Hello Community Friends-
Today is the day we have all been waiting for-it's Spectra Showcase! At 11am ET we'll be showing off our latest devices as well as Particle's 2024 roadmap.Sign up here - it will be M-azing!
4 Likes
M-azing!!
2 Likes
If anyone is reading this after the fact, you can watch the recording on YouTube!
1 Like
Make Magazine has coverage here:
4 Likes
The M SoM datasheet and migration guides are now available. The battery calculator and cellular carrier list include M SoM now.
The Muon datasheet preview is now available.
3 Likes
It was M-azing!
I thought this new Plus pricing plan will be announced today as well, but it did not make the cut I guess.
2 Likes
Congratulations on the announcements.
Question. the Muon including "LoRaWAN". Is that an actual LoRaWAN stack ready to communicate with LoRaWAN network providers? Or just an embedded LoRa radio without LoRaWAN running atop the radio?
1 Like
the Muon including "LoRaWAN". Is that an actual LoRaWAN stack ready to communicate with LoRaWAN network providers?
Full stack, ready to go with Helium, Things Industries, and MachineQ initially.
The hardware can do more than that, but that's what we'll start with.
2 Likes
I was going to post the same question... or more specifically... can the LoRa Radio M SoM be used for device to device LoRa communication or is it provided only for device to cloud communication via LoRaWAN?
Per this long running blog post I am hoping you are going to say the M SoM will be able to communicate device to device as well. This would truly be M-azing!! I'm less excited about LoRaWAN but more excited about LoRa end device --> M SoM --> Cloud.
2 Likes
I was going to post the same question... or more specifically... can the LoRa Radio M SoM be used for device to device LoRa communication or is it provided only for device to cloud communication via LoRaWAN?
Only device to cloud over LoRaWAN for now. The hardware could be used for peer-to-peer, but the software isn't set up for that now.
2 Likes
I really really hope the "for now" in this statement is short lived 
It seems like a huge advantage for Particle to also ingest LoRa device traffic and send it over LTE or WiFi so data operations are also consumed and billable.
For LoRaWAN published events, I'm assuming those published events flow through the particle cloud just like any other Particle.Publish()? Or would we setup our own webhooks on Helium, TTN, MachineQ, etc? Maybe still TBD? Is a LoRaWAN event considered a data operation counted in the same way as a Cellular or WiFi data operation?
Exciting stuff!!!
1 Like
For the Particle device to ingest data from LoRa and send it out by cellular or Wi-Fi would make it a LoRa gateway. The Muon has a single channel radio so it could be a gateway in the US, but not in the EU, which requires multi-channel for gateways (I think). But in any case, that won't be happening for now, but it's an obvious use-case.
A published event will be one data operation for cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and LoRaWAN. For satellite, it will be multiple data operations, number to be determined.
OK. So the Muon is a single channel LoRaWAN end-device. Is it LoRaWAN certified (gone through the LoRa Alliance certification process)?
Correct, it's an end-device. It will be certified before release.
Well done Particle. Network operators are getting aggressive with LoRaWAN certification requirements.
Thanks @WoobaGooba !
This is very exciting news. Adding satellite as an option will help reduce the "edge cases" where connectivity is a problem.
Couple comments / questions:
- Agree with @jgskarda, it would be great if the Muon could be a proper LoRA gateway. Just as there are cases where there is no cellular connectivity, there are also cases where there is no LoRAWAN connectivity. If a more capable LoRa radio is needed, then I guess that could always go onto the expansion card. Even if Particle only provided a LoRA Particle library, that would be huge.
- I did not see a European (CAT-1) M-Series with Satellite capability. Is that coming?
- I have placed my pre-orders and can't wait to try this. Can I assume that for those of us outside NA, we would need to get a NA device and turn off satellite if we want to test that capability?
- I love the way that Particle is making it easier to get started with the Monitor and Tracker lines.
Chip
1 Like
The M404 and M635 will both be considered to be a global SKU. They don't have LTE Cat 1, but with the combination of 2G fallback and greater adoption of LTE Cat M1 world-wide, they will work in many locations. Initially, the M404 will be officially supported in North America, but beta testing is underway in additional locations for expansion.
You can see the countries where they may work for cellular in the M SoM band fit page.
1 Like
Looking at the current state of the Pricing page, it's a little bit unclear which aspects of multi-radio will be supported for the various plans.
Will all of the pricing plans support basic multi-radio (fallback from WiFi to LTE, for example)?
How about LoRAWAN?
It appears that Satellite will be supported only on the Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans?
Thanks!
Cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and LoRaWAN are supported on all pricing plans, as is automatic fallback.
Satellite is not available on the free plan, but is available on all paid plans including basic.