To address a variety of end application profiles, LoRaWAN network utilizes
end-devices from the following device classes.
- Class A: Bi-directional end-devices
- Class B: Bi-directional end-devices with scheduled receive slots
- Class C: Bi-directional end-devices with maximal receive slots
All three classes allow bi-directional communication and can initiate an up-link to the server via the gateway. The key difference between these device classes is the trade-off made between network down-link communication latency and power consumption. Each class serves different application needs and has optimized requirements for specific purposes. Figure 1 shows the down-link network communication latency versus battery lifetime for the end-devices of different classes.
Figure 1. End-Device Classes
