Z-Wave Long Range (ZWLR) claims to reach over 1 mile, but does it actually reach that far in the real world? The answer is YES. However, in the real world we are operating inside a building and surrounded by trees and other buildings. The more important answer is how does ZWLR do in a building and in an neighborhood? I recently captured some data in my home town just outside of Boston which shows ZWLR easily reaches the entire yard and then some.
The first thing to understand about the RF range of Z-Wave are the different power levels used by regular Z-Wave (ZW) and ZWLR. I’m comparing the values used in the US but the rules are different in each region. In the EU the max transmit power is +13dBm with regular Z-Wave which is why the range in the EU is so much further than in the US. But let’s focus just on the US for now.
RF Transmit Power
There are 3 levels of Z-Wave RF transmit power in the US:
-1dBm – Regular Z-Wave GFSK modulation – 12mA
+14dBm – ZWLR DSSS-OQPSK modulation – 41mA
+20dBm – ZWLR DSSS-OQPSK modulation – 92mA
The huge increase in transmit power is why ZWLR has over double the range of ZW. The reason ZWLR can transmit at such high power levels is that the spread spectrum modulation spreads that energy across a 1MHz carrier compared to the narrow band FSK of ZW. The FCC allows the transmit power to be as high as +30dBm but that would be a challenge for a battery powered device as it would likely need half an amp of current!
Why are there two power levels for ZWLR? The RF transmit power is matched to the power supply of the typical use case. The ZGM230 module is limited to +14dBm since it is most often used in battery powered devices where even the 41mA current is a bit challenging for low-cost batteries. The +20dBm ZG23 is best suited to mains-powered devices to get the maximum range. ZWLR utilizes dynamic RF power so for nodes that are close enough, the battery life is extended by using only enough RF power to reliably reach the controller. the dynamic power algorithm is built into the Z-Wave protocol so you don’t have to manage it at all.
RF Range at Home
The Yellow circle is the regular Z-Wave mesh range with a controller in a room on the 2nd floor. My home is surrounded by large pine trees which limit the range. Using 700/800 series Z-Wave chips there are no dead spots anywhere in my home. I still have a few 100 series devices, several 300 series and a lot of 500 series devices many of which need the mesh to hop to reach my controller. This demonstrates the increasing range of each generation of Z-Wave. If I were to upgrade all of my devices there would be little if any routing using regular ZW.
The Red circle shows over double the range of regular Z-Wave at +14dBm. The combination of higher transmit power and increased sensitivity due to the spread spectrum modulation yields a strong signal over my entire neighborhood. Note the bump on the right side caused by the open field and the swampy area with a lot fewer trees. Each wall or tree or building reduces the range but ZWLR easily reaches well beyond the end of the yard. I couldn’t test 20dBm because there just isn’t enough open space for me to measure it! So I moved to a building in the center of town.
RF Range in Town
The photo above shows the relative range of all three transmit powers. In this case the controller is in the upper right corner of a commercial building as shown in the inset in the lower left. Regular Z-Wave is not quite able to reach the two rooms at the far end of this 35m building. But ZWLR easily reaches the entire building and well beyond. Each step, +14 and then +20 roughly doubles the range in this typical application where there are still a number of trees and buildings reducing the signal. Recall from middle school geometry that the circumference of a circle is 2*pi*radius or roughly 6*radius. On the day I performed this test, I doubled my daily step goal and walked over 20,000 steps!
In both of these measurements the line is roughly where full 2-way, fully secure, supervision encapsulated Basic Set commands were being sent to a battery powered SwitchOnOff sample application using SDK 7.18.3. I used a Raspberry Pi running Unify and a small python program to send Basic Set On/Off commands every half second to the Dev Kit and then noted where the LED stopped blinking. Once I stepped a few paces back toward the controller, the two devices would resync and the blinking would restart. Z-Wave is very adept at re-connecting to devices that are at the margin of the RF range.
During the Z-Wave summit earlier this month we did a live demonstration of the range versus the transmit power. While regular Z-Wave reached well beyond the conference center, it couldn’t quite get to the adjacent hotel. ZWLR however reliably reached the hallways in the hotel thru the concrete and glass of each building.
How to Set Tx Power
For regular Z-Wave the transmit power is normally set pretty close to the maximum of -1dBm. There are two configuration parameters to set based on the results of FCC testing. See INS14664 in Simplicity Studio for details. For ZWLR, setting the transmit power easier. Simply set APP_MAX_TX_POWER_LR in zw_config_rf.h to either 140 for +14dBm or 200 for +20dBm but that only works if the EFR you are using supports +20. The 700 series EFR32ZG14 supports +20 but the balun has to be wired to +3.3V to have enough power to reach +20. The ZGM130/230 are both limited to just +14. The EFR32ZG23 part number chooses either +14 or +20 – EFR32ZG23B0X0F512 – If the X is 1 it’s +14, if 2 then +20.
One last configuration setting is to make sure ZWLR is enabled. This is in zw_region_config.h and all you need to do is set it to REGION_US_LR. The protocol code completely handles everything relative to ZW or ZWLR for you so just a 3 character change enables ZWLR.
Conclusion
All new Z-Wave devices for the US market should support Z-Wave Long Range. The low-latency (no routing), high reliability and long range make it a must for any new product. The question is +14 or +20? All controllers should be using the SoC (EFR32ZG23A/B020) to get the most range. The SoC requires calibration of the crystal for each unit as described in UG517. The module (ZGM130/ZGM230) are limited to +14 only and come pre-calibrated from Silicon Labs and thus are ideal for end devices that are battery powered. The SoC should be used for any mains-powered end device since the current draw is not an issue but be careful to specify the right part number with the 020 in it.
The two Z-Wave 800 series chips from Silicon Labs have flexible GPIOs but figuring out which one is the best for which function can be challenging. There are a number of restrictions based on the function and the energy (sleep) mode you need the GPIO to operate in. Similar to my posting on the 700 series, this post will guide you to make wise decisions on which pin to use for which function.
The tables below are a compilation of several reference documents but all of the data here was manually copied out of the documents and I could have made a mistake or two. Please post a comment if you see something wrong and I’ll fix it right away.
The table below lists the pins from the most flexible to the most fixed function. There are more alternate functions than the ones listed in this table. The most commonly used alternate functions are listed here to keep the table readable. Refer to the schematics and datasheets for more details.
Port A and B are operational down to EM2, other GPIOs will retain their state but will not switch or pass inputs. Thus, use port A and B for anything special and use C and D for simple things not needed when sleeping (LEDs, enables, etc).
WSTK GPIO Probe Points
Only the ZG23 QFN48 pin numbers are listed in the table. The QFN48 is expected to be pin compatible with future version of the ZG23 with additional Flash/RAM so I recommend using it over the QFN40. The WSTK2 is the Pro DevKit board with the LCD on it which comes as part of the PK800 kit. There are two sets of holes labeled with Pxx numbers on them which are handy to probe with an oscilloscope. The Thunderboard Z-Wave (TBZ) also has 2 rows of holes which are ideal for probing or connecting to external devices for rapid prototyping.
