Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1546053
LoRaWAN ® Relay Technical Recommendations TR016-1.0.0 ©2026 LoRa Alliance ® Page 10 of 20 The authors reserve the right to change specifications without notice. 4 Enabling/disabling the relay mode 231 232 [TS011] specifies several modes to enable or disable the relay protocol on end-devices. The 233 default mode is that the decision is driven by the end-device. 234 The network server MAY force the activation or deactivation of the relay mode, leveraging its 235 knowledge of the presence (or not) of a relay near the end-device. However, end-devices 236 SHOULD support an internal logic to autonomously enable or disable the relay mode without 237 waiting for the network server, for the following reasons: 238 • During the JOIN process, the end-device cannot rely on any network server decision. 239 • While the Network Server maintains visibility of uplink reception quality, it lacks 240 equivalent visibility for downlink transmissions. Consequently, end-devices SHOULD 241 evaluate link conditions and determine whether relay mode operation is required to 242 improve link quality, or whether direct Gateway communication is sufficient. 243 244 Accordingly, this section provides recommendations on the logic to be implemented inside 245 each end-device to dynamically enable or disable the relay protocol depending on the 246 situation. 247 248 Since the network server has the best knowledge about the radio equipment surrounding each 249 end-device, it SHOULD decide which ActivationRelayMode setting is more suitable for 250 each end-device. The network server SHOULD send the EndDeviceConfReq MAC 251 command carrying the ActivationRelayMode as early as possible to the end-device, as 252 well as after any major change in the network infrastructure around the end-device. 253 254 4.1 During the JOIN procedure 255 The scope of this procedure is to let the end-device choose when to enable the WOR protocol 256 (relay mode) and when to disable it, when it attempts to access the LoRaWAN network through 257 the Join procedure. 258 259 Case DEVICE_NOT_JOINED // the end-device is in the JOIN state, it has not yet joined. 260 Send up to N1 Join-Request messages without WOR-Join-Request 261 • If a valid Join-Accept is received: 262 o keep the relay mode disabled and 263 o move to the JOINED_WOR_DEACTIVATED case (see section 4.3). 264 • Else, if no Join-Accept is received after N1 attempts: 265 o activate the WOR protocol and prefix every Join-Request by a WOR-Join- 266 Request 267 o If a valid Join-Accept is received on RXJ1 or RXJ2: Send a LinkCheckReq 268 MAC command 269 ▪ If the LinkCheckAns is received on RX1 or RX2: 270 • deactivate the WOR protocol and 271 • proceed to the JOINED_WOR_DEACTIVATED case (see 272 section 4.3). 273 ▪ Else (LinkCheckAns either received on RXR or not received): 274