Guides and Documentation

The following section provides links to Spark IoT press releases, categories of Spark IoT information provided by this website, and updates from manufacturers. But there is much more information available out there on the Internet, and links to external sources for more information is given at the end of this page¹.

Spark IoT News

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Recent Spark news relating to IoT is given below:

• 18^th February, 2019: Spark’s newly completed Cat-M1 IoT network reaches 98% of New Zealanders
• 19^th December, 2018: Spark paves the way to New Zealand’s ‘smartest’ street
• 05^th June, 2018: Spark extends ‘Internet of Things’ network coverage to Mystery Creek in time for Fieldays
• 26^th March, 2018: Spark switches on long-range ‘Internet of Things’ network across New Zealand
• 14^th March, 2018: IoT helps farmers track fuel
• 12^th March, 2018: New ‘Internet of Things’ network set to give resource monitoring company Levno an edge
• 21^st December, 2017: IoT keeps boaties on board when they’re away from the marina
• 13^th December, 2017: Spark fast-tracking build of long-range IoT network to meet strong customer demand

Spark IoT Resources

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• LoRaWAN Guides

  • ThingPark Platform Guides
  • LoRaWAN Device Setup
  • ThingPark DX API Guides
  • Guides for Selected Evaluation Boards

• LTE Cat M1 Guides

  • Guides for LTE Cat M1 Evaluation Boards

• Developer Guides

  • LoRaWAN Evaluation Boards
  • LTE Cat M1 Evaluation Boards
  • Scripting using Python
  • AS923 Regional Parameters
  • Getting Set Up to Develop for AS923

• Support

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Updates & Advisories
  • Downloads
  • External Links

Updates

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• Multitech release a new firmware version, v3.1.0 for their mDot & xDot LoRaWAN AS923 devices
• The Spark IoT tech. team makes available firmware updates to address problems with the firmware of some manufacturers devices
• STMicroelectronics releases STM32Cube Expansion LRWAN v1.2.1 to address some minor issues
• Actility ThingPark Wireless platform update v5.1 has now gone live
• Recent work with Mbed OS makes Firmware updates Over-The-Air (FOTA) possible using LoRaWAN, according to the following blog post:
  • You Can Now Update Device Firmware Over LoRaWAN with Arm Mbed OS
• CatM1 has now been enabled throughout New Zealand, and there are more features to come

Developer Updates & Fixes

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Spark has identified and fixed a couple of problems with the LoRaMac firmware, and with release v1.0.3 of the LoRaWAN regional parameters. Many of our customers have been affected by these problems and Spark has raised these issues with manufacturers, provided fixes & workarounds, and future releases are scheduled to include these fixes:

• AS923 rejoin command does not reset RX frequencies
• AS923 Dwell Time Problem when TxParamSetupAns is Lost

See the downloads section for patches and more documentation on these issues.

External Links

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• Additional Spark Websites:

  • Spark Home
  • Spark Digital Services
  • Spark NZ News

• LoRaWAN Technical Information:

  • LoRaWAN main page at the LoRa Alliance
  • LoRa & LoRaWAN tutorials
  • NB IoT vs LoRa vs SigFox
  • LoRaWAN overview by Multitech
  • LoRa “chirp” modulation

• LoRaWAN Developer Links:

  • Mbed OS LoRaWAN Example Project
  • ARM Mbed LoRaWAN Overview
  • Multitech mDot and xDot Devices
  • STMicrolectronics Discovery B-L072Z-LRWAN1
  • PyCom Devices

• Cellular Developer Links:

  • GSMA IoT Device Connection Efficiency Guidelines

• IoT Service and Solution Providers:

  • Actility ThingPark Wireless
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Cayenne by myDevices
  • Arrow Components
  • Losant IoT Platform
  • Microsoft Azure

• Security Resources:

  • IoT Security Foundation

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1. This list is meant to be informative, rather than exhaustive, and it does not necessarily reflect commercial partnerships. If you have suggestions, or would like to partner with Spark IoT, then please contact us.↩︎