Silicon Labs and the Z-Wave Alliance has announced a joint plan to open the Z-Wave Specification as a ratified, multi-source wireless standard available to all silicon and stack vendors to expand smart home development.
This change allows semiconductor and software suppliers to join the Z-Wave ecosystem, contribute to future advancements of the smart home standard, and develop and supply sub-GHz Z-Wave radio devices and software stacks.
The Z-Wave Alliance will expand to a standards development organisation for the Z-Wave Specification and will continue to manage the Z-Wave Certification program, which will include software and hardware.
The opened Z-Wave Specification, which is expected to be available in the second half of 2020, will include the ITU.G9959 PHY/MAC radio specification, the application layer, the network layer and the host-device communication protocol.
Rather than being a single-source specification, Z-Wave will become a multi-source, wireless smart home standard developed by collective working group members of the Z-Wave Alliance.
Maintaining the certification program, the Z-Wave Alliance will also expand the offering to provide technology vendors with both hardware and stack certification and product manufacturers with application layer certification.
“As a standards organisation, the Z-Wave Alliance will help solve the interoperability challenges hindering the adoption of smart home devices,” commented Mitch Klein, executive director, Z-Wave Alliance.
“Members will work together on a single sub-GHz connectivity solution that guarantees the forward-and-backward compatibility, interoperability, security and robustness needed to grow the IoT. The Z-Wave Alliance will collectively advance a fully realised smart home standard.”
This change demonstrates Silicon Labs’ commitment to IoT standardisation. The smart home ecosystem will benefit from broader technology support as well as accelerated market adoption with this expansion of access to Z-Wave as a standard supported by multiple vendors.
“Silicon Labs has worked to create a positive alignment across the industry with the goal of advancing both security and compatibility in smart home devices,” said Jake Alamat, vice president and general manager of IoT home and consumer products at Silicon Labs.
“Future success for the smart home industry relies on ecosystems getting closer, not farther apart. The smart home market opportunity is tremendous, and we want to help drive its success. When the ecosystems work together toward a common goal, the entire industry including manufacturers, developers, retailers, and consumers benefits from this open collaboration.”
George Land, Z-Wave Alliance board member and general manager of digital products at Trane, said: “As an early adopter of Z-Wave technology, we welcome this move by Silicon Labs. Enabling an even broader ecosystem of interoperability will bolster both consumer and manufacturer confidence, driving overall growth of the industry.”
Silicon Labs plans to continue its investment in Z-Wave technology and contribute to its growth, by collaborating with new suppliers through the expanded Z-Wave Alliance. The new working groups in the Alliance will manage development on the opened Z-Wave Specification in Q3 of 2020, when details on the silicon and stack platform certification program will also be announced.