LoRa (from "Long Range") is a physical radio communication technique. LoRaWAN (wide area network) defines the communication protocol and system architecture.
A LoRaWAN-enabled end device is a sensor or an actuator which is wirelessly connected to a LoRaWAN network through radio gateways using LoRa RF Modulation. In the majority of applications, an end device is an autonomous, often battery-operated sensor that digitizes physical conditions and environmental events. Typical use cases for an actuator include: street lighting, wireless locks, water valve shut off, leak prevention, among others.
A LoRaWAN gateway receives LoRa modulated RF messages from any end device in hearing distance and forwards these data messages to the LoRaWAN network server (LNS).
The LoRaWAN network server (LNS) manages the entire network, dynamically controls the network parameters to adapt the system to ever-changing conditions, and establishes secure 128-bit AES connections for the transport of both the end to end data (from LoRaWAN end device to the end users Application in the Cloud) as well as for the control of traffic that flows from the LoRaWAN end device to the LNS (and back).