Overview

Introduction

This product is a long-range, ultra-low-power transceiver that supports ISM sub GHz (150-960MHz), global 2.4GHz band, and 1.9-2.1GHz satellite band, suitable for terrestrial and satellite communication applications. It supports LoRa®, (G)FSK, and LR-FHSS modulation methods, and can be used in LoRaWAN® standard networks or private protocols to meet the needs of LPWAN applications. The LR1121 integrates a low-power multi-band RF front-end with extremely high frequency configuration flexibility.

Features

• Adopts the third-generation ultra-low power LoRa® transceiver LR1121 from the Semtech LR11xx series
• Supports Sub-GHz (150–960 MHz), S band (1.9–2.1 GHz), and 2.4GHz ISM bands
• Builds a low-power wide-area network through LoRa or LoRaWAN protocol combined with gateway access to the cloud
• Supports LoRa, (G)FSK, and LR-FHSS modulation modes, and is compatible with the SX126x/SX127x bands, facilitating product upgrades
• SPI interface communication, supporting mainstream MCU platforms, easy to integrate and port
• Integrates AES-128 encryption engine to enhance data security
• Supports TCXO crystal oscillator to ensure frequency stability in high and low temperature conditions
• Suitable for industrial telemetry, smart home, environmental monitoring, remote data acquisition, and other IoT application scenarios
• Provide complete supporting manuals (demos and user manuals for ESP32, Raspberry Pi, STM32, Raspberry Pi Pico, etc.)

Specifications

• The logic level of the module is 3.3V. If using 5V IO levels, level conversion is required; otherwise, the module may be damaged.
• The communication rate of the module is affected by parameters such as frequency offset and preamble
• Communication distance can be extended further in open environments.

Hardware Selection

Pinout Definition

• *_ANT pin is the antenna pin. If you need to use it, you need to remove the IPEX-4 connector and solder a 0Ω 0201 resistor to it. Otherwise, it will be left unconnected, as shown in the figure below:

Communication Introduction

The LR1121 provides a set of APIs that allow the master controller to communicate with the LR1121 through a series of SPI commands/responses. The BUSY signal is used as a handshake mechanism to indicate if the LR1121 is ready to receive commands. Therefore, you must check the status of BUSY before sending a command.

• Write command
  • During the write command process, LR1121 will return the status register and interrupt register to the controller via the MOSI pin, depending on the command opcode and parameter length.
  • The controller first sends a 16-bit operation code (opcode) and then sends the required parameters.
  • When there is a falling edge on the NSS pin, the LR1121 will automatically pull up the BUSY signal to indicate that the command is being processed.
  • Once the LR1121 finishes processing the command, the BUSY signal is released (pulled low) to indicate that the device is ready to receive the next command.

• Read command
  • Specific read commands are used to get data from the LR1121, such as internal status results, etc.
  • The main controller sends a 16-bit operation code (opcode) first, and additional parameters if needed.
  • When there is a falling edge on the NSS pin, the BUSY signal automatically pulls up to indicate that the LR1121 is preparing data.
  • Once the data is ready, the BUSY signal is released (pulled low) to indicate that the data can be read.
  • At this point, the controller removes (reads) the returned data from SPI by continuously sending NOP (0x00 bytes).

• For more instructions, please refer to User Manual

Dimensions

Demo Introduction

• Except for lr1121_firmware_update, lr1121_read, and lr1121_write, the following examples are ported from the Semtech official website lr11xx example.