Name
ZG23
ZGM230
WSTK2
TBZ
ALT FUNC
Comments
PB2
22
9
P19
EXP5 BTN1
Use the pins at the top of this list first as they are the most flexible
PB6
NA
5
EXP15 I2CSDA
TBZ Qwiic I2C_SDA
PB5
NA
6
EXP16 I2CSCL
TBZ Qwiic I2C_SCL
PB4
NA
7
PA10
NA
23
PC1
2
35
P1
EXP4
PC and PD are static in EM2/3
PC2
3
36
P3
EXP6
PC3
4
37
P5
EXP8
PC4
5
38
P35
BLUE
PC6
7
40
P33
EXP9
PC8
9
42
P31
LED0
PC9
10
43
P37
LED1
PD3
45
30
P26
IMUEN
PB0
24
11
P15
VDAC0CH0
PA0
25
12
P2
GREEN
IDACVREF
PB1
23
10
P17
RED
EM4WU3 VDAC0CH1
EM4WUx pins can wake up from EM4 sleep mode on a transition of the GPIO
PB3
21
8
P21
EXP3 BTN0
EM4WU4
PC0
1
34
P7
EXP10
EM4WU6
PC5
6
39
P12
EXP7
EM4WU7
PC7
8
41
P13
SNSEN
EM4WU8
PD2
46
31
P6
EXP11
EM4WU9
PD0_LFXTAL_O
48
33
XC32
XC32
BRD4210 and TBZ have 32KHz crystal mounted
PD1_LFXTAL_I
47
32
XC32
XC32
Accurate timing while sleeping – Time CC
PA7
32
20
P10
TraceD3
Trace pins for debug & code coverage
PA6
31
19
P8
TraceD2
Trace is configurable for 4, 2 or 1 data pin
PA5
30
17
P4
IMUINT
EM4WU0 TraceD1
PA4_TDI
29
16
P41
EXP13
JTAG_TDI TraceCLK
JTAG data in Trace Clock out
Pins below here should be used primarily for debug
PD4_PTIDATA
44
29
P25
Packet Trace Interface (PTI) data
PD5_PTISYNC
43
28
P24
EM4WU10
PTI Sync
PA9_URX
34
22
P11
EXP14
VCOM UART
PA8_UTX
33
21
P9
EXP12
VCOM UART
PA3_SWO
28
15
P16
JTAG_TDO TraceD0
RTT UART printf and Trace D0
PA2_SWDIO
27
14
P18
JTAG_TMS
These two SWD pins should ONLY be used for debug and programming
PA1_SWCLK
26
13
P20
JTAG_TCK
SWD debug clock
Pins below here are fixed function only
SUBG_O1
18
NA
Not used by Z-Wave
SUBG_I1
16
NA
Not used by Z-Wave
SUBG_O0
19
3
RFIO on ZGM230
SUBG_I0
17
NA
Matching network to SMA
RESET_N
13
1
F4
Push buttons on DevKit boards
HFXTAL_O
12
NA
39MHz crystal
HFXTAL_I
11
NA
39MHz crystal
DECOUPLE
36
18
1.0uF X8L cap (unconnected on ZGM230)
VREGSW
37
NA
Inductor to DVDD for DCDC – 3.3V
VREGVDD
38
25
3.3V In/Out based on mode
DVDD
40
24
VDCDC on ZGM230
AVDD
41
NA
Highest voltage – typically battery voltage
IOVDD
42
26
1.8-3.8V
PAVDD
20
NA
3.3V for +20, 1.8V for +14dBm
RFVDD
14
NA
1.8V or 3.3V but less than PAVDD
VREGVSS
39
27, 44
GND
RFVSS
15
2, 4
GND
Power Supply Pins
Obviously the power supply pins are fixed function pins. The only really configurable parts to this set of pins is the voltage to apply to the IOVDD, AVDD and whether to use the on-chip DC to DC converter or not. If your device is battery powered, AVDD should be the battery voltage assuming the battery is nominally 3V (coin cells or CR123A). AVDD can be measured by the IADC in a divide by 4 mode to give an accurate voltage reading of the battery. This avoids using GPIOs and resistor dividers to measure the battery level thereby freeing up GPIOs and reducing battery drain. IOVDD should be set to whatever voltage needed by other chips on the board. Typically either 1.8 or 3.3V. The DCDC should be used in most battery powered applications unless a larger DCDC is present on the board already to power other chips.
The other configurable voltage is the RFVDD and PAVDD and the choice there depends on the radio Transmit Power you wish to use. For +14dBm PA an RF VDD are typically 1.8V. For +20dBm PAVDD must be 3.3V.
Every product has unique requirements and sources of power so I can’t enumerate all possible combinations here but follow the recommendations in the datasheets carefully. Copy the radio board or Thunderboard example schematics for most typical applications.
Debug, PTI and Trace Pins
The two Serial Wire Debug (SWD) pins (SWCLK and SWDIO) are necessary to program the chip FLASH and are the minimum required to be able to debug firmware. While it is possible to use these pins for other simple purposes like LEDs, it is best if they are used exclusively for programming/debug. These should be connected to a MiniSimplicity or other debug header.
The SWO debug pin is the next most valuable pin which can be used for debug printfs in the firmware and output to a debugging terminal. Alternatively, the UART TX and RX pins can also be used for debugging with both simple printfs and able to control the firmware using the receive side of the UART to send commands.
The two Packet Trace Interface (PTI) pins provide a “sniffer” feature for the radio. These pins are read by Simplicity Studios Network Analyzer to give a detailed view of all traffic both out of and into the radio. The main advantage of these pins is that they are exactly the received data by the radio. The Z-Wave Zniffer can also be used as a standalone sniffer thereby freeing these pins for any use. The standalone Zniffer however does not show you exactly the same traffic that the PTI pins do especially in noisy or marginal RF conditions. Thus, the PTI pins on the device provide a more accurate view of the traffic to the device under test.
The Trace pins provide additional levels of debug using the Segger J-Trace tool. These pins output compressed data that the debugger can interpret to track the exact program flow of a running program in real time. This level of debug is invaluable for debugging exceptions, interrupts, multi-tasking RTOS threads as well as tracking code coverage to ensure all firmware has been tested. Often these pins are used for other purposes that would not be necessary during firmware debug and testing. Typically LEDs or push buttons can be bypassed during trace debug. There are options to use either 4, 2 or even 1 trace data pin but each reduction in pins cuts the bandwidth and make debugging less reliable.
LFXO and EM4WU Pins
The Low Frequency Crystal Oscillator (LFXO) pins are typically connected to a 32KHz crystal to enable accurate time keeping within several seconds per day. If supporting the Time Command Class, I strongly suggest adding the 32KHz crystal. While you can rely on the LFRCO for time keeping, it can drift by as much as a minute per hour. While you can constantly get updated accurate time from the Hub every now and then, that wastes Z-Wave bandwidth and battery power. Both the Thunderboard and BRD4210 include a 32KHz crystal so you can easily compare the accuracy of each method.
Reserve the EM4WU pins for functions that need to wake the EFR32 from EM4 sleep mode. These are the ONLY pins that can wake from EM4! Note that ports PC and PD are NOT able to switch or input from peripherals while in EM2. See the datasheet and reference manual for more details.
Remaining GPIOs
Many of the remaining GPIOs have alternate functions too numerous for me to mention here. Refer to the datasheet for more details. Most GPIOs can have any of the digital functions routed to them via the PRS. Thus, I2C, SPI, UARTs, Timers and Counters can generally be connected to almost any GPIO but there are some limitations. Analog functions have some flexibility via the ABUS but certain pins are reserved for special functions. Hopefully these tables help you make wise choices about which pin to use for which function on your next Z-Wave product.
Here we go again… Once again I’ve been given yet another board with randomly placed test points instead of a nice neat, reliable header to connect via my MiniSimplicity cable. So I’m spending an hour on my microscope soldering thin little wires to the tiny little test points to be able to flash and then debug the firmware on a new ZG23 based product. Once I’m done soldering, I’m left with a very fragile board which is unreliable at best and at worst will result in even less hair on my thinning head. My post from 2019 described using a zero cost header for a reliable connection, but it seems not everyone is reading my blog!
On the flip side, a different customer sent me their board with a Tag-ConnectEdge-Connect that I had not seen before but is absolutely brilliant. The Edge-Connect uses the EDGE of your PCB for the test points. Barely 1mm wide and about 20mm long it is possible to include this debug connector on virtually any PCB. There is a locking pin to hold the cable secure while the spring loaded tabs press into the castellated notches to ensure solid contact.
Close up of the locking pin and castellated notches
There are several sizes of the Edge-Connect but the recommended one is the 10-pin EC10-IDC-050 which matches the MiniSimplicity header on the WSTK DevKit board. Note that the the 6pin cable in the photo above is NOT the one I would recommend but it was the only one in stock at the time and it worked fine for debugging but doesn’t have the UART or PTI pins.
