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FUOTA FAQ
FUOTA FAQ
1. What is FUOTA?
FUOTA is an acronym for Firmware Update Over-The-Air.
FUOTA is also the name of a LoRa Alliance Technical Committee Working Group, the FUOTA Working Group
(WG).
2. Why should I care about firmware updates?
LoRaWAN end-devices are often designed with a very long lifecycle; many devices are deployed with a life
expectancy of several years. During that time, factors can arise that affect the device, such as changing
regulatory rules, varying software requirements, issues that need to be fixed, or improvements in the protocol
stack.
Firmware updates are often needed to address these factors. However, without over-the-air firmware updates,
some of the changes would require physical access to each affected end-device. This is not always possible,
as devices can be installed in unreachable locations, making physical access too time-consuming and costly.
Over-the-air firmware updates enable a zero-touch path to tackle such device evolutions, making LoRaWAN
end-devices future-proof.
3. What are the specifications produced by the FUOTA WG?
The FUOTA Working Group has produced five specifications:
• TS003 - Application Layer Clock Synchronization v2.0.0
• TS004 - Fragmented Data Block Transport v2.0.0
• TS005 - Remote Multicast Setup v2.0.0
• TS006 - Firmware Management Protocol v1.0.0
• TS007 - Multi-Package Access Protocol v1.0.0
These specifications are the building blocks that enable over-the-air firmware updates for LoRaWAN end-
devices.
In addition, the FUOTA WG has produced a technical recommendation document describing the firmware
update process:
• FUOTA Process Summary Technical Recommendation TR002 v1.0.0
4. Are FUOTA specifications LIMITED to firmware updates?