   0   0   0   0 ... 0   16  76  8   0   0   0   0   0
 ^
 |                            _
 |                           | |
 |                           | |
 |                           | |
 |                           | |
 |                        _  | |
 |                       | | | |  _
 | _____________._._.____| |_| |_| |__________________
 +-------------- ... -------------------------------------->
  /0dBm   /-8dBm ... /-96dBm /-104dBm/-112dBm/-120dBm/-128dBm

   ^
   0|
  -4|
  -8|
 -12|
 -16|
    .
    .
    .
 -76|
 -80|                          _
 -84|                    _    | |
 -88|                  _| |   | |
 -92|_                |   |   | |              _
 -96| |               |   |   | |             | |              _
-100| |               |   |   | |             | |             |
-104| |            _  |   |_._| |_     _     _| |             |
-108| |_._._._._._| |_|           |_._| |_._|   |_._._._._._._|
-112|
-116|
-120|
-124|
-128|
/dBmx------------------------------------------------------------>
    2400 --> 2406 MHz

Demo Usage

• The following example requires two Core1121-XF modules for communication testing

ESP32

• The installation of the development environment will not be explained in detail. If there are any uncertainties, you can refer to our relevant development board materials for installation. For example: ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-7B

Hardware Connection

Arduino

• Download the Demo, go to ../Core1121_XF_Demo/esp32s3/Arduino, copy waveshare_lroa_1121 to to the libraries folder in the project folder. The project folder path can be found under File->Preferences->Sketchbook location
  

• After copying, open the Arduino IDE and you can see all the examples under File->Examples->waveshare lora spi and then you can flash and test

• After setting up the environment, choose the correct port for the development board. If you are unsure about how to flash it, refer to the following diagram:

①: Compile the demo

②: Complie and upload

ESP-IDF

• Download the Demo, go to ../Core1121_XF_Demo/esp32s3/ESP-IDF, use vs code to open the demo
• The demo usage for ESP-IDF requires configuring the script file in ../Core1121_XF_Demo/esp32s3/ESP-IDF/main/CMakeLists.txt. By default, it is set to the lr1121_ping_pong demo. If you need other demos, simply uncomment as shown in the figure below:

• After setting up the environment, choose the correct port for the development board. If you are unsure about how to flash it, refer to the following diagram:

①: Select UART
②: Select port
③: Select chip
④: Compile and flash

PlatformIO

• Download the Demo, go to ../Core1121_XF_Demo/esp32s3/PlatformIO, use vs code to open the demo
• The demo usage for PlatformIO requires configuring the main.h file in ../Core1121_XF_Demo/esp32s3/PlatformIO/src. By default, it is set to the lr1121_ping_pong demo. If you need other demos, simply uncomment as shown in the figure below:

• After setting up the environment, choose the correct port for the development board. If you are unsure about how to flash it, refer to the following diagram:

①: Select port
②: Compile and flash

Pico

• The installation of the development environment will not be explained in detail. If there are any uncertainties, you can refer to our relevant development board materials for installation. For example: Raspberry Pi Pico

Hardware Connection

C

• Download the Demo, go to ../Core1121_XF_Demo/pico, use vs code to open the demo
• The demo usage requires configuring the script file in ../Core1121_XF_Demo/pico/CMakeLists.txt. By default, it is set to the lr1121_ping_pong demo. If you need other demos, simply uncomment as shown in the figure below:

• After setting up the environment, opening the demo will automatically load the tool. If you are unsure about how to flash it, refer to the following diagram:

①: Compile
②: Flash: Pico needs to be put into boot mode to flash. If it cannot be flashed even after entering boot mode, you can manually drag the UF2 file into the build folder to flash

• If you are using Pico w, Pico2 and Pico2 w, you can switch by following the steps shown in the figure below:

①: Modify the development board
②: Select the required development board

RPI

• The installation of the development environment will not be explained in detail. If there are any uncertainties, you can refer to our relevant development board materials for installation. For example:

Raspberry Pi Documentation

• This demo has been verified on PI4 and PI5

Hardware Connection

WiringPi

• Open SPI with the following command:

sudo raspi-config nonint do_spi 0

• Download the WiringPi library:

sudo git clone https://github.com/WiringPi/WiringPi
cd WiringPi
sudo ./build
gpio -v
# Run gpio -v and version 2.70 or higher will appear. If it does not appear, there is an installation error

