Z-Wave protocol is becoming open
Recently, the open access specifications of the Z-Wave protocol, one of the most popular protocols in home automation, have been published. No, this is not a leak, but a deliberate step by Sigma Designs, the owner of the Z-Wave protocol. Today, Z-Wave is used within tens of millions of smart homes, and the discovery of the standard specification will clearly benefit Z-Wave's popularity.
In our old article we described how the Z-Wave protocol is decomposed into an OSI layer model. Back in 2012, the physical and channel levels of the Z-Wave protocol were included in the standard of the International Telecommunication Union under ITU-T G.9959. These levels are directly responsible for transmitting data over the air, describing the frequencies used, coding and addressing methods. However, all levels above remained closed, in order to gain access to the documentation, it was necessary to sign a non-disclosure agreement and buy a developer kit. Often this became an obstacle for companies that planned to make their own software for managing Z-Wave devices (i.e., they didn’t even need a developer kit).
For example, such well-known projects as OpenZWave or OpenHAB (more precisely, its Z-Wave bindig ) were based on the reverse engineering of the Z-Wave protocol, and not on the specification. This, of course, led to crooked or incomplete implementations.
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In addition, users could not understand who was to blame for the incorrect operation of the device with the controller: the device manufacturer or the controller manufacturer. It is possible to look at the logs, but it was impossible to disassemble them and see if the packet matches the specifications or not.
Now everything has changed! Anyone can check with the official specification and even make their suggestions and comments. The discovery of the Z-Wave specification is a strong protocol application for dominance in the field of home automation and the Internet of Things. Z-Wave may become the universal interaction language for smart devices and applications in households.
All of the Command Class descriptions (Command Class), as well as the Device Class descriptions, were fully open. The first ones describe how each individual command is formed, which byte and bit in the data packet, which means how to interpret it. The latter describe the specifics of the interpretation of certain classes of commands, depending on the type of device. For example, the Switch Multilevel class for dimmer is brightness, and for a blind control device this is the position of the slats. In fact, this is a complete description of the language of communication between devices and "phraseological units." This is the most interesting of all published.
The open specification includes a description of the recently announced new level of encryption in Z-Wave , called S2. This level is superior to the one used everywhere at the moment (it is now called S0) in both performance and safety.
In addition, Z / IP (Z-Wave over IP) descriptions were opened - add-ons over TCP / IP for transmitting Z-Wave packets. Z / IP allows you to wrap Z-Wave packets in TCP or UDP, followed by transmission and analysis on a cloud server. On top of Z / IP, Z-Ware was made - middleware, providing a higher level of abstraction over Z-Wave. In practice, that Z / IP, that Z-Ware no one particularly used. All popular controllers: RaZberry / Z-Way, Fibaro , Vera , OpenHAB , Domoticz have their own levels of abstraction and an API for working over HTTP (that is, on top of TCP / IP). Those. here, alas, we have not received anything particularly interesting.
All this is available on a special website zwavepublic.com
Note that all this does not eliminate the need to certify each new Z-Wave device as before to verify compliance with the protocol and compatibility with other devices. Moreover, new automated testing tools have become more rigorous and versatile.
Well, obviously, everyone asked for it for a long time. Closing a protocol is not a good idea for many reasons.
Security
Hiding only increases the number of holes, reducing the number of eyes that checked the specs and code. Opening the Z-Wave protocol is a sign of the maturity of protocol security schemes.
Compatibility and quality
Having the ability to verify the correct operation of the device, users will require manufacturers to provide better devices and correct errors found.
Multifunctionality
Knowing about the "chips" available in the protocol, users will urge manufacturers to make "advanced" devices.
In the end, Sigma Designs makes money by selling chips and licenses, embedded in its value, and the unnecessary restriction on “technology input” is clearly not conducive to sales. It is strange that the decision is ripe for so long.
Yeah, hid;)
Alas, the network and transport layers describing routing, relaying, confirmations did not get into open access. These levels are covered by many patents Sigma Designs and ensure the stability of large networks Z-Wave.