Tag-Connect has many other types of debug headers/cables of various configurations to hold the cable to the PCB securely. The original Tag-Connect cables have plastic clips that snap into fairly large thru-holes in your PCB. While this is a reliable connection, the thru-holes eat up a lot of PCB real estate. The next evolution was to use a small retaining clip under the PCB that grips onto the metal alignment pins. The photo below shows the PCB pads are not much bigger than an 0805 footprint and only requires three small thru-holes.
Note the smallest header is about the same as an 0805 in lower left corner
The lowest cost approach is to simply add a 10-pin header footprint on your PCB that matches the pinout of the MiniSimplicity header. See section 5.1.1 of Application Node AN958 for the pinout of the 10-pin MiniSimplicity header. You don’t need to solder the header onto the PCB except when debugging. Thus the header can be under a battery or some relatively inaccessible location as when you are debugging in the lab the PCB is usually not installed in the product enclosure.
Please use ANY of these standard connectors on your next project. Without a solid connection between your computer and the chip you will find yourself chasing ghosts and losing hair.
Door Locks are critical to the security of the home and thus communication must be reliable and fast. This document brings together the many issues unique to door locks and guides the developer toward the most robust and interoperable implementation. These are mostly recommendations, not requirements and do not guarantee Z-Wave certification. Z-Wave allows for plenty of product differentiation, but it is important that common lock functions operate in the most interoperable fashion.
Z-Wave door locks entered the market in 2008. The problem was that at the time the Z-Wave Command Classes were missing standardized reporting of status of the lock and user codes. Initially Alarm CC was used by the locks to send various notifications to the hub to deliver status updates. The problem with this method is that each manufacturer used a unique set of commands to deliver the different status updates. Shortly after these initial locks hit the market and with the arrival of the Z-Wave Alliance, the Z-Wave specifications were updated and now locks can send standardized messages to deliver status changes. The standardized messages make Hub software much easier as basic operations can be received without the need for specialized code for each lock manufacturer.
Z-Wave Command Classes for Door Locks
SDS14224 Z-Wave Plus v2 Device Type Specification section 4.5.1 (in Version 10) specifies the Mandatory and Recommended Command Classes (CC) for Lock Device Types. Some command classes have a minimum version required for certification. However, the developer is free to choose the command class version that meets the product needs. As command classes have matured, commands have been added which in turn adds complexity and more code space. Every command in a command class must be implemented by the lock based on the version supported. If you don’t want to support some commands in a later version, then only declare the earlier versions in the Version CC.
Mandatory Command Classes
Door Lock CC (V4 or later)
Battery (V1) – unless the lock is mains powered
Basic CC – 00=UNLOCK, FF=LOCK (does not appear in NIF)
Security S0 CC – for backwards compatibility to older gateways that don’t support S2
S0 may change to recommended in the future but is mandatory in 2020
Common Mandatory CC for All Z-Wave Plus v2 Devices
Association, version 2
Association Group Information
Device Reset Locally
Firmware Update Meta Data, version 5
Indicator, version 3
Manufacturer Specific
Multi-Channel Association, version 3
Powerlevel
Security 2
Supervision – See discussion below – you SHOULD be using Supervision!
Transport Service, version 2
Version, version 2
Z-Wave Plus Info, version 2
Most of these command classes are handled by the SDK and/or the Z-Wave Application Framework (ZAF). There are some customizations to many of these command classes, but the effort is minimal.
Recommended Command Classes
User Code CC – If the lock has a keypad this CC is used to program/enable the codes
Notification CC – Send various lock status messages to the Lifeline NodeID (Gateway/Hub)
Time CC – See the section below on the time/clock command classes
Clock CC
Time Parameters CC
Generic Schedule CC – Defines time/date ranges to enable/disable User Codes
Schedule CC – Simpler but less flexible schedules using any Z-Wave command
Authentication CC – use with RFID, NFC, Mag cards etc. and link ScheduleIDs with User Codes
Other Command Classes
Door Lock Logging CC
Door lock logging CC provides a means to retrieve an audit trail of operations
Typical use: If the hub is offline, a log of all operations is recorded and can then be sent when the hub comes back online
Barrier Operator CC – Typically used with motorized entry gates which are like locks
Entry Control CC -Used with RFID or other means that have ASCII strings
Relies on the Hub to authenticate the string and then send an unlock command
Typically used for Keypads which do not control a lock
Use Authentication CC for locks
Configuration CC (V3) – configure specific features that are not supported by other CCs
See the Door Lock Configuration SET command which should provide most of the needed configuration
Configuration CC should only be used if really necessary as it is less interoperable
Application Status – Can be used to reply back to the Hub that the lock is currently busy and cannot execute the command just received
Use Supervision instead
Protection CC – enables a Child Protection mode
AntiTheft CC (v3) – Locks the device so if stolen it is a brick
Multi-channel – Multichannel should not be necessary
Multi-command – Can be used to return several commands in a single frame to reduce battery consumption however with the smaller payload size in S2 it is not recommended
Obsolete Command Classes – do not use these
Schedule Entry Lock CC – use Generic Schedule CC instead
Alarm CC – Use Notification CC (V3 or later)
Security Levels
Security S2 has three security levels and S0 has one for a total of four different security levels:
Security S2 Access Control – Strongest Security level only used with devices that provide access to secure areas – door locks
Security S2 Authenticated – SmartStart requires a QR code/DSK – lights/thermostats/sensors
Security S2 UnAuthenticated – used by a small number of early S2 devices – generally not recommended – Does not require QR Code/DSK
Security S0 – Legacy security mode – slower, uses more battery power, less secure than S2
The Security S2 Unauthenticated and S2 Authenticated keys are NOT recommended due to potential security holes. S2 is rapidly becoming commonplace so it is expected that S0 will no longer be mandatory but will change to recommended. S0 is slower, uses more battery power and is less secure than S2 due to the network key being exchanged using a known encryption key. Security S2 uses Diffie-Hellman elliptic curves to exchange the keys, an out-of-band DSK is required to join the network and Nonces are pre-computed enabling a single frame compared to three for S0 (Nonce Get, Nonce Report, Encrypted frame). Locks are required to use the Security S2 Access Control level.
Recommended Security Levels:
S2 Access Control
S0 if supported or if legacy support is desired (mandatory in 2020)
Reporting State Changes
All Z-Wave Plus devices are required to send to the Lifeline NodeID (typically the Hub) when their state changes. The Z-Wave Application Framework True-State Engine (TSE) can be used to send state changes. The primary state changes in a lock are:
Currently most locks rely on the Hub to install/remove User Codes and to manage the times and dates when the codes are valid. Thus, the lock need not know the current date/time and does not need to store schedules and apply them to User Codes. This makes the lock firmware simple and keeps the complexity of schedules with the Hub and its significantly greater processing, storage and user interface capabilities. However, many rental property agencies prefer the battery powered lock to have the schedules built-in so that even if there is an extended power or internet failure, the proper User Codes are enabled/disabled at the proper times. Thus, there is a desire to have these schedules managed within the lock itself. Fortunately, Z-Wave already has the command classes in place to support them, but schedules are complicated.
Generic Schedule CC – Recommended
Generic Schedule CC can set Time Ranges and then Schedules which are comprised of one or more Time Ranges. A Time Range has Start and Stop Date/Time fields and each field can be enabled or ignored. For example, a Time Range can be every Monday from 1pm to 3pm (date and minute fields are ignored) or can include specific dates like 2022 May 24th from 11:23am to 4:57pm. This makes the Time Range very flexible and able to specify virtually any type of date/time combination.
A Schedule is a list of Time Ranges that are either Included or Excluded to build the schedule. Thus, a Time Range of M-F 8am-5pm could be included but then 1 Jan 2022 from 4pm to 5pm could be excluded. In this example, the Schedule includes the first Time Range and Excludes the second. Generic Schedule only creates the ScheduleIDs. It does not hold any commands or perform actions. Authentication CC is then used to link a Schedule to a User Code or other authentication method. There are up to 64K Schedule and Time Ranges though each device reports the number supported in the Generic Schedule Capabilities Report. Due to the memory required for schedules and time ranges most devices will typically only have perhaps a dozen or so of each.
