Analyzing LoRaWAN® traffic
This section provides detailed information about the different types of LoRaWAN® packets and reports supported by Wireless Logger.
It also describes the applicable radio color codes and provides a simple definition of the LoRaWAN® radio metrics applicable to uplink packets.
Hover with your mouse over each icon on the left of the table to display its tooltip.
Packets and reports
Uplink packets
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Uplink on-time packet (successfully transmitted to applications) | The uplink packet was received on-time by the network server and successfully transmitted to all application servers. |
 | Uplink late packet (successfully transmitted to applications) | The uplink packet was queued by the base station and received late by the network. It was successfully transmitted to all application servers. |
 | Uplink packet (transmission failed to preferred destination) | For at least one application, the transmission failed on the preferred destination but it was successfully sent to a secondary destination. The "L" symbol is appended to the icon if the uplink packet was received late by the network server. |
 | Uplink packet (transmission failed to application(s)) | Transmission failure to at least one application. The "L" symbol is appended to the icon if the uplink packet was received late by the network server. |
Downlink unicast packets
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Downlink unicast packet (successfully transmitted by the network) | The downlink packet was successfully sent by the network over the air. |
 | Downlink unicast packet failure (not transmitted by the network) | The downlink packet was not successfully sent over the air. The corresponding failure cause is provided in the expandable panel. |
 | Downlink unicast packet sent for a repeated uplink (success) | The downlink packet is successfully sent in response to a repeated uplink packet that is not visible in WLogger (due to packet deduplication). |
 | Downlink unicast packet sent for a repeated uplink (failure) | A downlink packet transmission was attempted in response to a repeated uplink packet that is not visible in WLogger (due to packet deduplication). The red dot indicates that the packet was not successfully sent over the air, with the corresponding failure cause shown in the expandable panel. |
Downlink multicast packets
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Downlink multicast packet (successfully transmitted by the network) | Radio transmission success |
 | Downlink multicast packet failure (not transmitted by the network) | Radio transmission failure |
 | Partial Multicast summary report (success rate ≥ 80%) | Partial summary report showing statistics on the effective transmission status by base stations belonging to the multicast group. "Partial" means that the network is still attempting further retries for this multicast packet. In the case of this icon, the multicast packet was successfully sent by at least 80% of the base stations. |
 | Final Multicast summary report (success rate ≥ 80%) | Final summary report showing statistics on the effective transmission status by base stations belonging to the multicast group. "Final" means that the network has no more attempts left to retransmit this multicast packet on failing base stations. In the case of this icon, the multicast packet was successfully sent by at least 80% of the base stations. |
 | Final Multicast summary report (30% ≤ success rate < 80%) | Final summary report showing statistics on the effective transmission status by base stations belonging to the multicast group. "Final" means that the network has no more attempts left to retransmit this multicast packet on failing base stations. In the case of this icon, the multicast packet was successfully sent by less than 80% but not less than 30% of the base stations. |
 | Final Multicast summary report (success rate < 30%) | Final summary report showing statistics on the effective transmission status by base stations belonging to the multicast group. "Final" means that the network has no more attempts left to retransmit this multicast packet on failing base stations. In the case of this icon, the multicast packet was successfully sent by less than 30% of the base stations. |
Passive roaming packets
-
Roaming-in case (forwarding passive roaming): the network server acts as a forwarding network server (fNS).
Icon Name Description 
Passive roaming (fNS) uplink Uplink packet transmitted to the home network server of the foreign device. 
Passive roaming (fNS) downlink (success) Downlink packet belonging to a foreign device roaming-in to my network. The downlink was successfully sent over the air by one of my base stations. 
Passive roaming (fNS) downlink (failure) Downlink packet belonging to a foreign device roaming-in to my network. The downlink was not successfully sent over the air, the corresponding failure cause is shown in the expandable panel. -
Roaming-out case (serving passive roaming): the network server acts as a serving network server (sNS).
Icon Name Description Passive roaming (hNS) uplink (successfully transmitted to applications) The uplink packet belongs to a device roaming-out on a foreign network and passing through a foreign base station. This uplink packet was successfully delivered to all the target application servers. 
Passive roaming (hNS) uplink (transmission failed to preferred destination) The uplink packet belongs to a device roaming-out on a foreign network and passing through a foreign base station. For at least one application, the transmission failed on the preferred destination but it was successfully sent to a secondary destination. 