I am sure that the discovery of most of the protocol that happened will lead to the popularization of Z-Wave all over the world.
» Original news here .
In our old article we described how the Z-Wave protocol is decomposed into an OSI layer model. Back in 2012, the physical and channel levels of the Z-Wave protocol were included in the standard of the International Telecommunication Union under ITU-T G.9959. These levels are directly responsible for transmitting data over the air, describing the frequencies used, coding and addressing methods. However, all levels above remained closed, in order to gain access to the documentation, it was necessary to sign a non-disclosure agreement and buy a developer kit. Often this became an obstacle for companies that planned to make their own software for managing Z-Wave devices (i.e., they didn’t even need a developer kit).
For example, such well-known projects as OpenZWave or OpenHAB (more precisely, its Z-Wave bindig ) were based on the reverse engineering of the Z-Wave protocol, and not on the specification. This, of course, led to crooked or incomplete implementations.
')
In addition, users could not understand who was to blame for the incorrect operation of the device with the controller: the device manufacturer or the controller manufacturer. It is possible to look at the logs, but it was impossible to disassemble them and see if the packet matches the specifications or not.
Now everything has changed! Anyone can check with the official specification and even make their suggestions and comments. The discovery of the Z-Wave specification is a strong protocol application for dominance in the field of home automation and the Internet of Things. Z-Wave may become the universal interaction language for smart devices and applications in households.
But back to reality. What are we here Sigma Designs published?
All of the Command Class descriptions (Command Class), as well as the Device Class descriptions, were fully open. The first ones describe how each individual command is formed, which byte and bit in the data packet, which means how to interpret it. The latter describe the specifics of the interpretation of certain classes of commands, depending on the type of device. For example, the Switch Multilevel class for dimmer is brightness, and for a blind control device this is the position of the slats. In fact, this is a complete description of the language of communication between devices and "phraseological units." This is the most interesting of all published.
The open specification includes a description of the recently announced new level of encryption in Z-Wave , called S2. This level is superior to the one used everywhere at the moment (it is now called S0) in both performance and safety.
In addition, Z / IP (Z-Wave over IP) descriptions were opened - add-ons over TCP / IP for transmitting Z-Wave packets. Z / IP allows you to wrap Z-Wave packets in TCP or UDP, followed by transmission and analysis on a cloud server. On top of Z / IP, Z-Ware was made - middleware, providing a higher level of abstraction over Z-Wave. In practice, that Z / IP, that Z-Ware no one particularly used. All popular controllers: RaZberry / Z-Way, Fibaro , Vera , OpenHAB , Domoticz have their own levels of abstraction and an API for working over HTTP (that is, on top of TCP / IP). Those. here, alas, we have not received anything particularly interesting.
All this is available on a special website zwavepublic.com
Note that all this does not eliminate the need to certify each new Z-Wave device as before to verify compliance with the protocol and compatibility with other devices. Moreover, new automated testing tools have become more rigorous and versatile.
Why did Sigma Designs do this?
Well, obviously, everyone asked for it for a long time. Closing a protocol is not a good idea for many reasons.
Security
Hiding only increases the number of holes, reducing the number of eyes that checked the specs and code. Opening the Z-Wave protocol is a sign of the maturity of protocol security schemes.
Compatibility and quality
Having the ability to verify the correct operation of the device, users will require manufacturers to provide better devices and correct errors found.
Multifunctionality
Knowing about the "chips" available in the protocol, users will urge manufacturers to make "advanced" devices.
In the end, Sigma Designs makes money by selling chips and licenses, embedded in its value, and the unnecessary restriction on “technology input” is clearly not conducive to sales. It is strange that the decision is ripe for so long.
Surely something is hidden?
Yeah, hid;)
Alas, the network and transport layers describing routing, relaying, confirmations did not get into open access. These levels are covered by many patents Sigma Designs and ensure the stability of large networks Z-Wave.
I am sure that the discovery of most of the protocol that happened will lead to the popularization of Z-Wave all over the world.
» Original news here .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/397893/
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