Sigma Designs teams up with SoftAtHome for connected home

Michel Degland

Chipset provider Sigma Designs has teamed up with connected home specialist SoftAtHome to integrate Sigma Designs’ Z-Wave radio protocol with SoftAtHome’s home gateway software.

The pair are jointly demonstrating their platform at the Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam this week.

According to the two companies, the partnership creates one of the most advanced ‘internet of things’ integrated gateway solutions on the market.

Z-Wave has already been deployed for emerging smart home and internet of things applications involving low power communications, while SoftAtHome also supports other established protocols used for communication and content delivery within the home. The new solution is part of the latest CloudAtHome software solution announced this week by SoftAtHome.

There are over 300 manufacturers in the Z-Wave Alliance committed to building wireless home control products based on the standard, and over 1,100 different products certified by the Z-Wave Alliance, with a total of 35 million devices expected by the end of 2014, according to the pair.

“We are excited about this collaboration with SoftAtHome”, said Raoul Wijgergangs, vice-president, Z-Wave business line, Sigma Designs. “We typically think about Z-Wave in terms of scenarios that consumers will benefit from and then we help our customers provide solutions. With SoftAtHome’s expertise, we have the opportunity to make the smart home into the 5^th play service providers can add to their portfolio to deliver new benefits for their customers on top of their traditional packages.”

“We believe that Internet Of Things and Smart Home services should be added to the list of features that operators can deliver without any additional dedicated box”, added Michel Degland, CEO of SoftAtHome. “By including Sigma Designs’ Z-Wave in our open platform, we give end-users a new level of control over their home environment.”