End Device Classes

The LoRaWAN^® protocol defines three device operating classes that allow you to trade off power consumption versus latency for your application. In this discussion, latency refers to the response time of the end device to downlink messages from the network.

• Class A operation supports battery-powered sensors and has the highest latency. All end devices must support Class A operation at a minimum.
• Class B operation provides a lower-latency option, at the expense of higher power consumption. This class supports multicast messaging, which is useful for simultaneous over-the-air updates of many end devices.
• Class C operation provides a minimal latency option and is suitable for mains-powered actuators.

In addition to setting the operating class in your end-device configuration, you will also set the operating class when you register your device onto your network. In general, all gateways should be able to support Class A and Class C operation. Network Server support varies. Check with your infrastructure provider to see what classes are supported.

In this lesson, we review each of the operating classes in detail.