Updated home automation standard released

The ZigBee(R) Alliance, a global ecosystem of organisations creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, has announced that an update to ZigBee Home Automation has been ratified and is now available for product development. The new version is fully interoperable with the earlier versions of the standard.

ZigBee Home Automation is a standard helping to create smarter homes that enhance the comfort, convenience, security and energy management for the consumer.

ZigBee Home Automation 1.2 adds several important new features that improve the battery life for security sensors to over seven years, standardise pairing of devices and simplify installation and maintenance for consumers and custom installers alike. These features have a significant impact on operational and device costs to service providers and quality of service to consumers.

The updated standard includes enhancements to functions in devices such as door locks and support for additional devices including smart appliances and electrical measurement devices. The standard incorporates new features resulting from a collaboration with the Energy@home initiative, an Italian collaborative and ZigBee Alliance partner, which will benefit consumers by integrating new devices and raising consumer awareness of energy usage without necessarily connecting to an electric utility.

“ZigBee Home Automation 1.2 is a major step forward in creating an open and fully interoperable wireless home control platform,” said Ted Grauch, Vice President, Video Premise Equipment, Technology & Product, Comcast Cable.

“For service operators and CE companies, ZigBee Home Automation 1.2 will provide a technology standard that removes much of the complexity from planning and deploying advanced home services and reduces the amount of energy they consume.”

ZigBee Home Automation 1.2 underwent rigorous testing, and 19 products have already achieved Golden Unit status for compliance testing and certification purposes.