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Sigma Designs Unveils Z-Wave UL Component Recognition

Sigma Designs, Inc. has unveiled its Z-Wave modules models ZM5101, ZM5202 , and ZM5304 with SDK version 6.60. The security modules have been evaluated to UL’s standards for home security.

Sigma Designs, Inc. has unveiled its Z-Wave modules models ZM5101, ZM5202 , and ZM5304 with SDK version 6.60. The security modules have been evaluated to UL’s standards for home security, enabling new applications for professional security sensors and other devices in the multi-billion dollar home security business in the US. 

A consistent problem faced by security companies is false alarms, which represent a significant portion of the service calls they receive. One-way sensors found in typical home security devices cannot evaluate false alarms, which would prevent this. Since Z-Wave relies on two-way network technology, it can identify sensors and re-check conditions multiple times to reduce incidence of false alarms. Migrating to two-way sensors could improve the overall security and reliability of security systems.

“This is a win-win for the industry as it will be easier for security system and device manufacturers to deploy Z-Wave technology in their end-products when seeking UL certification,” said Neil Lakomiak, director of business development for UL’s Building and Life Safety Technologies division.

Sensors operating in the 2.4 GHz band can also be unintentionally jammed due to the over-crowding of signals from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other devices, resulting in either a security breach or another type of false alarm. Z-Wave’s two-way sensors feature Jamming Detect, a mechanism that was added to satisfy UL’s interference protection requirements. Additionally, by operating in the 900 MHz band, Z-Wave devices are safe from noise in the 2.4 GHz band. 

“UL’s component recognition of Z-Wave will bring a new ‘smart’ dimension to our sensor portfolio,” said Avi Rosenthal, vice president of security and control, Nortek Security & Control.

With the new Z-Wave SDK version 6.60, based on the UL component recognition, all smart home sensors and professional security sensors can be united with one Z-Wave product and used for both pro-security as well as smart home services. 

“Our data said the monitored security market grew at approximately a rate of 15 percent in 2014,” said Tom Kerber, director of research, home controls & energy for Parks Associates. “That is very strong for an industry that had been relatively consistent. Much of that was the addition of interactive controls. Our consumer data shows that when you add home controls and interactive services to a basic security system, the appeal increases by as much as two-fold. In fact, we had predicted that the market would grow by about 50 percent over the next 10 years, but we have had to revise that forecast up to probably more like in the next five years.”

According to Frost and Sullivan’s research on smart buildings the sensor market alone is projected to reach nearly $4 billion by 2018. 

“We are excited about the possibilities of Z-Wave enabled security devices coming into the market,” said Ryan Petty, vice-president of product development and innovation at ADT. 

Building on the release of Z-Wave’s SDK 6.60 and UL compliance, Z-Wave now supplies an application framework and sample code to sensor manufacturers to help them to get to market faster with a shorter development cycle.

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