• Download the demo:

sudo apt-get install unzip -y
sudo wget https://files.waveshare.com/wiki/Core1121/Core1121_XF_Demo.zip
sudo unzip ./Core1121_XF_Demo.zip
cd Core1121_XF_Demo/raspberrypi/

• The demo usage requires configuring the script file in ../Core1121_XF_Demo/raspberrypi/Makefile. By default, it is set to the lr1121_ping_pong demo. If you need other demos, simply uncomment as shown in the figure below:

• After entering the project path, you can compile and run the demo. The steps are as follows:

make -B -j
./main

The appearance of the following content indicates that the compilation is complete, then you can run the demo by executing ./main. 

STM32

• The development board used is NUCLEO-F446RE
• The installation of the development environment will not be explained in detail. If there are any uncertainties, you can refer to our relevant development environment materials for installation. For example: STM32CubeIDE

Hardware Connection

STM32CubeIDE

• Download the Demo, go to ../Core1121_XF_Demo/stm32, click .project file to open the demo

• The demo usage requires configuring the ../Core1121_XF_Demo/stm32/Core/inc/main.h file. By default, it is set to the lr1121_ping_pong demo. If you need other demos, simply uncomment as shown in the figure below:

• After opening the project, connect the development board. If you don't know how to flash it, refer to the following image:

①: Compile and flash

Demo Effect Demonstration

lr1121_cad

• For CAD testing, one device flashes the CAD_EXIT_MODE to TX and the other CAD_EXIT_MODE to RX, and the test can be started
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_firmware_update

• Flash the transmitter/receiver version 0101 firmware by default. If you need to test other firmware versions, comment out the #include "lr1121_transceiver_0101.h" in lr1121_firmware_update.h and uncomment other header files to compile and flash. Only one firmware can be selected for flashing at a time.
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_lr_fhss

• The application will configure the device to transmit packets in LR-FHSS
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_per

• PER (Packet Error Rate) testing, in lr1121_per.h set one device to send by defining #define RECEIVER 1, and the other device to receive by defining #define RECEIVER 0
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_ping_pong

• The application sets the device to ping-pong mode (point-to-point bidirectional communication test).
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_read

• The application sets the device to read mode, automatically recognizing strings and hexadecimal numbers, and can be used in conjunction with lr1121_write to achieve point-to-point communication.
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_write The application sets the device to write mode, automatically sends data, and paired with lr1121_read, it can achieve point-to-point communication.

• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_sigfox

• This demo code illustrates the transmission of an uplink that complies with the Sigfox standard.
• The effect is as follows:

lr1121_spectral_scan

• The application achieves spectrum scanning operations by setting the device to Rx continuous mode and periodically reading the instantaneous RSSI value for each frequency channel one by one.
• It can be tested with lr1121_tx_cw.
• Use lr1121_tx_cw to send a signal at 868MHz with 22dBm power for testing. The results are as follows:

lr1121_spetrum_display

• The application achieves spectrum display operations by setting the device to Rx continuous mode and periodically reading the instantaneous RSSI of each channel one by one.
• It can be tested with lr1121_tx_cw.
• The drawing function requires support from VT100 control code, such as MobaXterm
• Use lr1121_tx_cw to send a signal at 868MHz with 22dBm power for testing. The results are as follows:

lr1121_tx_cw

• This demo will automatically set the device to Tx continuous wave mode.
• It will continuously emit a waveform, which is an unmodulated sine wave (pure carrier), mainly for testing power, frequency accuracy, and EMC
• No communication capability (no data transmission), non-LoRa protocol format
• The waveform power has attenuated by 10 dBm

lr1121_tx_infinite_preamble

• This demo will configure the device to continuously transmit a wireless preamble signal (Preamble).
• It will continuously transmit a waveform that is modulated (in LoRa format), primarily for testing LoRa transmission performance, spectrum, and certification (LoRa mode).
• It does not transmit a full packet, but uses a valid LoRa preamble code modulation.

LoRa and LoRaWAN

What is LoRa?