Schedule CC
Schedule CC is different than Generic Schedule in that Z-Wave commands are used instead of ScheduleIDs/AuthenticationIDs/UserCodes. Schedule CC is usable for any Z-Wave command and not just those that use the Schedule IDs. Schedule CC is most often used with thermostats or other devices that change state automatically based on the time/date. While Schedule CC can be used to execute User Code Set commands to enable/disable User Codes on a schedule, it is less flexible than Generic Schedule CC. For simple weekly schedules this CC will work OK but trying to build more complex schedules quickly becomes cumbersome.
Schedule Entry Lock CC
The Schedule Entry Lock CC has been deprecated and thus should not be used in new locks. Use the Generic Schedule CC instead. There are less than a dozen certified locks with Schedule Entry Lock CC. Hubs may want to control this CC to support specific locks but it is not required.
Authentication CC
Authentication CC is used to connect a User Code to a Generic Schedule. Authentication CC can also be used in conjunction with RFID, NFC, mag stripes, BLE or other forms of user authentication. It is then used to enable/disable various access methods based on a schedule. Thus, Authentication is flexible but with that flexibility comes complexity.
Time CC vs. Clock CC vs. Time Parameters CC
If a lock supports schedules to enable/disable user codes, then it needs some way to determine the date and time. For example, the cleaners code only works on Tuesdays from 2 to 4pm. How is a lock supposed to get the current local time and date so it knows when to enable the cleaners code?
There are three different command classes for getting various parts of the time/date. Time Command Class is mandatory for all Gateways and is the most full featured method. Unfortunately, not all gateways support it yet, so most devices need to support one of the others for use with older hubs. Clock CC is defined in SDS13781 – Z-Wave Application CC but the other two are defined in SDS13782.
Time CC
Clock CC
Time Parameters CC
Second
V1(Local)
V1 (UTC)
Minute
V1(Local)
V1
V1 (UTC)
Hour
V1(Local)
V1
V1 (UTC)
Day of Week
V1
Day of Month
V1(Local)
V1 (UTC)
Month
V1(Local)
V1 (UTC)
Year
V1(Local)
V1 (UTC)
Time Zone Offset Hour, Minute
V2
DST Offset
V2
DST Start Month, Day Hour
V2
DST End Month, Day Hour
V2
Command Classes for setting the Date and Time
Time CC – Recommended
Time command class is described in SDS13782 (Z-Wave Management Command Class Specification). Time CC is mandatory for all Z-Wave Plus Gateways and thus is the recommended method for a lock to set its clock to the current local date and time. Time CC Version 2 adds time zones and daylight savings time support if desired however V1 provides the necessary functionality in most cases.
The Z-Wave specification recommends having an association group to identify the time server node however the Gateway is expected to have an accurate time reference so using the Lifeline is acceptable.
The Time CC does NOT have a date/time SET command. Thus, the hub cannot set the date/time and instead should wait for the lock to GET it. The hub can send a Time/Date REPORT to the lock when a lock is included in a network. However, the lock must send a Time GET command within the first few minutes to accurately set its internal clock. The lock should then periodically send a Time GET to ensure the internal clock remains accurate to the local time. Only the lock knows the accuracy of its real-time clock. Thus, the lock will determine how often it needs to update its internal clock and send a Time GET when needed. The hub should not send Time Reports unless responding to a Time GET other than immediately after inclusion. Note that for certification purposes a door lock CONTROLs Time CC, it does not SUPPORT it. The Hub is required to SUPPORT Time CC.
Time Parameters CC – Optional
The Time Parameters command can SET/GET/REPORT the year, month, day, hour, minute & second of the UTC time. However, it does not set the time zone which must be done via the Time CC V2. Thus, Time Parameters CC relies on the hub to send the current UTC time but the lock can also send a GET and adjust its internal clock to match the one from the hub. However, this requires support on the hub software which is not mandatory so not all hubs will be able to provide the current date/time.
Clock CC – NOT Recommended
Clock command class is sent by a Hub and can set the local weekday and time. Thus, it only supports a 7-day schedule since it cannot set the date, just the day of the week. Typically, the Hub would send a Clock Set as part of inclusion in the network. Since the clock on the lock will drift, the lock must periodically send a Clock Get to the Hub and to maintain time accurately. This method is NOT recommended. However, on some old hubs this is the only method available.
Recommended Time Setting Algorithm
The algorithm below provides a basic guide for setting the time. The first step is to wait for the inclusion and the security negotiation to complete. Then send a Time GET and start a 30 second timer. If a Time REPORT arrives before the end of the 30 second timer, then the Hub supports Time CC so use that. If the Hub instead sends either a Clock REPORT or a Time Parameters SET then that will set the initial time for the lock. The lock will have to continue to send periodic Clock GET commands to the Hub to maintain clock accuracy. If there is no response from the Hub, then the lock has no choice but to disable the schedule features as they require accurate local time.
Depending on the accuracy of the local clock circuitry, the functioning time setting command class should be used to update the local clock at a sufficient rate to match the desired settings. Typically, this would be once per day assuming a 100ppm or better 32Khz crystal is used for the clock (see section Real Time Clock (RTC) 32KHz Crystal below).
Notification CC
Notification CC was originally called Alarm CC which was deprecated at V2 and replaced with Notification CC. When the first Z-Wave locks were developed there was no standardized method for informing the Hub when a lock state changed. Each lock manufacturer was free to choose an Alarm Type and Alarm Level to communicate various status changes. Unfortunately, this resulted in non-standard and non-interoperable Z-Wave commands. Notification CC V3 defined a set of Access Control notification types and events which are described in SDS13713 which is a spreadsheet listing all standard notification types/events. For new lock developments it is recommended to use the standardized commands described here instead of the old Alarm CC ones (V8 or later is recommended). The Alarm CC can still be sent if the lock is joined using Security S0 for backwards compatibility, but their use is not recommended if the lock is joined using Security S2. Alternatively, a Configuration Parameter could be used to enable/disable the Alarm CC commands. Sending these old commands wastes battery power and clogs up the Z-Wave network.
Notification CC is typically used to communicate specific state changes beyond Door Lock or User Code CCs. There is overlap between some notifications and some Door Lock commands. The recommendation is to use Door Lock CC and only use Notification for cases that don’t have overlap. A few examples are shown in the Sample Communication section below.
Supervision CC
Supervision CC is mandatory for all S2 devices. Since locks provide property security and users have very high expectations for reliability and robustness of lock operation, it is strongly recommended that all communication to/from a lock be wrapped in Supervision CC. Supervision eliminates the need to send a Notification that a user code has been SET as the Supervision Report confirms that the command was received, decrypted and executed. See Appendix A for a sample implementation of Supervision CC for the door lock firmware.
The example below shows a lock being unlocked manually by the user. The lock needs to be 100% certain it informs the Hub that the door is now unlocked. To do that, the DoorLock_Operation Report is encapsulated with a Supervision GET command. The first attempt is blocked by RF noise but the protocol will automatically retry sending the frame up to five different routes using the mesh network because the ACK was not received. The second try delivers a frame to the Hub but due to more RF noise, the Hub is unable to decrypt the message. The Hub has already ACKed the frame so the protocol has retired the frame from the transmit queue and will not try again. However, the SDK has started a 500ms timer expecting a Supervision Report within that time. Since the Hub could not decrypt the message, it has discarded the frame. Once the 500ms timeout has expired, the lock will resend the frame. This time it gets thru and the Hub is able to decrypt the message and replies with a Supervision REPORT with a status of Success. At that point, the lock is 100% certain the frame has been delivered, decrypted and executed. The use of Supervision command class ensures delivery and execution of any Z-Wave command and should be used with any critical function of any device.
