LoRaWAN Gateway Carrier-Grade Lightning Protection Best-Practices
Selecting carrier-grade IoT Gateway is key, but not enough.
For highly reliable and performant applications, operating a truly carrier-grade network infrastructure is mission-critical. Selecting industrial-grade IP-67 rated LoRa IoT gateway is a first step to enjoy unprecedented equipment performance, robustness and reliability, overtime. Kerlink industry-leading enterprise-grade Wirnet iSeries LoRaWAN IoT gateway is designed on strict requirements to grant high network availability, scalability and serviceability, for on-time messages delivery.
Purpose-built enterprise-grade design successfully leverages :
- excellent carrier-grade radio performance to mitigate the risks of radio interference,
- robust electronics design with the selection of extremely reliable components,
- expert combination of hardware and software for optimized carrier-grade performance,
- robust built-in security for effective best-in-class network reliability and manageability,
LoRaWAN Carrier-grade equipment performances can thus be enjoyed even for extreme temperatures and harsh outdoor climatic and environmental conditions.
Adopting carrier-grade installation for lightning protection is also critical
However, a reliable LoRa IoT gateway might not deliver its best performance if some carrier-grade installation best-practices are not actively considered before and during IoT equipment deployment. A cutting-edge network strategy is then required to grant best-in-class radio performance and effective carrier-class network operations overtime. This expert installation is also critical for cost efficient upfront investment and to grant network operators a lower total cost of operations (TCO). This is also key to secure and protect their IoT network assets on the long run.
Kerlink teams have strong expertise in designing and manufacturing industrial-grade outdoor and enterprise-grade indoor IoT gateway offering steady performance, high reliability, high availability and ease of use. They also have a strong knowledge in carrier-grade LoRaWAN gateway radio coexistence and interference mitigation (see our first technical white paper on this topic ), and carrier-grade LoRaWAN gateway lightning protection.
This is the topic covered by this second Kerlink technical white paper that we are pleased to release today.
Step by step best practices to grant carrier-grade network performances
Users of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) carrier-grade outdoor IoT gateway, like many other outdoor electronic or telecommunication systems, must constantly keep their equipment in operation and highly available. This is their duty is despite of the transient overvoltage sometimes induced by lightning. And this risk is increased for several reasons like:
- The integration of electronic components that makes the equipment more vulnerable,
- The interruptions of service that are unacceptable, or
- The large areas covered by a LPWAN that potentially expose it to more disturbances.
First, analyzing risks and related scenarios for carrier-grade lightning protection
Due to the height of the buildings, towers and masts on which they are installed, LoRaWAN IoT gateway are highly vulnerable to the effects of direct and indirect lightning strikes. The consequences of a lightning impact may vary from a simple interruption of service to damaged materials with potential huge associated economic and patrimonial costs.
In the worst case, human life safety is in danger. The need for an expert lightning protection system thus usually implies a risk analysis to determine the types of possible loss and subsequent scenarios.
If the risk is assessed as low, lightning protection may be omitted, knowing however the potential consequences. If the risk is assessed as high, which is the case in most situations, then carrier-grade lightning protection is required for better performances and risks mitigation. Investing in reliable and lightning protection and appropriate carrier-grade set-up, following clear guidelines, can :
- extend LoRaWAN gateway and installation lifetime and reliability,
- improve LoRa network robustness for highly available customer services, and
- grant low cost for overall operating and infrastructure maintenance.
Second, selecting a carrier-grade lightning protection equipment vendor
As one size does not fit all, Kerlink is leveraging its proven track-record of multiple carrier-grade and industrial-grade outdoor LoRaWAN installations in various harsh and demanding environments worldwidepartnering with industrial-grade vendor CITEL. Kerlink has thus identified a complete portfolio of industrial-grade surge protective devices to protect LoRaWAN IoT gateways and the whole carrier-grade installation.
Third, adopting best-in-class carrier-grade installation principles
To follow strict requirements for installation configuration, public and private IoT network operators must follow carrier-class guidelines and recommendations to execute highly reliable deployment and installations, to grant network assets protection and lasting performance.
This second Kerlink Technical White Paper provides key guidelines to understand the lightning phenomenon, its possible consequences and the best-practices and guidance to protect an electronic device in general, and a carrier-grade outdoor LoRaWAN gateway more specifically, to benefit from highly reliable and performant LoRa networks.