ADT, a security specialist, has opted to use the Ultra-Low Energy (ULE) wireless standard in its new DIY range of home security products.
Based on the well-established DECT standard, ULE is a well-tried solution that is secure and stable, making the wireless standard ideal for security products.
ADT’s new DIY range allows private customers to have products such as glass break sensors, door and window contacts, indoor and outdoor cameras, smoke and fire detectors, and flood sensors to create personalised security networks to suit their needs.
To ensure easy set up for the customer, the devices can be connected at the touch of a button.
A benefit to using ULE in home security products is that it does not experience disruptions from other devices. Most wireless technologies in the home use the 2.4GHz or the 868 MHz band and have to share these ranges with other technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Wi-Fi 6 will only exacerbate this problem because the 2.4GHz band will be used even more intensively.
It is inevitable that complications and interferences will rise with all the corresponding devices within the environment having to share the band. Therefore, to avoid disruptions with regard to other devices within the environment, ULE uses protected DECT frequencies, which are 1880-1900 MHz in Europe.
“The robust, continuous, reliable connectivity that ULE technology brings to the table is a critical enabling factor for current and future solutions,” commented John Owens, president of DIY at ADT.
Furthermore, ULE is superior to other wireless standard when it comes to security aspects, which is obviously very important in the security sector, to prevent things such as unauthorised access to the alarm system for example.
In order to achieve this, ULE uses the particularly secure Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for electronic data, developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which ensures maximum protection for encryption and authentication.
The ULE standard is also suitable for the secure transmission of speech, and therefore also for voice commands and control.
“As ULE is based on DECT, the wireless standard is ideal for voice transmission applications,” says Ulrich Grote, chairman of the ULE Alliance. “ULE therefore enables manufacturers to integrate high-quality voice control into their solutions.”
It also facilitates real-time announcements, as Grote explained: “Rather than simply being woken by the fire alarm, users could be warned specifically about a ‘fire in the corridor’, for example, which would help them to choose the best escape route. It is also possible to communicate directly with an emergency call centre using ULE.”