Door Lock Command Class
Most of Door Lock CC is straightforward and documented in SDS13781. The Lock Timeout vs. Auto-Relock function however needs a little extra explanation. The Door Lock Operation Set (V1) command includes the Mode which assigns either Timeout mode or Constant mode. The Door Lock Configuration Set (V1) command sets the timeout in Minutes + Seconds and whether the lock is by default in Constant or Timeout mode. Later versions of Door Lock CC enable sending a Timeout or an Auto-Relock time in the Operation Set command. Auto-Relock is in force ONLY if the lock is in Constant mode. If the lock is in Timeout mode then the normal Timeout Minutes/Seconds is used and the Auto-Relock values are ignored. Given the more common support of the Timeout Mode, it is recommended to use this mode for improved interoperability. Note that some locks have the timeout or mode as a configuration parameter. While it is acceptable to have these modes read/writeable via Configuration CC, the same values must also be reflected in the Door Lock Configuration commands.
Sample Communication
This section describes the communication between a lock and a hub in various scenarios. All communication is Security S2 encrypted which is shown in most of the examples. The recommendation is to encapsulate all frames in Supervision to ensure the frames was delivered and decrypted.
User Manually Locks/Unlocks
When the user manually locks or unlocks the lock by turning the bolt/lever, the lock must send to the Lifeline NodeID(s) (the Hub) the following:
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
Properties1
Supervision SessionID incremented with each new GET
4
0x09
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x62
CmdClass
Door Lock Operation CC V4
6
0x03
Cmd
Door Lock Operation Report
7
LockMode
00=unsecured, FF=secured – See SDS13781 table 44
8
Properties1
In/out Handles Mode – table 45
9
DoorCondition
Door/bolt/latch state – table 46
10
0xFE
TimeoutMin
Lock returns to secured after these many minutes
11
0xFE
TimeoutSec
Lock returns to secured after these many seconds
12
TargetMode
Target Mode if in transition or LockMode
13
0x00
Duration
Seconds to reach target mode – 0=already at target
Note that Supervision CC is used to ensure the Hub has received and decrypted the frame.
A Notification CC can be sent if the lock was included using Security S0 for backwards compatibility. It is not recommended if the lock is using Security S2 which relies on the Supervision CC to ensure delivery.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x71
CmdClass
Notification CC
2
0x05
Cmd
Notification REPORT
3
0x00
V1AlarmType
V1Alarm can be non-zero IF documented in the user manual
4
0x00
V1AlarmLevel
These are used for backwards compatibility
5
0x00
Reserved
6
0xFF
Status
00=notifications are disabled, FF=enabled
7
0x06
Type
06=Access Control
8
Event
01=Manual Lock, 02=Manual Unlock
9
0x00
Properties1
Parameters Length
User Enters a Good User Code
A User Code of “1234” has been set in a deadbolt lock with a keypad at UserID=03. The lock is locked and then the user enters 1234 to unlock the lock.
A Notification CC is sent informing the Hub which User Code was used.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x13
Properties1
Supervision SessionID incremented since this is a new frame
4
0x09
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x71
CmdClass
Notification CC
6
0x05
Cmd
Notification REPORT
7
0x00
V1AlarmType
V1Alarm can be non-zero IF documented in the user manual
8
0x00
V1AlarmLevel
These are used for backwards compatibility
9
0x00
Reserved
10
0xFF
Status
00=notifications are disabled, FF=enabled
11
0x06
Type
06=Access Control
12
0x06
Event
05=keypad Lock, 06=keypad Unlock
13
0x63
Param
User Code CC
14
0x03
Param
User Code CC cmd = REPORT
15
0x03
Param
UserID=0x03
16
0x01
Param
UserID Status = occupied & enabled
17
0x31
Param
User Code = ASCII “1”
18
0x32
Param
User Code = ASCII “2”
19
0x33
Param
User Code = ASCII “3”
20
0x34
Param
User Code = ASCII “4”
Optionally a Door Lock Operation could be sent to inform the Hub that the door is now unlocked.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x12
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x12
4
0x09
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x62
CmdClass
Door Lock Operation CC V4
6
0x03
Cmd
Door Lock Operation Report
7
0x00
LockMode
00=unsecured, FF=secured – See SDS13781 table 44
8
0x00
Properties1
In/out Handles Mode – table 45
9
0x00
DoorCondition
Door/bolt/latch state – table 46
10
0xFE
TimeoutMin
Lock returns to secured after these many minutes
11
0xFE
TimeoutSec
Lock returns to secured after these many seconds
12
0x00
TargetMode
Target Mode if in transition or LockMode
13
0x00
Duration
Seconds to reach target mode
User Enters a Bad User Code
Currently nothing is sent when the user enters a bad code. There have been discussions that the lock should send the bad code so that the Hub could collect statistics on how many times a user has tried to enter a code and what the code was. This would require a new Notification Access Control Event. Let us know what you think of this idea or get involved with the Z-Wave Alliance Standards Development Organization and make a proposal.
Hub Sends Lock/Unlock Command
A hub sends a Lock or Unlock command. Most locks take a few seconds to slide a bolt and this sequence shows the use of a Supervision Report with a WORKING status followed by a SUCCESS.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x95
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x15 with Status Updates
4
0x03
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x62
CmdClass
Door Lock Operation CC V4
6
0x01
Cmd
Door Lock Operation SET
7
0xFF
LockMode
00=unsecured, FF=secured
The lock immediately responds with a Supervision WORKING report with the More Status Updates bit set indicating another report will come within the next 7 seconds. The WORKING status means the lock is busy moving the bolt and it will take a few seconds to know for sure if it is properly engaged. If the Status Updates bit was 0, then only this supervision report would be sent. If the lock (or more typically a gate) takes more than 10 seconds to reach the final state it is suggested to send a WORKING report every 5-10s. Each time the Duration field should be updated with the estimated time to completion.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x02
Cmd
Supervision REPORT
3
0x95
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x15 – More Status Updates set
4
0x01
Status
WORKING – Once the bolt has finished moving another report will be sent
5
0x07
Duration
Next report will be in 7 seconds or less. The duration should be a worst-case number to handle the case when the lock is jammed.
When the lock has completed the operation, it sends another Supervision Report this time with the Status Updates bit cleared and a status of SUCCESS (if the Status Updates bit was set in the Supervision GET). This frame should be sent as soon as the lock has completed the operation.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x15
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x15
4
0xFF
Status
SUCCESS
5
0
Duration
Target mode completed
At this point the Hub is assured the lock has completed the operation because Supervision CC confirms the command was executed. However, most Hubs want to receive a status update so either a Notification CC, Access Control and Event of 0x03 (lock) or 0x04 (unlock) could be sent. It is recommended to send a Door Lock Operation Report wrapped in a Supervision Get as shown here.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x0A
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x0A
4
0x09
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x62
CmdClass
Door Lock Operation CC V4
6
0x03
Cmd
Door Lock Operation REPORT
7
0xFF
LockMode
00=unsecured, FF=secured
8
0x00
HandlesMode
In/out Handles Mode
9
0x00
DoorCondition
Door/bolt/latch state
10
0xFE
TimeoutMin
Lock returns to secured after these many minutes
11
0xFE
TimeoutSec
Lock returns to secured after these many seconds
12
0xFF
TargetMode
Target Mode if in transition or LockMode
13
0x00
Duration
Seconds to reach target mode
Hub Sends User Code Set
Supervision encapsulated User Code SET enabling the User Code of “1234” for User ID 5.
ASCII ‘4’ – total length of the code is 4 to 10 digits
The lock would then send the Supervision CC REPORT with a value of SUCCESS if the User Code was properly executed otherwise it would return FAIL. If the UserID is more than 255, the Extended User Code Set command would be used. This command can also set multiple codes in a single frame.