LoRa from Semtech is a long-range, low-power IoT wireless platform, generally referring to RF chips that use LoRa technology. The main features are as follows:

• LoRa (short for long range) uses spread spectrum modulation technology derived from Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) technology, which is a type of long-distance wireless transmission technology and LPWAN communication technology. Spread spectrum technology trades bandwidth for sensitivity. Wi-Fi, ZigBee, and others all use spread spectrum technology, but the characteristic of LoRa modulation is that it approaches the limit of Shannon's theorem and maximizes sensitivity. Compared to traditional FSK technology, under the same communication rate, LoRa is 8 to 12 dBm more sensitive than FSK. Currently, LoRa primarily operates in the Sub-GHz ISM frequency band.
• LoRa technology integrates technologies such as digital spread spectrum, digital signal processing, and forward error correction coding, significantly improving long-distance communication performance. The link budget of LoRa is superior to any other standardized communication technology, and the link budget refers to the main factors that determine the distance in a given environment.
• LoRa RF chips mainly include the SX127X series, SX126X series, and SX130X series, where the SX127X and SX126X series are used for LoRa nodes, and the SX130X is used for LoRa gateways. For more details, please refer to the product list of Semtech.

What is LoRaWAN?

• LoRaWAN is a low-power wide-area network open protocol built on top of LoRa radio modulation technology. It aims to wirelessly connect battery-powered "things" to the Internet in regional, national, or global networks, and is tailored to key IoT requirements such as two-way directional communication, end-to-end security, mobility, and localized services. Among them, the node is wirelessly connected to the Internet and has network access authentication, which is equivalent to establishing an encrypted communication channel between the node and the server, as shown in the following figure of the LoRaWAN protocol layer.
  • Class A/B/C three types of node devices in the MAC layer basically cover all the application scenarios of the Internet of Things. The difference among the three lies in the different time slots for node reception and transmission
  • In the Modulation layer, EU868, AS430, etc., indicate that different countries use different frequency parameters. For regional parameters, please refer to link

• To achieve LoRaWAN network coverage in a city or other areas, it requires four components: nodes (LoRa nodes RF chips), gateways (or base stations, with LoRa gateways RF chips), servers, and clouds, as shown in the following diagram.
  • DEVICE (node device) must first send an access request data packet to the GATEWAY (gateway), which then forwards it to the server. After authentication is successful, it can then normally exchange application data with the server.
  • GATEWAY (gateway) can communicate with the server via wired networks, 3/4/5G wireless networks
    • • The main operators on the server side are TTN, etc. For setting up your own cloud service, please refer to lorawan-stack and chirpstack

Applications

• This application is based on the LoRaWAN official ModemE_application_examples and only demonstrates a basic LoRaWAN Class A application. For other high-level examples, please refer to the official repository for self-porting, including: Certification Application, LoRaWAN Class B Application, LoRaWAN Multicast Class B/C Example and FUOTA Example.

Components Preparation

• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
• Micro SD card / TF card (It is recommended to use an SD/TF card with a capacity greater than 8GB)
• Card reader
• Gateway Module
• Node device
• Development board (optional): ESP32, Raspberry Pi, STM32 and Raspberry Pi Pico

• 
  

  Raspberry Pi

 
• 
  

  TF card

 
• 
  

  Card reader

 
• 
  

  Gateway

 
• 
  

  Node

Server Setup

• The demo uses ChirpStack as the LoRaWAN network server. Please configure it according to the official installation steps provided for Raspberry Pi.

• Download ChirpStack Gateway OS image, unzip it, and then use Win32DiskImager to write the image to the TF card.

• 
  

  Download image

 
• 
  

  Write image

• After the writing is completed, please refer to the official documentation for detailed configuration. This Wiki only provides a brief installation process. For detailed information, please see: ChirpStack Gateway OS Getting started.

