The Z-Wave Alliance, a standards organization dedicated to developing and advancing the Z-Wave® wireless smart home protocol, announced the new Z-Wave Long Range (Z-Wave LR) specification.
Engineered to provide significantly extended wireless range and support robust networks, Z-Wave LR extends Z-Wave connectivity beyond the interior boundaries of the home to improve wireless transmission range of peripheral Z-Wave devices such as door locks, garage door sensors, gate access solutions, and more, while increasing scalability to over 2000 nodes on a single smart home network.
Developed and managed by the new Z-Wave Alliance Technical & Certifications workgroup, Z-Wave LR ushers in a new era of Z-Wave connectivity and brings expanded options for the smart home, multi-dwelling units and hospitality use cases.
Increased Coverage
To ensure complete home or building coverage, or to expand the network into the yard, most Z-Wave installations today leverage Z-Wave repeaters to strengthen and expand coverage. Z-Wave LR eliminates the need for a repeater within the network by increasing the transmission range found in Z-Wave. Increased range unlocks new potential for Z-Wave networks, making it easier than ever before to enroll smart home and IoT devices deployed at the end of the yard or beyond for enhanced functionality.
Increased Scalability
As the average number of installed smart home devices continues to increase, so too does the strain on the network. To support the upward trend in the number of sensor and IoT devices within homes and MDU environments, Z-Wave LR also increases scalability on a single smart home network to over 2000 nodes – a 10x increase from Z-Wave.
Optimized Battery Life
With dynamic power control to optimize operation, Z-Wave LR increases typical sensor use cases on a coin cell battery up to ten years.
Interoperability and Backwards Compatibility
As with all certified Z-Wave devices, Z-Wave LR devices can be installed within any Z-Wave network and feature interoperability and backwards compatibility with any previously installed Z-Wave device.
Certification
The Z-Wave LR specification will be managed and certified under the Z-Wave Plus V2 certification program, which currently mandates the inclusion of the enhanced S2 security framework as well as SmartStart, a setup feature that enables true plug and play for the consumer smart home.
Mitchell Klein, Executive Director, Z-Wave Alliance stated that the Z-Wave LR specification is the first of many technical developments to come from within the new Alliance standards development organizational structure. As smart home networks continue to grow, mature, and add more complex devices, there is a need for more robust technology to support them. With Z-Wave LR, they are building upon Z-Wave's legacy of strong networks by supporting more devices in a home or building with increased node counts and greater range. It's more important than ever that IoT devices live on strong, reliable networks, and they are excited to support this with the latest Z-Wave specification.
Technical details and an introduction to Z-Wave Long Range was highlighted in a session at Works With by Silicon Labs Virtual Conference on September 9-10, 2020.
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