# Messaging capabilities

The LoRaWAN protocol is capable of transferring sensor data or changing the behavior of an actuator. LoRaWAN can be used for both uplink (device to network) as well as downlink (network to device) messaging. Within LoRaWAN, there are three traffic categories defined:

| **Class**          | **Characteristics**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A (all)**        | <p>Battery-powered sensors or actuators.</p><p>No latency constraint.</p><p>Focus on energy efficiency.</p><p>Must be supported by all devices.</p><p>Downlink message is triggered by an uplink message.</p>                                       |
| **B (beacon)\***   | <p>Battery-powered actuators.</p><p>Energy-efficient communication class for latency-controlled downlink.</p><p>Based on slotted communication synchronized with a network beacon.</p><p>Send 'actions' to a device with a few minutes latency.</p> |
| **C (continuous)** | <p>Mains-powered actuators</p><p>Devices that can afford to listen continuously.</p><p>No latency for downlink communication.</p><p>Listens for network «ping» for low-latency actuation.</p>                                                       |

> \*) The KPN LoRa service currently supports LoRaWAN Class A and C


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