When a Hub sends a User Code SET, the Hub typically wants confirmation that the code was in fact properly set. While this isn’t necessary if Supervision is used, it is good practice as that is the only method that a pre-S2 lock can confirm that the User Code was set. Since the Supervision Report already confirmed the User Code has been set, it is not necessary to wrap this frame in Supervision as it is merely informational. If the lock is using Security S0, the notification report confirming the User Code is recommended.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x71
CmdClass
Notification CC
2
0x05
Cmd
Notification REPORT
3
0x00
V1AlarmType
V1Alarm can be non-zero IF documented in the user manual
4
0x00
V1AlarmLevel
These are used for backwards compatibility
5
0x00
Reserved
6
0xFF
Status
00=notifications are disabled, FF=enabled
7
0x06
Type
06=Access Control
8
0x0E
Event
0E=New User Code added
9
0x00
Properties1
Parameters Length = none
Hub Sends a Duplicate User Code
If a Hub sends another User Code SET with a different UserID but with the same UserCode, the lock must return a Notification CC Type=Access Control (0x06) with an Event=New User Code Not Added (0x0F). This Notification should be sent encapsulated in Supervision CC if the lock is using S2.
Lock Sends Low Battery Warning
Most locks use simple alkaline batteries so version 1 of the battery command class is sufficient. Use the later versions for rechargeable or complex battery situations.
Battery powered locks should automatically send the Hub the battery level whenever the battery level changes by a significant amount. The lock should send an update if the battery level has changed by more than about 5% from the last report. The amount of change required to trigger an update is up to you, but it should be large enough to only send a battery update every several days or even weeks. Note that changes in temperature can cause the battery level to rise so the trigger should require the level to be lower. Be aware that most Hubs will occasionally poll the battery level which is why sending an update is not needed unless the level has changed significantly from the last report. Zero percent battery level should still allow the lock to operate reliably, but just barely. One Hundred percent battery level should be achievable with a wide range of batteries.
When the Critical Battery Level has been reached the lock must send a Low Battery warning (0xFF). Each lock will have a different Critical Level but it is typically in the 5% to 20% range. When the Critical level is reached for the first time, a low battery warning must be sent to the Lifeline. This warning must ONLY be sent once. Typically, a RAM variable holds a flag that is set when the low battery warning is sent and is only cleared upon power-on reset when the batteries are replaced. The Low Battery warning should be sent wrapped in Supervision command class to ensure the Hub received it. Normal battery reports do not need to be wrapped in Supervision.
Battery Report – Low Battery Warning
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x01
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x01
4
0x03
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x63
CmdClass
Battery CC
6
0x03
Cmd
Battery Report
7
0xFF
Level
0xFF=Low Battery Warning, 0-100 otherwise
Lock Updates Local Time
If a lock has schedules that enable User Codes at certain days/times, it needs to know the current local time. See the discussion above about the different command classes that can be used and the hardware considerations later in this document for the necessary hardware to support time keeping. Typically, a lock will send this frame once per day to sync to the local time. Note that in this case Supervision is not used as the clock update is not important enough to warrant the extra overhead and battery power. The frame below should be sent within the first five minutes after inclusion if the Hub does not automatically set the time. Note that the time can be off by a few seconds due to system wide delays.
Lock sends the Hub a Time GET
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x8A
CmdClass
Time CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Time GET
The Hub responds with Time REPORT that sets the local time to be 5:6:7 (6 minutes and 7 seconds after 5am)
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x8A
CmdClass
Time CC
2
0x02
Cmd
Time Report
3
0x05
Hour
Local Hour
4
0x06
Minute
Local Minute
5
0x07
Second
Local Second
Lock sends the Hub a Date GET
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x8A
CmdClass
Time CC
2
0x03
Cmd
Date GET
The Hub responds with Date REPORT that sets the local date to be 10 September 2019
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x8A
CmdClass
Time CC
2
0x04
Cmd
Date Report
3
0x07
Year1
Local year MSB
4
0xE3
Year2
Local year LSB – 0x7E3=2019
5
0x09
Month
Local Month – 0x09=September
6
0x0A
Day
Local Day – 0x0A=10th day
The lock must calculate the day of the week based on the current date. The Time Offset Get command in V2 could also be used to get the daylight savings date/time if desired. Checking the local time/date at around 3:10am each day should keep the lock accurate to the current local daylight savings time.
Generic Schedule to Enable a User Code
The following sequence assigns User Code 0x05 to be enabled M-F 8am-5pm except on 5 June 2019 from 1:23pm to 6:45pm. First step is to SET two Time Ranges (01 and 02). The Hub should first send a Generic Schedule Capabilities Get to determine how many Time Ranges and Schedules the lock supports.
Time Range Monday thru Friday 8am to 5pm
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x09
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x09
4
0x15
Len
Supervision Length
5
0xA3
CmdClass
Generic Schedule
6
0x03
Cmd
Generic Schedule Time Range Set
7
0x00
TRngID1
8
0x01
TRngID2
Time Range ID=0x0001
9
0xBE
Weekday
Weekday Mask = M-F
10
0x00
StartYear1
Note the InUse bit (MSB) is zero for all fields that are not used
11
0x00
StartYear2
Start Year not used
12
0x00
StopYear1
13
0x00
StopYear2
Stop Year not used
14
0x00
StartMon
Start Month
15
0x00
StopMon
Stop Month
16
0x00
StartDay
Start Day
17
0x00
StopDay
Stop Day
18
0x00
StartHour
Start Hour
19
0x00
StopHour
Stop Hour
18
0x00
StartMin
Start Minute
19
0x00
StopMin
Stop Minute
20
0x88
DayStartHr
Daily Start Hour = 8am
21
0x91
DayStopHr
Daily Stop Hour = 17:00=5pm
22
0x00
DayStartMin
Daily Start Minute
23
0x00
DayStopMin
Daily Stop Minute
Time Range 5 June 2019 from 1:23pm to 6:45pm:
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x0A
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x0A
4
0x15
Len
Supervision Length
5
0xA3
CmdClass
Generic Schedule
6
0x03
Cmd
Generic Schedule Time Range Set
7
0x00
TRngID1
8
0x02
TRngID2
Time Range ID=0x0002
9
0x00
Weekday
Weekday Mask not used
10
0x87
StartYear1
11
0xE3
StartYear2
Start Year = 2019
12
0x87
StopYear1
13
0xE3
StopYear2
Stop Year = 2019
14
0x86
StartMon
Start Month = June
15
0x86
StopMon
Stop Month = June
16
0x85
StartDay
Start Day = 5th
17
0x85
StopDay
Stop Day = 5th
18
0x8E
StartHour
Start Hour = 1pm
19
0x92
StopHour
Stop Hour = 6pm
20
0x97
StartMin
Start Minute = 23 minutes after the hour
21
0xAD
StopMin
Stop Minute = 45 min after the hour
22
0x00
DayStartHr
Daily Start Hour
23
0x00
DayStopHr
Daily Stop Hour
24
0x00
DayStartMin
Daily Start Minute
25
0x00
DayStopMin
Daily Stop Minute
Now that the two Time Ranges have been defined, the next step is to link them to each other to create a ScheduleID. In this case Time Range 0001 is being INCLUDED and Time Range 0002 is being EXCLUDED to make the desired schedule.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x0B
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x0B
4
0x09
Len
Supervision Length
5
0xA3
CmdClass
Generic Schedule
6
0x06
Cmd
Generic Schedule Schedule Set
7
0x00
SchedID1
8
0x01
SchedID2
Schedule ID = 0001
9
0x02
NumIDs
Number of Time Range IDs = 2
10
0x80
TimeRngID1
11
0x01
TimeRngID2
Include Time Range 0001
12
0x00
TimeRngID1
13
0x02
TimeRngID2
Exclude Time Range 0002
Finally, the Authentication CC is used to link the Schedule ID to the User Code CC UserID
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x0C
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x0C
4
0x0A
Len
Supervision Length
5
0xA1
CmdClass
Authentication CC
6
0x06
Cmd
Authentication Technologies Combination Set
7
0x00
AuthID1
8
0x05
AuthID2
Schedule ID = 0005 – can be any value but matching with the UserID is easier to match them up
9
0x01
FallBack
Fallback Status = 01 = enable access based on the schedule
10
0x00
UserID1
11
0x05
UserID2
User Code CC UserID=0005
12
0x00
SchedID1
13
0x01
SchedID2
Generic Schedule CC ScheduleID=0001
14
0x00
NumAuthID
Only the User Code is enabled
In all cases Supervision should be used to confirm the schedule and time ranges are set properly. Alternatively, a GET should be used if the lock is only using security S0. If NFC, BLE or some other authentication technology is used then the NumAuthID would be more than zero to include these other forms of authentication.
