Advert: date=December 2008 Z-Wave is a wireless communications standard designed for home automation, specifically to remote control applications in residential and light commercial environments. The technology, which is developed by Danish company Zensys, uses a low-power RF radio embedded or retrofitted into home electronics devices and systems, such as lighting, home access control, entertainment systems and household appliances. The technology has been standardized by the Z-Wave Alliance, an international consortium of manufacturers that oversees interoperability between Z-Wave products and enabled devices.

Overview

Z-Wave is a low-power wireless technology designed specifically for remote control applications. Unlike Wi-Fi and other IEEE 802.11-based wireless LAN systems that are designed primarily for high-bandwidth data flow, the Z-Wave RF system operates in the sub Gigahertz frequency range and is optimized for low-overhead commands such as on-off (as in a light switch or an appliance) and raise-lower (as in a thermostat or volume control), with the ability to include device metadata in the communications. Because Z-Wave operates apart from the 2.4 GHz frequency of 802.11 based wireless systems, it is largely impervious to interference from common household wireless electronics, such as Wi-Fi routers, cordless telephones and Bluetooth devices that work in the same frequency range. This freedom from household interference allows for a standardized low-bandwidth control medium that can be reliable alongside common wireless devices. On other hand, 2.4GHz frequency usage allows unlicensed devices usage in most countries, this is convenient to customers and allows wider technology adoption and reduced deployment costs. This could be not true for other frequencies and could easily turn into a strong drawback if licensing is required or frequency is occupied. That's one of reason why competing 2.4GHz technologies became so popular.

As a result of its low power consumption and low cost of manufacture, Z-Wave is easily embedded in consumer electronics products, including battery operated devices such as remote controls, smoke alarms and security sensors. Z-Wave is currently supported by over 200 manufacturers worldwide and appears in a broad range of consumer products in the U.S. and Europe.

The standard itself is not open and is available only to Zensys customers under non-disclosure agreement. Some Z-Wave product vendors have embraced the open source and hobbyist communities.

Applications

Z-Wave is a mesh networking technology where each node or device on the network is capable of sending and receiving control commands through walls or floors and around household obstacles or radio dead spots that might occur in the home. Z-Wave devices can work singly or in groups, and can be programmed into scenes or events that trigger multiple devices, either automatically or via remote control. Some common applications for Z-Wave include: