Receiving or transmitting other protocols by LoRaWAN

Question

There is a description in 《LoRaWAN Specification 1.0.2》:

3.3.7 Receiving or transmitting other protocols The node may listen or transmit other protocols or do any transactions between the LoRaWAN transmission and reception windows, as long as the end-­device remains compatible with the local regulation and compliant with the LoRaWAN specification.

I'm puzzled about this “between the LoRaWAN transmission and reception windows”. Does it mean that we cloud do any transactions in the slot which is after LoRaWAN transmission and before reception windows?

Answer 1

“between the LoRaWAN transmission and reception windows”

Every Transmission is followed by two reception windows. This window, per default, in EU868 region is 5 Seconds for a join between transmission and reception and 1 second between transmission and reception for a normal uplink.
In this window you may do other things such as blink an led or anything, you

current
 ▲       ┌───────┐
 │       │       │
 │       │ tx    │
 │       │       │
 │       │       │
 │       │       │          rx1   rx2
 │       │       │          ┌──┐  ┌─┐
 │       │       │  idle    │  │  │ │
 ├───────┘       └──────────┘  └──┘ └───────►time
 │
 │

Answer 2

super.

For the best of my knowledge and understanding in this section we are talking about using other protocols, as Bluetooth, WiFi, ZigBee and so on.

Does it mean that we cloud do any transactions in the slot which is after LoRaWAN transmission and before reception windows?

Yes, that means that you can use other protocols in this slots, as long as "Other protocols" you are using do not violate any local regulations.

BTW: I think you can even use other protocols even in time of LoRa transmissions, but you should be aware of interference it could bring to your LoRa signal.

Answer 3

Does it mean that we cloud do any transactions in the slot which is after LoRaWAN transmission and before reception windows?

That's exactly what it means! As long as you comply with the specification - i.e. open Rx1 reception window (and Rx2 if nothing is received during Rx1) on time and with the right parameters - you can do whatever you want outside of these slots.

For instance, if you look at the SX126x description, you'll see that chip is capable of both LoRa and GFSK modulations. Between Tx and Rx1 (and Rx1 and Rx2 if it occurs), you can interleave a transmission / reception using GFSK modulation with the same chip.