Lock Has a Hardware Failure
If a lock has some sort of a hardware failure, there are several Notification Events that can be sent. The most common is the lock is jammed where the bolt is neither in the locked or unlocked position but somewhere in between. Other options are to send a Home Security – Tamper event when the battery cover is removed. The Impact Detected event could be used if an accelerometer detects the lock being smashed. If someone is jamming the RF in an attempt to bypass the lock, then an RF Jamming message could be sent. In this case the lock should store the RF jamming message if the message is not acknowledged by the Hub due to the jamming. The lock should continue to attempt delivery at ever larger timeouts between retries.
Byte #
Value
Name
Description
1
0x6C
CmdClass
Supervision CC
2
0x01
Cmd
Supervision GET
3
0x01
Properties1
Supervision SessionID=0x01
4
0x08
Len
Supervision Length
5
0x71
CmdClass
Notification CC
6
0x05
Cmd
Notification Report
7
0x00
V1AlarmType
V1Alarm can be non-zero IF documented in the user manual
8
0x00
V1AlarmLevel
These are used for backwards compatibility
9
0x00
Reserved
10
0xFF
Status
00=notifications are disabled, FF=enabled
11
0x06
Type
06=Access Control
12
0x0B
Event
0B=Lock Jammed
The lock should also send a Door Lock Operation Report with a value of 0xFE (Door Mode Unknown) if the bolt is not in either the Locked or Unlocked mode.
Z-Wave Long Range
Z-Wave Long Range (ZWLR) support is recommended for locks. Z-Wave Long Range is a star topology with very long range. ZWLR is ideal for a battery backed up hub to talk directly to a distant lock even if the power is out and the Z-Wave mesh repeaters are offline. ZWLR will be available at the end of 2020 and is a software upgrade that can be OTAed to existing units. RF regulatory testing (FCC) may need to be redone to ensure ZWLR meets the applicable regulatory limits.
Hardware Considerations
The 700 series Z-Wave hardware is typically a FLiRS (Frequently Listening Routing Slave) device. Typical power consumption in this mode is on the order of 10uA average with brief peaks of 12mA during a transmit. Once every second the chip briefly wakes up and listens for a Wakeup Beam from the hub or an adjacent node. If the hub wants to talk to the lock it sends the Beam which wakes up the lock and then the two can communicate. Once the communication is complete the lock will again enter a low-power state. The 250ms FLiRS mode can be used to reduce the latency of waking the lock with a tradeoff of additional power draw.
Most locks need to accurately measure time and keep schedules of when to enable User Codes. The 700 series has an internal low power Low Frequency RC Oscillator (LFRCO=32KHz). However, the oscillator is not accurate enough to keep the schedule accurate without frequent updates from the Time Server (LFRCO can drift by more than 1min/hour). Thus, it is recommended to use a 32KHz crystal connected to the LFXO of the EFR32. A low cost 100ppm 32KHz crystal can provide accuracy of 9s per day. Note that if your lock does not support Time CC then an external crystal is not needed.
Use a 32KHz crystal for the LFXO if schedules are supported
One MCU or Multiple?
The Z-Wave 700 series is an ARM processor with built-in cryptography accelerators and plenty of low power peripherals. The ZGM130S has plenty of GPIOs and can be easily extended using simple GPIO expanders via I2C or SPI. In most cases the ZGM130S is more than powerful enough to run the entire lock using the single processor. This avoids the complexity and security issues involved with using multiple microcontrollers within the lock. If a multi-MCU solution is chosen, the communication method between the ZGM130 and the lock MCU should be a UART, SPI or I2C and should be encrypted. Do NOT use the SerialAPI on the ZGM130! The SerialAPI is intended for use with Internet Gateway processors with large amounts of FLASH/RAM/CPU. The SerialAPI does NOT provide support for security encryption/decryption which is built-in to the embedded SDK. The recommendation is to develop your own encrypted serial protocol between processors.
Appendix A: Supervision Encapsulation End Device Example
Z-Wave SDK 7.14 does not have direct support for encapsulating frames with Supervision CC. However, it is easy to add manually. The example below simply wraps the DoorLockOperationReport with the SuperVisionGet IF the device was added as S2 which means the Hub support Supervision CC. The frame is not encapsulated if responding to a GET from the Hub.
One of the challenges with using the Z-Wave developers kit is trying to figure out which pin is connected to what. Every pin of the ZGM130S can perform multiple functions but some pins are best used for certain things. This guide provides general recommendations, but these are not hard-and-fast rules. The ZGM130S provides a great deal of flexibility so feel free to explore the many options each pin and peripheral has to offer. I’m hoping I can guide you with some initial suggestions but feel free to delve into the details to find your ideal solution.
This guide is a compilation of a number of documents and while I’ve been thorough, I could easily have made a typo here or there. Please use the online documentation as the official reference and send me an email pointing out my error and I’ll fix it. I couldn’t possibly include every feature for every pin but the details are available in the reference documents below. The Decoder Ring below is an overview of the most commonly used features. The table below contains a lot of information, so you’ll need to view it on a computer with a big screen.
Reference Documents
ZGM130S ZGM130S Datasheet – See section 6 for the pin definitions EFR32XG13 Gecko Family Reference Manual – Each peripheral is detailed here UG381 ZGM130S Zen Gecko DevKit Users Guide – Section 3 describes connectors
ZGM130S GPIO Decoder Table
ZGM130S
GPIO port as described in the ZGM130S data sheet
Pin #
GPIO pin number of the ZGM130S SIP package
BRD4202A
Zen Gecko Developers kit board for the ZGM130S
BRD8029A
Button/LED board plugged into the WSTK EXP header for the sample apps
WSTK EXP
Pin number of the main WSTK board expansion header
WSTK
Main developers kit board with USB, LCD and Segger J-link debugger
The Pxx pins are the holes across the long side of the board
The Fxx pins are secondary functions that typically connect to the isolators
MiniDBG
Small 20 pin ribbon cable used to connect WSTK to a target DUT
ALT FUNCS
Alternate functions the GPIO can perform. All GPIOs can be simple digital 1/0s.
Some pins have special analog or peripheral functions.
