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Lora Part15

This document discusses key concepts related to data transmission in LoRaWAN networks, including: - Chip rate determines bandwidth and chip duration, with higher chip rates allowing faster transmission. - Symbol rate is calculated from chip rate and spreading factor (SF), with higher SF lowering symbol rate but increasing symbol duration. - Data rate is calculated from bandwidth, SF, and coding rate, with higher bandwidth or lower SF/coding rate increasing data rate. - Increasing SF doubles symbol duration but halves data rate, allowing communication over greater distances with weaker signals.

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Alexander Sinche
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62 views

Lora Part15

This document discusses key concepts related to data transmission in LoRaWAN networks, including: - Chip rate determines bandwidth and chip duration, with higher chip rates allowing faster transmission. - Symbol rate is calculated from chip rate and spreading factor (SF), with higher SF lowering symbol rate but increasing symbol duration. - Data rate is calculated from bandwidth, SF, and coding rate, with higher bandwidth or lower SF/coding rate increasing data rate. - Increasing SF doubles symbol duration but halves data rate, allowing communication over greater distances with weaker signals.

Uploaded by

Alexander Sinche
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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mobilefish.

com

LORA / LORAWAN TUTORIAL 15


Data Rate, Chip Rate, Symbol Rate
Chip Duration & Symbol Duration

v1.1.0
mobilefish.com
INTRO
• In
this tutorial I will explain how data rate, chip rate, symbol rate, chirp duration and
symbol duration are calculated.
mobilefish.com
CHIP RATE
• The unit of bandwidth (BW) is Hertz (Hz) which is the number of vibrations
or wave cycles per second. This bandwidth is interchangeably with chip rate:

BW = Rc = chip rate (chips/s) [1]

• For example: BW=125 kHz



BW = Rc = 125000 chips/s
fhigh
bandwidth (BW)

fhigh - flow SF=9
fcenter Symbol carries 9 raw bits of information

Symbol holds 2SF = 29 = 512 chips

flow
time
mobilefish.com
SYMBOL RATE
• The
Symbol Rate (Rs) is calculated as follow:

Rs (symbols/sec) = BW / 2SF = Rc / 2SF [1]

Bandwidth (BW) in Hz

Spreading Factor (SF): 7-12

• For
example: BW=125 kHz, SF=7

Rs = 125000 / 27 = 977 symbols/sec
fhigh bandwidth (BW)

fhigh - flow

fcenter

flow
time
mobilefish.com
DATA RATE
• The chip rate is always higher than the symbol rate: Rc > Rs

• To calculate the data rate (DR) or bit rate (Rb):





Rb (bits/sec) = SF x BW x 4 [1]
2SF (4 + CR)

Bandwidth (BW) in Hz



Spreading Factor (SF): 7-12

Code Rate (CR): 1-4
mobilefish.com
DATA RATE
• Forexample: SF=7, CR=1

BW=125 kHz, Rb = 7 x (125000 / 27) x (4 / (4 + 1)) = 

5.5 kbits/s

BW=250 kHz, Rb = 7 x (250000 / 27) x (4 / (4 + 1)) = 

10.9 kbits/s

BW=500 kHz, Rb = 7 x (500000 / 27) x (4 / (4 + 1)) = 

21.9 kbits/s

• If you increase the bandwidth, the bit rate or data rate is increased.
mobilefish.com
DATA RATE
• Forexample: BW=125 kHz, CR=1

SF=7, Rb = 7 x (125000/27 ) x (4/(4+1)) = 5.5 kbits/s

SF=8, Rb = 8 x (125000/28 ) x (4/(4+1)) = 3.13 kbits/s

SF=9, Rb = 9 x (125000/29 ) x (4/(4+1)) = 1.76 kbits/s

SF=10, Rb = 10 x (125000/210) x (4/(4+1)) = 0.98 kbits/s

SF=11, Rb = 11 x (125000/211) x (4/(4+1)) = 0.54 kbits/s

SF=12, Rb = 12 x (125000/212) x (4/(4+1)) = 0.29 kbits/s

• If you increase the Spreading Factor, the bit rate or data rate is decreased.
mobilefish.com
CHIP DURATION
Rc = BW [1], the chip duration is calculated as follow: 

• Because
Tc (sec) = 1 / BW

Bandwidth (BW) in Hz

• For
example: BW=125 kHz

Tc = 1 / 125000 = 8 µs
mobilefish.com
SYMBOL DURATION
symbol duration or sweep time is calculated as follow: 

• The
Ts(sec) = 2SF / BW [1]

Bandwidth (BW) in Hz

Spreading Factor (SF): 7-12

fhigh

bandwidth (BW)

fhigh - flow
fcenter

flow
Ts Ts time
mobilefish.com
SYMBOL DURATION
• For example: SF7

BW=125 kHz, Ts = 27 / 125000 = 1.024 ms

BW=250 kHz, Ts = 27 / 250000 = 512 µs

BW=500 kHz, Ts = 27 / 500000 = 256 µs

If the BW increases, the Symbol duration decreases.

• For example: BW=125 kHz



SF=7, Ts = 27 / 125000 = 1.024 ms

SF=9, Ts = 29 / 125000 = 4.096 ms

SF=12, Ts = 212 / 125000 = 32.768 ms

If the SF increases, the Symbol duration increases.
mobilefish.com
SPREADING FACTOR VS SYMBOL DURATION
• An overview of symbol durations with respect to different Spreading Factors.

If the SF increases by one the symbol duration doubles.
bandwidth (BW)

fh

fc

fl
SF7 SF8 SF9 SF10 SF11

time
mobilefish.com
SPREADING FACTOR IMPACT
• If you increase the SF by 1:

• The symbol duration or sweep time doubles compared to the previous SF.

• It reduces the bit rate approximately by half compared to the previous SF.

• The Time on Air (ToA) (= the amount of time that the transmitter antenna is
energised and transmitting data) increases which means the distance increases.

• To give you an idea what the Time on Air is for a 10 byte payload, BW=125kHz:

SF7: ToA = 41 ms

SF12: ToA = 991 ms 

See: https://www.loratools.nl/#/airtime
mobilefish.com
SPREADING FACTOR IMPACT
• LoRa devices uses a higher spreading factor when the signal is weak or there is lot of
interference. Using a higher spreading factor means a longer Time on Air (ToA).

• If
an end device is further away from a gateway the signal get weaker and therefore
needs a higher spreading factor.

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