Z-Wave Alliance releases Z-Wave long range (ZWLR) specification

Z-Wave has announced that the specification for ZWLR for the European market has been completed and will be made available to member companies.

While the network topologies are different, Z-Wave supports both a mesh network and a star network operating within the same frequency range. Existing Z-Wave mesh and new ZWLR nodes can co-exist on the same network, enabling a variety and combination of Z-Wave devices on any wireless protocol combination.

ZWLR devices operate on a star network topology which features the gateway at a central point and then establishes a direct, point-to-point connection to end devices. The direct communication path established by the star network topology provides a decrease in latency between the gateway and end point devices which aims to be beneficial in noisy or crowded installation environments with high volumes of wireless communications. By operating on a star network, ZWLR attempts to direct gateway-hub-to-device connection across increased distances, whereas mesh traditionally permits signal to hop from node to node until the intended destination is met.

By increasing the addressing space to 12-bit, ZWLR is capable of supporting up to 4000 nodes on a single network. Larger network support enables the enrollment of thousands of Z-Wave devices on a single network. ZWLR also offers end point devices battery life of up to 10 years off a single coin-cell battery by leveraging dynamic power control. This feature enables ZWLR devices to automatically adjust and optimise the radio output power of every transmission.

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