Unlicensed spectrum technology company NWave has become the latest to join the UK-based Weightless special interest group to develop the IoT standard.
The company specialises in the Internet of Things over ISM spectrum, which is sub-1GHz unlicensed spectrum within the industrial, scientific and medical bands. Its technology operates in the 868MHz band across Europe and the 900MHz band in the US.
NWave will work on the recently announced Weightless-N specification, which uses ultra-narrow band technology to deliver connectivity. It shares other features of Weightless’s connectivity technology, such as low power consumption so devices can last up to 10 years on one AA battery.
Other capabilities of the technology are cheap terminal costs, which allow modules to be deployed for around $2 (€1.57). The standard’s network propagation is five kilometres within towns and cities to an internal antenna and up to 30 kilometres in rural areas to external antennas.
Work on the standard is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2015, with the first commercial deployments to follow shortly afterwards.
Professor William Webb, CEO of the Weightless SIG, said: “NWave’s deep technical experience in LPWAN connectivity will make a significant contribution to the rapid development of Weightless-N.
“Bringing proven capability from an existing technology provider to the SIG and merging it with the expertise already established within the group will accelerate the development of Weightless-N as the leading global open standard for machine connectivity over licence exempt spectrum.”
Jonathan Wiggin, CEO of NWave Technologies, added: “A global, open standard is critical for the successful commercialisation of a wireless technology and for the first time a standards body is proactively bringing together the elements that will quickly allow us to make this a reality.”
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