communication that allows IoT devices to communicate over large distance with minimal battery usage. At the time of writing this article I found that information about LoRa was rather sparse or overly complicated. Since it took me some time to really figure out what LoRa is and how it works, I decided to create this post and try to explain LoRaWAN in a technical but simply understandable way.

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Configure the Adeunis RF LoraWAN Demonstrator

When testing or experimenting with LoRa, a test device that can send/receive LoRa packets on demand is a real value It allows you to test the network functionality and coverage. The Adeunis RF LoRaWAN Demonstrator is such test device. It can send and receive LoRa packets, has a built-in accelerometer and GPS and rechargeable battery. THis post explains how to configure the LoRaWAN demonstrator and add it to a network server.

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Configure a LoRa device based on the Microchip RN2483

The Microchip RN2483 is a LoRa class A module widely available. In a normal, end-user scenario, LoRa endpoints (or devices/sensors) come with preconfigured parameters but before the module can be used, it needs to be configured with those parameters to use it in the LoRa network. What parameters to configure depends on the type of activation. For this post, I’ve been using the RN2483 based PICtail test-board.

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