Configuring the position of LoRaWAN devices

When you add your device to AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN, you can specify the static position information, optionally activate positioning, and specify a destination. The destination describes the IoT rule that processes the device's position information and routes the updated position to Amazon Location Service. After you configure your device position, the position data is displayed on an Amazon Location map with the accuracy information, and the destination that you specified.

You can configure the position of your device using the AWS Management Console, the AWS IoT Wireless API, or the AWS CLI.

Uplink message from AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN to rules engine

Uplink message from AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN to rules engine

You can subscribe to an MQTT topic to receive location data as it becomes available from your LoRaWAN device. This method allows you to process location data in real-time using AWS IoT rules.

Configuring the position of your devices using the console

To configure and manage the position of your devices by using the AWS Management Console, first sign in to the console and then go to the Devices hub page of the AWS IoT console.

Add position information

To add position information for your device:

View device's position configuration

After you've configured your device's position, AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN creates an Amazon Location map called iotwireless.map. You can see this map in the details page of your device on the Position tab. Based on the position coordinates that you specified or the position computed by the third-party solvers, the position of your device will be displayed as a marker on the map. You can zoom in or zoom out to clearly view the position of your device on the map. In the device's details page, on the Position tab, you'll also see the accuracy information, the timestamp at which your device's position was determined, and the position data destination that you specified.

The map, iotwireless.map, acts as a source of map data which is accessed using Get API operations, such as GetMapTile. For information about Get APIs used with maps, see Amazon Location Service API reference.

To get additional details about this map, go to the Amazon Location Service console, choose maps, and then choose iotwireless.map. For more information, see Maps in the Amazon Location Service developer guide.

Update device's position configuration

To change the device's position configuration, in the device details page, choose Edit and then update the position information, any geolocation settings, and the destination.

Configure the position of your devices using API or CLI

You can specify the position information, configure the device position, and activate optional geolocation using the AWS IoT Wireless API or the AWS CLI.

Update position information

To update the position information for a given wireless device, specify the coordinates using the UpdateResourcePosition API operation or the update-resource-position CLI command. Specify WirelessDevice as the ResourceType, the ID of the wireless device to be updated as the ResourceIdentifier, and the position information.

Sample of the UpdateResourcePosition API operation

PATCH /resource-positions/ResourceIdentifier?resourceType=WirelessDevice HTTP/1.1
{
     "coordinates": [
        33.33,
        -22.22,
        11.11
     ],
     "type": "Point"
}

Sample of the update-resource-position CLI command

echo '{"coordinates": [33.33, -22.22, 11.11], "type": "Point"}' > /tmp/position.json
aws iotwireless update-resource-position \
    --resource-type WirelessDevice \
    --resource-id "5b58245e-146c-4c30-9703-0ca942e3ff35" \
    --geo-json-payload fileb:///tmp/position.json

The following shows the contents of the deviceposition.json file, which is the uplink message from AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN to rules engine To specify the FPort values for sending the geolocation data, use the Positioning object with the CreateWirelessDevice and UpdateWirelessDevice API operations.

Contents of deviceposition.json

{
     "coordinates": [
        33.33,
        -22.22,
        11.11
     ],
     "WirelessDeviceId": "5b58245e-146c-4c30-9703-0ca942e3ff35",
     "type": "Point",
     "properties": {
        "measurementType": "UserInput",
        "verticalAccuracy": 0,
        "horizontalAccuracy": 0,
        "timestamp": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"
      }
}

Get position information

To get the position information for a given wireless device, use the GetResourcePosition API or the get-resource-position CLI command. Specify WirelessDevice as the resourceType and provide the ID of the wireless device as the resourceIdentifier.

Sample of the GetResourcePosition API operation

GET /resource-positions/ResourceIdentifier?resourceType=WirelessDevice HTTP/1.1

Sample of the get-resource-position CLI command

aws iotwireless get-resource-position \ 
    --resource-type WirelessDevice \ 
    --resource-id "5b58245e-146c-4c30-9703-0ca942e3ff35"
    /dev/stdout

Contents of get-resource-position-api-response.json

{ 
     "coordinates": [
        33.33, 
        -22.22, 
        11.11
     ],
     "type": "Point",
     "properties": {
        "measurementType": "GNSS" | "Wi-Fi" | "UserInput",
        "horizontalAccuracy": number,
        "verticalAccuracy": number,
        "timestamp": "Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2026"
      }
}

Resolved location metadata parameters

The following table shows a definition of the different parameters in the resolved location metadata. The wirelessDeviceId is the ID of the wireless device, such as 5b58245e-146c-4c30-9703-0ca942e3ff35 and the measurementType is the positioning method used to calculate the location.