Z-Wave 400-series chips and modules provide superior platform for AV control plus enhanced home automation feature set

Citation

(2008), "Z-Wave 400-series chips and modules provide superior platform for AV control plus enhanced home automation feature set", Microelectronics International, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/mi.2008.21825bad.002

Z-Wave 400-series chips and modules provide superior platform for AV control plus enhanced home automation feature set

Article Type: New products From: Microelectronics International, Volume 25, Issue 2.

Zensys, developer of the award-winning Z-Wave wireless home control standard, today announced the launch of the Z-Wave 400-series, its fourth generation series single chips, which build on the strengths of Z-Wave technology and add new capabilities targeted specifically toward AV control in addition to home control.

The ZW401 is a feature rich system- on-chip targeted at both home control and AV control. The ZW402av and ZW403av variants of the Z-Wave 400 series are the industry's first single chips that are designed specifically for universal RF plus IR remote controls and RF control of AV/CE devices. The Z-Wave 400-series enables universal interoperability between devices from multiple manufacturers and multiple applications both within and between the AV control and home control spaces, providing an easy path towards Unified Home Controle.

“This is a significant milestone for Zensys that confirms Z-Wave's role as a key enabling technology of the digital home,” noted Tony Shakib, CEO of Zensys. “In addition to enhancing our reliable and robust home control and automation capabilities, we are bringing CE manufacturers a superior alternative to IR technology that will allow them to create ultra low cost RF remotes and RF support in AV devices to replace and augment IR for AV control.”

The 400-series will provide CE and home automation manufacturers with significant benefits over other RF solutions on the market, including:

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  True single chip solutions. Single chips with a rich set of on-chip peripherals including on-chip USB 2.0 controller and transceiver; 30 GPIOs, hardware support for key scan matrixes; IR coding and learning; ADC, PWM, and Triac controllers; plus 64K OTP, 16K RAM, and NVRAM minimize the total device costs.

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  Smallest chips and modules in the industry. With single chip manufactured in 130nm CMOS at a size of 2.5£2.5mm, plus complete RF modules with only 8£8mm, Z-Wave underlines its technology lead and further extends its cost leadership.

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  Easiest to install. Owing to its unique Zero Effort Setupe technology, RF remote controls based on the 400- series are as easy to use and install as today's bundled IR remotes, which is key for consumer mass market adoption.

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  Global solution with superior robustness against WLAN interference. Z-Wave is the only technology with single chips that support both sub-1Ghz plus 2.4GHz, making it a future proof, global solution. Owing to its patented concurrent multi- channel support combined with interference blocking performance that is 100 times (over 20dBc) better than in otherwise comparable RF chip sets, the 400- series provides a robust solution in the already crowded 2.4GHz band even under heavy interference from WLAN devices in the same cabinet or rack.

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  Lowest power consumption. The 400- series extends the Z-Wave hallmark tradition of low- power consumption, providing manufacturers and consumers with “green” solutions at reduced cost. This next generation of Z-Wave reduces the average power consumption in battery-to-battery networks such as wirelessly connected smoke detectors down to a third of the already industry- leading benchmark of the Z-Wave ZW0301 chip series. In AV control, the 400-series can help reduce energy consumption by enabling TVs to draw literally zero power when in standby mode, while reducing the cost for power supplies at the same time.

“We remain bullish on the growth of the wireless home control market and view the added support for AV control as an excellent way to build consumer awareness for the capabilities of Z-Wave-enabled systems and solidify its strong position in the industry,” stated Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems at Parks Associates.

The Z-Wave 400-series complements the Z-Wave 200 and 300 series single chips that are in use in more than 200 products today.

For more details please contact: www.z-wave.com