Passive roaming (hNS) uplink (transmission failed to application(s)) The uplink packet belongs to a device roaming-out on a foreign network and passing through a foreign base station. The uplink packet was not successfully reported to at least one application. Passive roaming (hNS) downlink (success) Radio transmission success of a downlink of one of my devices roaming-out on a foreign network and passing through a foreign base station. Passive roaming (hNS) downlink (failure) Radio transmission failure of a downlink of one of my devices roaming-out on a foreign network and passing through a foreign base station.
Location reports
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Location report | Device location resolution by the network, based on triangulation algorithms (TDoA and RSSI). |
Device reset reports
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Device reset report | Only applicable to ABP devices. |
Radio color codes
Wireless Logger uses the following color codes to display LoRaWAN® radio metrics. To learn more, see LoRaWAN® radio metrics.
| RF metric | Green | Light green | Dark yellow | Light orange | Orange | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) | SNR ≥ -7 dB | -9 ≤ SNR < -7 dB | -11.5 ≤ SNR < -9 dB | -14 ≤ SNR < -11.5 dB | -16.5 ≤ SNR < -14 dB | SNR < -16.5 dB |
| Estimated Signal Power (ESP) | ESP ≥ -90 dBm | -100 ≤ ESP < -90 dBm | -110 ≤ ESP < -100 dBm | -120 ≤ ESP < -110 dBm | -130 ≤ ESP < -120 dBm | ESP < -130 dBm |
| Spreading Factor | SF7 | SF8 | SF9 | SF10 | SF11 | SF12 |
Downlink RX2 and pingslots
To easily identify downlink packets sent on RX2 or pingslots, a background color is used in the Channel column, using the following rule:
- For RX2, orange color is used.
- For pingslot, blue color is used.
LoRaWAN® traffic encapsulated by a relay
When the uplink or downlink packet of an end-device
is sent via a LoRaWAN® relay, the encapsulated traffic carried
by the relay device is illustrated by a blue color on the background of the
FPort column.
The value is always set to 226 Relay.
LoRaWAN® radio metrics
Estimated Signal Power (ESP)
Measures the real received signal strength of a desired signal, carving out the impact of background noise. In other words, it is an estimate of the useful signal only. It is useful for assessing how good the received signal is compared to the minimum sensitivity level of the receiver, and also when trying to assess the distance of the transmitter to the receiver (if a reference ESP at a given distance is known).
Being the received signal strength of the useful signal, it represents the S component in the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) formula Therefore, ESP can be computed as follows:
- ESP = Tx EIRP – Path Loss + Rx antenna gain
- ESP = RSSI – 10*LOG( 1 + 10^(-SNR/10) )
It is expressed in dBm and always has negative values.
Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)
Measures the total received signal strength within a channel bandwidth summing up the useful signal, the interference, and the background noise. It is useful for determining the strength of a signal as seen by the amplifiers of the receiver. A strong decrease of RSSI can signal degradation of a receiver, for instance following a lightning or when an antenna cable disconnects. A very high RSSI can signal presence of a strong interferer, such as exposure of a LoRaWAN receiver the the main lobes of a cellular network emitter, or intentional jamming.
RSSI is the sum S + I + N.
It is expressed in dBm,
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
Measures the quality of the reception through the ratio between the received signal strength of the useful signal, and the signal strength of the interference added to the one of the background noise. It is useful for determining the quality of a signal particularly for technologies which are capable to extract the signal that are buried in noise, like GNSS receivers or LoRaWAN. For example, LoRaWAN can decode signal with SNR as low as -20dB when using spreading factor 12. The measured SNR, for a given spreading factor, can give an indication of how much margin there is for the communication when using this spreading factor.
It is computed like this: SNR = S/(I+N).
It is expressed in dB. The higher the SNR (for instance, positive SNR as opposed to negative SNR), the better the reception quality.
Which measurement is the best: ESP, RSSI or SNR
Each of the measurements ESP, RSSI, and SNR in ThingPark serve different purposes and are best suited for different scenarios. The "best" measurement depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want to assess the quality of a signal for technologies operating with a positive SNR, then ESP is the best indicator. For technologies using correlation techniques to extract signal from noise, SNR is the best indicator. If you want to measure the quality of reception within a certain band, irrespective of noise versus useful signal, of when the signal is known to be mush stronger than the noise (as for most classic RF modulations like FSK), RSSI is a good indicator and in practice equal to ESP.