Mar 28, 2023

By Jean-Pierre Joosting Semtech Corporation has announced the first third-party Amazon Sidewalk products, based on its LoRa® technology, are now available from Browan, Deviceroy, HSB’s Meshify and New Cosmos. Motion and carbon dioxide sensors from Browan, a smart modem for solar installations from Deviceroy, a water sensor from HSB’s Meshify, and the DeNova Detect natural gas alarm from New Cosmos are some of the first Sidewalk-qualified products to be part of the secure, shared network that helps devices work better around the home and in the community. In related news, Amazon has announced that Amazon Sidewalk, a secure, low-bandwidth, long-range network designed to connect the next billion devices, is now open for developer testing. Sidewalk coverage now extends to 90% of the U.S. population, and free test kits are available for developers to validate the breadth of Sidewalk coverage for themselves as they build Sidewalk devices. Semtech’s LoRa technology, with its long range, low power and secure communication capabilities, has emerged as the leading technology for LPWAN IoT applications. Amazon Sidewalk will leverage LoRa technology as one of the foundational technologies to connect a wide range of devices, from security monitoring to pet trackers, providing a low cost, low power and secure communication infrastructure for consumer IoT. Amazon Sidewalk is a shared community network powered by participating Sidewalk Bridges that keeps smart devices connected beyond the home and enables new IoT services for consumers and businesses. LoRa technology has proven to be a reliable and efficient way to transmit data over hard to reach locations inside the home and over long distances, making it one of the core technologies for Amazon Sidewalk. Semtech also announced availability of the first LoRa-enabled development kits and modules from its partners, based on Semtech’s LoRa technology, that will enable device makers and developers to rapidly create new Amazon Sidewalk devices. Silicon Labs announced an Amazon Sidewalk development platform, the Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk, at its annual Works With Developers Conference, helping some of the devices get to market faster. Semtech collaborated with Nordic Semiconductor for seamless and persistent connectivity to Amazon Sidewalk. Nordic’s nRF52840 multiprotocol SoC and nRF Connect SDK provide the best-in-class Bluetooth LE communication and LoRa support needed for Amazon Sidewalk devices to connect to the network. Semtech’s LoRa Connect™ SX1262, in combination with the nRF52840 DK, is the perfect starting point for Amazon Sidewalk development. Semtech also collaborated with Quectel on the Quectel KG100S module to make it easier for developers to integrate LoRa technology into new and existing devices and services. In addition, Oxit, an alpha design partner, is also announcing the availability of its OxTech Sidewalk Module which enables developers to seamlessly develop with the same hardware for both AWS IoT Core for Sidewalk and AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN® networks. “The Amazon Sidewalk community network has crossed this significant milestone of broad, nationwide coverage and is now ready to support developers to create innovative new IoT devices and IoT services. With its ultra-low power and long-range profile, LoRa technology is the key enabling technology empowering a new era of Sidewalk-based IoT use cases,” said Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech’s president and chief executive officer. “Our partnership with Amazon is just the latest example of the strong global adoption of LoRa and why LoRa is the leading technology enabling a smarter, more connected and sustainable world.” “LoRa has broadened IoT adoption by enabling communication over long ranges while using very little power. Showing broad availability of Amazon Sidewalk LoRa connectivity, demonstrates the confidence Amazon has in the capability and the potential of LoRa technology,” said Daniel Newman, founding partner and chief analyst of Futurum Research and the CEO of the Futurum Group. “With more than 300 million devices currently based on LoRa technology in the market today, the new Amazon Sidewalk growth initiative is well positioned to deliver more innovation, devices and IoT use cases in communities and in the home.”