Questions & Answers

What is GATE-Ware?

GATE-Ware is an application that connects your Conduit to your cloud within 5 minutes of unboxing.

The application is designed to be a complete solution for cloud integration, device management, and edge processing leveraging LoRaWAN.

What do you mean “connects?”

Your freshly-unboxed Conduit will:

  • Create a broker connection to your cloud via MQTT over TLS.
  • Transmit data via MQTT from new and existing LoRaWAN end nodes to your cloud.
  • Expose MultiTech’s complete mPower API to your cloud via MQTT - for complete remote management.
  • Exercise a pass-through example edge processing routine, which you can then modify with your own logic.

All within 5 minutes.

What form does it take?

GATE-Ware takes the form of a standard MultiTech Custom Application, deployable remotely (DeviceHQ or VPN) or locally.

You can convert your already field-deployed Conduits to using GATE-Ware within minutes.

What cloud does it communicate with?

We support standard MQTT on any cloud. This includes AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, and Azure IoT Central.

Is configuration part of the 5 minutes?

Yes, GATE-Ware’s configuration file is hyper-simple. Just drop your cloud’s endpoint and credentials into a centralized json configuration, then GATE-Ware does the rest.

Later you can revisit the configuration file and extend functionality.

Are there recurring fees?

None. A one-time license key is all you need to purchase, then a major versioned copy of GATE-Ware is yours for eternity.

The GATE-Ware team believes that LoRaWAN should not be treated as a Telco or a SaaS.

What about data privacy?

GATE-Ware is privacy by design, in that data is securely transferred to your cloud, without involving third parties. The application supports MQTT over TLS. GATE-Ware never sends your data anywhere but to your configured endpoint.

Can I customize GATE-Ware?

Yes, via our easy to use edge-processing frameworks, you can modify, route and even discard data from LoRaWAN end nodes - we’ve found this to be very desirable for selectively transmitting data via costly cell links. Unlike SaaS providers, GATE-Ware transmits only what you want you send, to your endpoint only.

How restrictive are the edge frameworks?

As long as the Conduit’s Linux will run it, and it adheres to the very basic data I/O requirements of GATE-Ware, then you can write your edge processing logic in whatever language you wish.

We provide examples in Python and Bash.

GATE-Ware introduces nothing proprietary and no funky custom languages or schemas.

Who was GATE-Ware made for?

We made GATE-Ware for ourselves at first! Three Labs grew as a consulting business and has deployed MultiTech-based LoRa solutions for clients for several years.

Initially, we were seeking a method for reducing our own engagement and development overhead:

“If we could just spin up each of these engagements in 5 minutes..”

Ultimately the wish became a reality as we designed our very own version of what we wanted from a LoRa application framework.

We decided to package GATE-Ware for end users, along with several features missing from the LoRaWAN SaaS market leaders, like:

  • Edge processing, via what we call “Transforms.”
  • Privacy by design - your data is truly your data. We have no special hooks or requirements… or even servers for consuming any of your data.
  • A One-time license fee! We realize that this is virtually unheard of, but made possible because we don’t have to incur the costs of ingesting your data.
  • Hyper focus on maintaining minimal complexity - GATE-Ware’s config file is a one-stop shop and simple.

GATE-Ware is our very own custom application. We use the exact same product that we make available to customers for end use.

What else should I consider?

Whether you choose GATE-Ware or a SaaS, you haven’t escaped the responsibilities of owning and maintaining the physical LoRaWAN network.

Fortunately, GATE-Ware can assist you with the responsibilities below in ways that a SaaS typically does not:

  1. Deploying the network properly and ensuring link health (i.e. placement and transmission path of Conduit and end devices):

    • We’ve created some best practices guides for our customers. If you’d like additional help, Three Labs can provide consultation.

  2. Paying for data to/from the Conduit (especially on Cellular):

    • Reduce data costs by transmitting only interesting data, using edge processing.

  3. Running a cloud for your own business logic:

    • Reduce compute costs by installing logic in the Conduit and having no third party SaaS costs.

  4. Managing your Conduit’s health:

    • GATE-Ware exposes the complete MultiTech mPower interface, providing full remote configuration. No VPN or local access to the conduit is required.

How do I get started?

‘Getting started’ is easy, and may be all that you need to do if data pass-through and mPower access is all that you need. Head over to the section linked below to quickly complete your setup:

> Click here to visit the Getting Started page

GATE-Ware encourages the use of edge processing:

If you wish to create business logic for acting on your data before transmission, you’ll be able to do so via GATE-Ware’s “Transform” functionality. Head over to the section linked below to see examples and make use of edge processing features.

> Click here to visit the Transforms page

We encourage you to take a complete tour of the GATE-Ware documentation, as we try to keep it simple and effective.

Please do not hesitate to reach out directly if there’s something that we can helop clarify, or something additional that you’d like to see: info@threelabs.io.