• Insert the TF card into the Raspberry Pi and power it on. Once booted, the computer Wi-Fi will scan for a wireless hotspot named ChirpStackAP-XXXXXX with the password ChirpStackAP. After the connection is successful, visit 192.168.0.1 in the browser to open the ChirpStack management interface, and you can log in for the first time without a password.

• 
  

  Connect to Wi-Fi

 
• 
  

  Access web interface

• It can access external networks via Ethernet or Wi-Fi after startup. Here is an example of connecting to Ethernet. If you need to configure Wi-Fi, please refer to: Wi-Fi Configuration. After networking is set up, you can view the current IP address in the Web management interface.

Add Gateway

After the server configuration is completed and an IP address is obtained, turn off the Raspberry Pi and power off, then connect the SX1303-868M-LoRaWAN-Gateway-HAT (gateway device) to the Raspberry Pi, and connect the antenna. After powering on the Raspberry Pi, use the obtained IP address to remotely access the device via an SSH tool (such as MobaXterm). The default username is root. After a successful connection, enter the following command in the terminal to get the gateway ID: gateway-id. The system will output the gateway ID of the current device, please note down this ID as it will be needed when adding the gateway later. 

• Access the obtained IP address in your browser and enter the ChirpStack management interface. Click ChirpStack -> Concentratord sequentially and enable the gateway function. Take SX1303 (868 MHz) as an example, configure it as follows, and click "Save and Apply" after completing the configuration:

• 
  

  Enable gateway

 
• 
  

  Configure gateway parameters

• Enter the application: Applications -> ChirpStack, you need to log in when you enter it for the first time, and the default account and password are admin. After logging in, click Gateways -> Add gateway, fill in the gateway-id obtained earlier on the Add page, and save it. Return to the Gateway page to see if the gateway has been successfully launched.

• 
  

  Add gateway to server

 
• 
  

  Check if the gateway is online

Add Node

• First, add a device configuration profile in the Web interface: Device Profiles -> Add device profile, configure as shown in the following figure:

• Then add an application: Applications -> Add application, fill in the relevant information and save:

• Then add an end device, click Add device, the relevant information (e.g. DevEUI, AppKey) can be automatically generated by clicking the "Random" button, which will be used in the demo later

• 
  

  Set EUI

 
• 
  

  Set key

• Note: The Core1121-HF module defaults to Transceiver mode. To run the LoRaWAN protocol, you need to flash the corresponding firmware onto the development board first.

For a demo, refer to the lr1121_firmware_update demo in the Demo, and run lr1121_firmware_update + lr1121_modem_05020001.

• 
  

  ESP-IDF and Pico

 
• 
  

  Arduino ESP32

 
• 
  

  PlatformIO ESP32

 
• 
  

  Raspberry Pi

 
• 
  

  STM32

• The successful flashing effect is shown in the following figure

After firmware flashing is completed, download the LoRaWAN demo. Open it and enter the directory: ../Core1121-XF-Demo\...\lr1121_LoRaWAN, edit the lorawan_commissioning.h file, and fill in the corresponding positions with the generated EUI and key information. Compile and flash after completion.

• 
  

  Fill in EUI

 
• 
  

  Fill in key

• After the flashing is complete, the node will automatically request to join the LoRaWAN network. After joining successfully, the node will periodically send uplink data. Device events and communication status can be viewed through the Web interface:

①. Click Events to view the running status of the node
②. Observe if the joining failed
③. If the join is successful, you will see the network join event
④. Check the data reported by the node
⑤. View the debug information via the serial port

• The server also supports sending data to nodes:

①. Click Queue
②. Enter the hexadecimal data to be sent
③. Click Send
④. The node receives data and prints it via the serial port

Resources

Documents

• Core1121-XF Schematic

Demo

• Core1121-XF Demo

Datasheets

• LR1121 Datasheet
• LR1121 User Manual
• TTS Documentation Link
• LoRaWAN Documentation Link

FAQ

Support

Monday-Friday (9:30-6:30) Saturday (9:30-5:30)

Email: services01@spotpear.com