New Z-Wave Platform to Make the ‘Smart Home Smarter’
Sigma Designs unveils its new Z-Wave 700 platform at CES 2018, enabling a whole new generation of sensor devices for the smart home.
LAS VEGAS — Along its quest to make the smart home and home automation easier and more safe, Z-Wave has introduced innovations such as SmartStart setup and the S2 framework for improved cybersecurity.
Today at CES 2018, chipmaker Sigma Designs unveils the new 700 Series Z-Wave platform, which includes numerous performance and technological enhancements in energy-efficiency and RF performance.
The 700 Series will drive the battery-powered device trend, empowering artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems to utilize sensor data and make smart homes smarter, safer and more connected.
“This is where Z-Wave 700 comes into the picture,” Sigma Designs Product Marketing Manager Johan Pedersen told SSI prior to the show. “Z-Wave 700 really enables a totally new generation of sensor based products because of its very long range, very long battery lifetime, it being super fast and enabling small products to be developed for low cost.”
As more products begin to be powered by batteries, longer battery life will be a necessity. Security integrators will be happy to know that sensors and battery powered devices will soon become the highest volume category of Z-Wave devices.
“Security sensors, if you have a lot of windows in your home with motion sensors, battery life is a big barrier. And if you have to change the battery in all these devices within months or a few years, the 700 Series will make significant improvements here, and enable way more security installs to have battery operated devices. You wont have to have cables running around through all these sensors, said Pedersen.”
To make installations easier and more efficient, SmartStart will be mandatory once the 700 Series rolls out. The Z-Wave 700 certification programs also ensures interoperability between all products and all vendors, backwards compatibility with all existing products and the Security S2 framework.
Pedersen explained, “Z-Wave is the only technology where you know that all products are able to speak to each other. They’re interoperable. No matter whether its an old product or a new product. This is not possible with any other technology out there.”
Sigma Designs has lofty ambitions when it comes to the proliferation of sensors in the smart home. Through putting sensors in everywhere from furniture to the garden, the company believes customers can get to the point where they no longer even need to use their phones or smart speakers to control their home.
Through AI and machine learning, the smart home can learn your behaviors and preferences. “The need of using any interface will decrease,” said Pedersen.
Customers will be able to get their hands on products utilizing the new technology this summer.
Z-Wave 700 Series Platform Features:
Low power: 700 Series will have best-in-class low power radio performance enabling multiyear battery lifetime and more than 10-year sensor lifetime on a coin-cell.
Long range: 700 Series platform will enable range of more than 300 feet, covering multi-stories in a house and the far end of the yard.
Low cost and fast time to market: 700 Series gets developers started fast with low cost developer kits, tools and readymade certified reference code ensuring minimum time from prototype to certified product.
High performance: ARM-based platform with large memory on the chip and many peripherals, enabling intelligence at the edge with fast energy efficient computation and secure inclusion in less than one second.
Certified interoperable and backwards compatible: Every 700 Series device will have the highest level of security in the smart home with Z-Wave Security 2 (S2) framework and consistent easy install with Z-Wave SmartStart.
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About the Author
Steve Karantzoulidis, Web/Senior Editor
Steven A. Karantzoulidis is the Web Editor for Security Sales & Integration. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Communication and has a background in Film, A/V and Social Media.
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