Evaluation of the Z-Wave long range technology

Abstract

Z-Wave is a wireless communication protocol used mainly for residential environments (e.g. smart homes) and commercial building automation. It is centered in low energy communication and it allows wireless control of smart home devices, such as smart lights, switches, security systems, thermostats, sensors, and door locks, among others. It was created in 2005 and since then it has successfully grown to become one of the primary technologies in the home automation industry. In this document, we explore the performance of (by means of experiments and analysis) of the new version of Z-Wave called Z-Wave Long Range (Z-Wave LR), which recently was published, in August of 2021. The objective is to give the reader a practical overview of what this new Z-Wave extension has to offer. Some of the tests are centered in finding out its capabilities in different scenarios and its maximum range for 14 dBm of output power. In addition, the average current consumption for frequently sleeping devices with different wake up intervals and with apps of different latencies will be determined in order to figure out the lifetime of battery-operated Z-Wave LR devices.