Silicon Labs, proprietor of the Z-Wave Internet of Things (IoT) Specification, has opened Z-Wave to all silicon and stack developers in the Z-Wave Alliance. This change will see the alliance transition to a standards development organization for the Z-Wave specification. The transition is expected to take place in the second half of 2020. The Z-Wave Alliance currently has over 700 members with approximately 3,200 Z-Wave certified products under its belt.
According to Silicon Labs, the Z-Wave Specification will become a “ratified, multi-source wireless standard” including the ITU. G9959 PHY/MAC radio specification, the application layer, the network layer and the host-device communication protocol.
Z-Wave targets the smart home market with features that include the S2 security framework, SmartStart setup, and more. Silicon Labs anticipates that opening the specification will also generate usage opportunities for Z-Wave technology and the IoT market itself.
“Silicon Labs has worked to create positive alignment across the industry with the goal of advancing both security and compatibility in smart home devices,” said Silicon Labs Vice President Jake Alamat. “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, benefit from this open collaboration.”
Silicon Labs expressed how opening Z-Wave will allow for “broader technology support as well as accelerated market adoption,” ultimately propelling the growth of the smart home industry.
“As a standards organization, the Z-Wave Alliance will help solve the interoperability challenges hindering the adoption of smart home devices,” said Z-Wave Alliance’s Mitch Klein. “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 realized smart home standard.”