Enabling the Wireless Home Control Network

 
Enabling the Wireless Home Control Network
Manufacturers are often faced with decisions that will ultimately affect the future success
of their products and personal success within the specific market arena they
choose to dominate. Indeed, the potential number of applications available to a product
developer is numerous and, in turn, only limited by their imagination. Products
such as, light switches, camera surveillance, access control and, despite making light
of the talking refrigerator in our opening paragraph, this notion is increasingly becoming
a reality. The following discussion is concerned with a technology that enables a
wireless home control network, in turn, resurrecting the infamous genre of smart
home technologies.
The RF transceiver
It is always a good place to start with the radio. The premise of the radio transceiver
is singularly the most important part of the success of any wireless product alongside
a well-balanced and proportioned application base. The Z-Wave chip operates within
two frequency ranges, namely 868.42MHz for Europe and the Industrial Scientific and
Medical (ISM) 908.42 band for the United States. These two bands are well established
within the industry, assuring us of reliability and offering a good radio range and,
equally as important, affordability. Figure 7.3 illustrates the modest set of components that comprise the RF platform confirming a reliable, cost effective and low power
solution. In combining these qualities, ZenSys can truly begin to secure and succeed
in providing a ubiquitous wireless solution for the home.
The Z-Wave transceiver offers two-way communication and uses the Frequency
Shift Keying (FSK) modulation spectrum shaping method. This particular scheme
transforms two analog waveforms into the two binary states, ones (1s) and zeros (0s),
as we illustrate in Figure 7.4. In the illustration the A waveform represents a high state
where the analog sine wave will be converted to a one (1); and, conversely the B waveform
represents a low state which is converted to a zero (0). You may recall the application
of a modem, which performs a very similar function in that it takes the analog
signal from the telephone line and converts it into digital signals for the computer
to process; and vice versa, the modem converts the digital signals into analog signals
to transmit back over the telephone line. ZenSys have not only simplified the selection
of the RF components but have thought ahead about a platform and the generic
availability of its components and its translation to assembly and production.