Re: Z-Wave, an interesting note

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:02:42 GMT, Dave Houston wrote:
>> Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>>Right now another gentleman (also a David but not ours :-), the
>>>author of the Misterhouse Perl module, and I are playing with the
>>>Levition Vizia RS232 interface. What I noticed was that the
>>>Intermatic Z-Wave module I'm using needs to be polled to find out
>>>there have been any changes to the module such as a command sent by
>>>a remote. David has found that the Vizia modules report changes
>>>unlike the Intermatic modules. That's very interesting. I don't know
>>>what remote(s) he has/may have but I'll ask.
>
>> Lutron says the two-way RF operation of the Vizia dimmers infringes
>> on their patents and is one of the reasons Lutron sued Leviton.
>>
>> http://www.digitalhomeonline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=0&articleID=451584
>> http://www.cepro.com/article/lutron_sues_leviton_over_rf_lighting_controls/
>
>Oh, that's not nice. Looks like Z-Wave is in for some trouble. Too bad
>I was hoping for a wide range of products for the DIY community to
>challenge X10 and each other.

It looks like it will also be a problem for everyone using two-way RF from
switches or even in j-boxes, including those using Zigbee (e.g. Control4).
Of course, they can always pay Lutron a license fee. Or they might win in
court but either way adds cost. Smarthome's approach seems to avoid the
patents. I'm not sure about C-Bus. I played with one of their remotes and a
dimmer switch. It was definitely two-way RF but I don't recall if that was
only during the setup/linking process (querying the switch for its ID) or
whether it reported status in normal operation which would seem to run afoul
of Lutron.

Whatever happens with the patent suits, it's likely to drive up prices. Even
Smarthome, while not directly affected will have room to raise prices and
still stay competitive.

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