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The cellular industry is banking on its entrenched status,
declining energy usage, and the advent of 5G to provide long-
range Internet of Things (IoT) home automation solutions. The
competition, low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) providers,
which is a comparatively new technology, is already energy and
cost efficient.
Home automation provides comfort and quality of life within
a home's proximity, by configuring and automating disparate
devices with varied levels of sophistication. These devices work
together automatically in communicative systems. The key to a
wide spread implementation of home automation products and
services is an ease of set up and of use.
Home automation's value lies in monitoring and controlling smart
mechanical, electrical, and operational technologies. While users
want the advantages of such automation, they also want the
systems they select for automation not to require intervention or
interaction on their part. In this scenario, thermostats, lighting,
alarms, and motion detectors will detect when the user is
away or present. Plants will be watered, but not when there's a
downpour, lights will go on automatically as daylight wanes and
will go off at sunrise, and motion detection will kick on lighting
and even unlock doors, welcoming the homeowner.
All of these disparate pieces that make up home automation require
data applications and sensors that work in tandem. IoT plays
a converging role that brings the pieces together and provides
the ability to increase the amount of devices included within a
consolidated home automation system—well into the future.
The Cellular Industry's Plans to Beat LPWAN
• Fully integrated, certified and
ready to connect to wireless mesh
networks
• Micro form factor is 1/3 the size of
the current Digi XBee™ SMT
• Ideal for providing RF connectivity
for short range and LPWAN
applications
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4
• FCC certified and carrier end-device
certified
• Excellent coverage and building
penetration
• NB-IoT ready
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4
Digi XBee
™
Zigbee RF Module
Digi XBee
™
Cellular LTE-M
By Carolyn Mathas for Mouser Electronics
