1)     What IoT means ?

What does IoT means ? It is a shortcut from the Internet of Things. That is the Internet and the use of sensors and actors network that are plugged into the Internet, enabling them to share data, communicate with each other and to collect data for centralized or decentralized management systems, e.g. SCADA. Most often, these are different sensors, cameras, other systems from industry, science measurement, buildings and household management or cars.

2)     What M2M means ?

Machines and devices that communicate with each other to achieve the task without human intervention and share the necessary information. Such machines and devices need a common communication interface and such an interface we call a machine machine - M2M.

3)     What Industry 4.0 means ?

It is the current trend in the development of automation and manufacturing processes mainly in industry. It is not a particular technology or a particular manufacturer, it is rather a direction or principle. Thus, the use of IT and cyber technologies and their interconnection with the real world. This topic is very broad and its development is at just beginning.

Basically, there is another degree of automation and industrialization, what to manufacture and when to manufacture it, when to order additional material for production, and so on. it takes an automated system, and the person is only informed about the action of the system. Idea Industry 4.0 synergy brings together many technologies and IoT and M2M are among the most important.

4) What is RS232/485/422 and what is the difference between them ?

It is a serial port or interface, the first RS232 was used mainly in PC and other electronics. RS232 is a voltage line, that is, the transmission of information is done by changing the voltage on the individual wires. On most of today's PCs, this port has almost disappeared. The approximate RS232 range of the line due to the large voltage drop is approximately 20m depending on the conditions and the cable used. In total, up to 9 lines can be used plus external shielding. In practice, however, many devices use only two wires to transmit and receive to a third party than a signal ground, and the others are not used to communicate and communication is controlled programmatically.

The modification resulted in younger variants, namely RS485 and RS422. These have been applied and still apply especially in the industry, especially the RS485, because it is already a current line, its reach can be up to 1200m. The RS485 uses only two wires and the signal ground, which means three. And RS422 uses four wires plus signal ground, thus five.

5) What is LoRa, LoRaWAN and what is the difference between them ?

LoRa stands for Long Range and we have to distinguish between LoRa and LoRaWAN. LoRa is sort of wireless communication and in Europe it use 433MHz and 868MHz frequency bands. Concept is designed primarily for use in IoT sensors. For example, the soil temperature sensor can send data once every few hours to a distance of up to several kilometers, it is able to transmit data even in a dense urban environment, and even with a small battery it can work up to year. Spread Spectrum technology ensures long transmission and interference resistance. Communication security can be achieved via encryption.

While LoRa is a physical layer within the network structure, LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is a communication protocol based on the LoRa physical layer architecture. The LoRaWAN protocol is freely available to ensure the interoperability of devices from different manufacturers. The LoRaWAN protocol is managed by a nonprofit organization currently comprising more than 100 members of various companies, mostly LoRaWAN device manufacturers. This organization is called LoRa Alliance.

Thus, LoRaWAN is a communication protocol using the LoRa physical layer in wireless communication. The LoRa architecture dictates how to transmit and receive data bit by bit, while the LoRaWAN protocol discusses how to structure the data and handle communication between devices. In our e-shop you can find LoRa converters using LoRaWAN protocol, but also LoRa converters using other communication protocols given by individual manufacturers. Therefore, always look for exact information in the product description.