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 ©  Silicon Labs,  Inc.          July  2014  

IMA White Paper

Z-Wave’s IMA Network Health Monitor: Speeding  Home  Automation  Installation  and  reducing    Truck  Rolls  

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 ©  Silicon Labs  Inc.          July  2014  

IMA White Paper

Z-Wave's IMA Network Health Monitor: Speeding Home Automation Installation and Reducing Truck Rolls

Abstract: Z-Wave low power wireless networking incorporates a time-saving and energy-saving feature that can be particularly beneficial for service providers, installers and dealers of home automation and home security systems. The Z-Wave Installation and Maintenance Application uses this feature so technicians can remotely survey Z-Wave signal quality at every node in the system. A technician can diagnose and repair problems in a home or office, sometimes without any need for to visit, saving time and money for the service provider or installer.

The smart home market, encompassing home automation, home control and home security is booming, expected to rise to some $51.8 billion by 2020. Among wireless protocols available for communicating between devices (such as motion sensors and "smart locks") and the central controller for the system, Z-Wave has emerged as the most widely used, with over 1,000 available devices and controllers from a wide variety of brands and manufacturers, including most leading makers of system controllers, smart locks, smart thermostats, lamp dimmers, meter readers, lawn sprinklers, smoke detectors and other home automation devices. Besides compatibility with this ever-expanding home automation ecosystem, the advantages of Z-Wave include extremely low power consumption, secure communications and automatic signal routing.

IMA: Diagnosing Z-Wave Networks Z-Wave's wireless network technology utilizes a system of radio frequency signal repeaters built into all AC-powered Z-Wave devices (such as lamp dimmers) to provide coverage to large areas while using less power at each battery-powered device (such as door/window sensors). The network automatically routes radio signals, taking advantage of stronger signal paths through these repeaters.

During initial installation, technicians can use IMA to quickly determine where repeaters may be needed and to ensure that the entire system is working robustly.

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 ©  Silicon Labs,  Inc.          July  2014  

IMA White Paper

Over time, the home network may change -- a consumer may move a lamp dimmer or other AC-powered device that serves as a repeater. A network that was once working robustly may become less reliable. For service providers, these problems may become expensive problems to solve when a "truck roll" is required with a technician's visit to the home.

Fortunately, the Z-Wave protocol, which is already widely used in smart home, home automation and home security applications, has a feature to help service providers, custom installers, and others who may have a need to analyze the Z-Wave network. This is called the Z-Wave Installation and Maintenance Application, or IMA.

What is IMA? As its name suggests, the Installation and Maintenance Application is an "app" or program that resides on the system controller box for the smart home or home security network. The controller box is the central hub for the Z-Wave network, sending signals to devices like door locks to lock and unlock, and to lamp dimmers to shut off; while simultaneously receiving signals from devices like motion sensors and window sensors that may indicate an intruder. The controller can be securely accessed over the Internet, making it possible for the consumer to control the home system remotely, and also enabling the service provider to run IMA remotely.

IMA is thus a powerful diagnostic tool that can be used two ways:

• During on-site visits where a service technician or installer runs the IMA app on a tablet computer ornotebook. This is useful for installation and troubleshooting.

• The support center can use IMA remotely to provide very detailed tech support.

The remote IMA capability is a key advantage of the Z-Wave protocol for service providers, as it helps reduce customer service truck rolls.

This remote capability can be utilized two ways:

• When customers call in with problems. In a typical scenario, a device that was previously working fine hassuddenly stopped working. The technician, using IMA, can advise the consumer to move a device to restoresignal integrity, or can mail the consumer a repeater to self-install.

• Pro-actively. The service provider can periodically take network health measurements for diagnostic purposes,to catch problems before they occur.

Call Center Health Check Installation Health Check

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 ©  Silicon Labs,  Inc.          July  2014  

IMA White Paper

Z-Wave Compatibility IMA compatibility is already available in most of today's Z-Wave devices. Technically, this feature is called "Powerlevel Command Class." Beginning with the Silicon Labs 500 series of Z-Wave solutions, Powerlevel CC has been consistently available (some earlier devices had it too.) Most Z-Wave devices designed in the past few years, including lamp dimmers, smart switches, thermostats, smoke detectors, door and window sensors, motion sensors, alarms, and other devices are thus IMA-compatible.

(If one Z-Wave device in a customer's home system is not IMA compatible, the application can still report on everything else in the system that does not depend on the non-compliant device for signal relaying.)

Displaying IMA Service providers can create their own branded user interface, or display application, that serves as the front end for the app. In a typical IMA implementation, network health measurements may be aggregated into a simple indicator for each node in the Z-Wave network, such as red indicating trouble, yellow potential trouble, and green a good signal.

If a problem is detected the technician can usually install an inexpensive repeater, or instruct the customer over the phone (or via email) to install a repeater to maintain robust signal strength. The repeater (when not built into another device) is a very small, unobtrusive box that plugs directly into any AC wall outlet.

Conclusion With growing need for installers to quickly set up systems on customer premises, and for technicians to fix problems preferably without a truck roll, the Z-Wave Installation and Maintenance Application, or IMA, provides sophisticated tools to speed installations and fix problems. Z-Wave is the most widely used protocol for smart home and home security technology. As the world's leading supplier of silicon and IP for Z-Wave, Silicon Labs provides partners with all code needed for systems operators and Z-Wave product designers to easily implement their own customized versions of the Installation and Maintenance Application. For more information please visit www.silabs.com.

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References 1: Smart Homes Market – by Products (Security, Access, Lighting, Entertainment, Energy Management Systems, HVAC, and Ballast & Battery Pack), Services (Installation & Repair, Renovation & Customization) and Geography – Analysis & Global Forecast (2013 – 2020), Markets and Markets, Oct. 10, 2013