Comments
Brief comments describing special functions of the GPIO
Description of the columns in the table below
General Purpose IOs – Use these for your application first
ZGM 130S
Pin #
BRD 4202A
BRD 8029A
WSTK EXP
WSTK
Mini DBG
ALT FUNCs
Comments
PD10
27
LED_R P201-35
P32
LED ON=low, Pullup Ideal for PWM
PD11
28
LED_G P201-37
P34
LED ON=low, Pullup
PD12
29
LED_B P200-3
P36
LED ON=low, Pullup
PC6
58
P201-4 P200-29
EXP4
P1 F16
Easy to use with WSTK since they are on EXP
PC7
59
P201-6
EXP6
P3
PF3
5
P201-13 P200-16
LED1
EXP13
P10
JTAG_TDI
PF4
6
P201-11 P200-23
LED0
EXP11
P8
PF6
8
P201-7 P200-25
BUTN0
EXP7
P4 F12
PC8
60
P201-8 P200-28
EXP8
P5 F15
PC9
61
P201-10
SW
EXP10
P7
PB14
46
P201-30
P27
LFXO – 32Khz osc crystal for accurate time
PB15
47
P201-32
P29
LFXO
PD9
26
P201-33
P30
PF5
7
P201-28 P200-24
P25 F11
PD13
30
P201-34 P200-31
P31 F18
OPA1P
Use for Analog functions
PD15
34
P201-38
P35
OPA1N
PA2
37
P201-3 P200-21
LED2
EXP3
P0 F8
OPA0P
PA4
39
P201-17
P14
OPA0N
PA5
40
P201-19 P200-18
P16 F5
VCOM_ENB Must be 1 for WSTK to pass USART0 to USB
Special Function Pins – Use these for their alternate function
ZGM 130S
Pin #
BRD 4202A
BRD 8029A
WSTK EXP
WSTK
Mini DBG
ALT FUNCs
Comments
PC10
62
P201-15
BUTN2
EXP15
P12
EM4WU12 I2C1_SDA
EM4WU pins are the ONLY pins that will wakeup from EM4
PC11
63
P201-16
BUTN3
EXP16
P13
I2C1_SCL
Use for I2C, will NOT wakeup from EM4
PD14
31
P201-36 P200-30
P33 F17
OPA1 EM4WU4
PF7
9
P201-9 P200-26
BUTN1
EXP9
P6 F13
EM4WU1
PA3
38
P201-5 P200-22
LED3
EXP5
P2 F9
VDAC0 OPA0 EM4WU8
PB11
41
P201-21 P200-34
P18 F21
OPA2P
PB12
42
P201-23 P200-33
P20 F20
10
OPA2
PTI_DATA Future Packet Trace debug
PB13
45
P201-25 P200-32
P22 F19
9
OPA2N EM4WU9
PTI_SYNC Always wire the 2 PTI pins on the ZG14 modem chip to GPIOs on your host CPU
Legend: WSTK = hole name (ZGM130 GPIO) EX: WSTK P100 pin 16 is hole P13, ZGM130S GPIO PC11, Button 3 on the BRD8029A BRD8029A is the Button/LED board. Functionality is: LEDs are ON when driven high BUTN pins are pulled up and go low when the button is pressed The SW can pull the pin either up or down depending on the slide setting left/on is 1, right/off is 0 thru 1MOhm resistors The VMCU powers the LEDs/Buttons but the board ID is powered via pin 20 Schematic is in Simplicity Studio
Mini-Simplicity Debug header: Top View
Name
Pin #
Pin #
Name
VAEM (3V3)
1
2
GND
RESET_N
3
4
VCOM_RX (PA1)
VCOM_TX (PA0)
5
6
SWO(PF2)
SWDIO(PF1)
7
8
SWCLK(PF0)
PTI_SYNC(PB13)
9
10
PTI_DATA(PB12)
On the DUT board with the ZGM130S on it, connect VCOM_RX to PA1 and VCOM_TX to PA0. The header is a 0.05” pitch 10 pin header. Typically use a Samtec FTSH-110 but to make the pads even smaller use just the pads for a thru-hole connector. See my post “700 series Debug Header” from October 2019 for more details on the debug header.
Recommendations
Remember that the GPIOs in all the Wireless Gecko chips from Silicon Labs are very flexible and most peripheral functions can be routed to almost any IO pin. That said, there are some pins that have fixed functions and some pins are best at certain other functions. Let’s start with the pins you can’t use.
Power Pins
Obviously, the power pins have to be connected to the proper voltage. The ZGM130 has a lot of ground pins so make sure every one of them is connected to a solid ground. The voltages for the power pins have a few rules but in most cases you’ll tie AVDD and VREGVDD to the same power source of 3.3V. The on-chip DC to DC regulator allows a wide voltage range on VREGVDD so there is some additional flexibility which requires careful consideration. But for most applications, tie these two power pins directly to the battery. Most of the time IOVDD is also tied to the battery though depending on other chips in your system you might need an LDO to keep the IOs at the proper voltage.
Debug Pins
The next set of pins you should not use for GPIOs are the debug pins. All ten IO pins on the Mini-Simplicity header should be wired up as shown in the table above. The UART pins are very important to print out debug information while the chip is running. The advantage here is that you can see things happening in real-time without using a scope or logic analyzer. And you can easily enable/disable blocks of debug statements as needed. The sample apps print all sorts of debug information so you’ll want to do the same in your code. The UART defaults to only 115200 baud but it’s easy to increase it up to roughly 1Mbaud to reduce the time impact of printing debug messages. Also, keep the messages short or else they may impact the timing so much that your code will fail. If you’re really in a pinch for one more IO, you could use the SWO or VCOM_RX pins as you probably don’t need them.
Special Function Pins
A number of pins have specific functions especially for certain analog functions. The ADC/DAC only have their primary and alternate IOs though you can route them thru the ABUS. Only a few of these pins can wake the chip from sleeping in EM4. Be very careful and utilize these pins for buttons or sensors that need to wake the chip up.
General Purpose IOs
The rest of the pins are available for any purpose. Most of the pins can be any digital IO function. Some pins are handy because of their connection on the DevKit. There are three IOs connected to an RGB LED on the 4202 board. These are really handy to visually observe PWM waveforms based on the color of the LED. The pins that are routed to the EXP header on the WSTK are easy to connect to a proto board. Be careful to avoid using PA5 as that is connected to the VCOM enable pin on the WSTK. PA5 has to be high to route the debug UART data to the USB bus. But this is a restriction only when using the DevKit 4202 board. If connecting to your own PCB via the Mini-Simplicity header you can freely use PA5.
Conclusion
The ZGM130S is a flexible chip with plenty of compute power, RAM and Flash. The GPIOs can largely be routed from any peripheral to any IO though there are some restrictions. The secret decoder ring given here maps out which pin can do what and which ones should be used for your application. This is only a guide and the chip has many more features than I can describe here. Refer to the Reference Documents for more in depth knowledge.
We’re all trying to make the Smart Home products smaller and less visible. Using coin cells instead of bulky cylindrical batteries significantly reduces the size of many products. The challenge with making products smaller is that the area available on the PCB for a debug header is in short supply.
With the 500 series I usually used a 0.1″ spacing 12 pin header from the ZDP03A programmer to the target board. The header was normally not installed in the final product but for debug purposes the solid thru-hole connector meant I would reliably program a device the first time and every time.
However, many customers I’ve worked with want to use less PCB real estate which means they come up with a custom set of test points. Typically a jig with spring loaded pins are used to contact to the PCB or more often wires are soldered to the PCB. The problem with this solution is that the jig is large, expensive and fragile. Soldering a cable to a board often results in a fragile connection where the cable can easily break a pin and not be immediately obvious. I’ve spent far too much time trying to figure out why I could program the part a minute ago but now I can’t only to realize the cable has a loose wire.
Unreliable Z-Wave programming cable
500 Series Header
My recommendation for the 500 series is to use a full size 12 pin 0.1″ spacing connector for programming and debug. Either SMT or thru-hole is fine but either way you have a solid, reliable, portable connection. While this worked OK with the 500 series which typically used large cylindrical batteries, the 700 series often uses coin cells which doesn’t have the real estate for a full size connector.
Reliable 500 series header = 15x5mm
700 Series Debug Header
Fortunately Silicon Labs has an even better solution for the 700 series – use a 0.05″ spacing 10 pin SMT header. The Mini Simplicity Debug connector is described in AN958. If you have a little room then use the standard SMT header which is 6x6mm. If you are very tight on real estate then put down the pads for the thru-hole version of the connector but hand-solder the thru-hole header to the pads. Using just the pads results in a header only 3x6mm. You can’t tell me you can’t come up with 18sqmm to make the PCB debug reliable!
Either solution requires only a small amount of space on a single side of the PCB. Usually the header pads can be under a coin cell since during debug a power supply is used instead of the battery. This same header can be used for production programming using a jig to contact to the pads. Having a standard and reliable connection to the PCB will save you time during debug and on the production floor.
Reliable 700 series header = 6x6mm
Conclusion
No matter how tempted you might be to come up with your own cable/connector/test points, DON’T DO IT! Use the standard Mini Simplicity connector to save you so many headaches during debug. A solid, reliable debug connection is an absolute must otherwise you risk spinning your wheels chasing ghosts that are caused by a flakey connector. Take it from me, I’ve tried to debug just way too many of these over the years and it is not fun.