The Weightless SIG has launched a new standard for two-way, low-power wide area network (LPWAN) connectivity in IoT applications.
Weightless-P offers both uplink and downlink capabilities and data rates ranging from 200bps to 100kbps, the Weightless SIG claimed.
The group said this allows greater capacity for uplink-dominated traffic with short-to-medium payload sizes. Weightless-P can also support stationary and mobile user devices thanks to low-power handover.
Weightless-P can run using common commercially available chipsets and also supports all major licence-exempt frequency bands ranging from 169MHz to 923MHz, giving it “worldwide availability”.
Additionally, the range and reliability of Weightless-P exceeds other LPWAN technologies using up to 17dBm output power, “whilst offering the promised performance, network reliability and security characteristics of 3GPP carrier-grade solutions,” the Weightless SIG claimed.
Wireless connectivity solutions provider M²Communication (M2COMM), which has now joined the Weightless SIG, is leading the new standard.
Derrick Wei, CEO of M2COMM, said: “Weightless-P will breathe new life into an IoT market that is waiting on a reliable LPWAN technology. Many IoT sectors require reliability to be addressed with ultra-low energy wireless communications not accessible through operator services today.
“The slow adoption of wireless IoT solutions highlights a huge technology void that Weightless-P will address without requiring custom hardware. Our current technology deployments in the retail and industrial sectors are a powerful indication of the future success we anticipate for Weightless-P.”
The Weightless-P specification is expected to be published in Q4 2015. Meanwhile, hardware and development kits have been pinned for early 2016.