Non-cellular, 5G wireless standard shows interoperability for smart buildings

The Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) Forum announced Feb. 24 what it reports is the world’s first New Radio (NR+) interoperability demonstration.

NR+ is an open, non-cellular, 5G wireless connectivity standard for smart buildings. It runs in the so called “golden frequency” band of 1.9 GHz, which is built for massive IoT applications that combine long-range, high-density and license-free operations.

The demonstration shows how NR+ enables true multi-vendor interoperability, allowing devices from different manufacturers to operate together in the same network, while simultaneously supporting dense device deployments and long-range communications. DECT reports this combination addresses critical requirements for smart buildings at scale, enabling predictable wireless performance everywhere in a building with high scalability, as well as operation in a license-free spectrum, which eliminates dependence on proprietary technologies or vendor-specific silos.

The demo’s live network, showing higher data rates and lower end-to-end latency than any other existing IoT system, connects about 80 NR+ devices from NR+ Building Interest Group members, including Legrand and Schneider Electric components. It’s based on production-grade technologies provided by Nordic Semiconductor and Wirepas.

“With these implementations, NR+ moves from specification to proven interoperability,” says Christian Schepke, chairman of the DECT Forum. “It shows that professional installers can deploy multi-vendor smart building networks at scale based on an open standard that’s ready to support their favorite application framework.”