Nortek Shows Z-Wave Garage Door Opener Running on Thread IP Protocol at CES

Nortek showed a proof of concept home control demo at CES running its RF-based Z-Wave-controlled GoControl smart garage door opener on top of the Thread IP-based networking protocol. In the demo, Z-Wave wirelessly controlled the GoControl garage door controller connected to a Resolution Products Helix gateway. The same week, Z-Wave competitor ZigBee said it formed (see 1601050041) a partnership with Thread on an end-to-end solution for IP-based IoT networks. It’s too early to tell how the Z-Wave-Thread relationship will translate to the smart home, Rosenthal told us. The CES demo was “meant to show that radio technologies do not have to be exclusive and that cooperation is better for the consumer,” he said. In response to questions on a smart home product timetable combining the two technologies and what’s required to move from concept to reality, Rosenthal said, “Right now there is no timetable.” The demo was created in less than a month “and poses many questions about how the ecosystems can coexist and how the consumer will interact with them,” he said. The demonstration proved a few things: that it could be done, “that Nortek's RF experts were able to do it very quickly” and “the potential exists for Z-Wave to work with other RF standards and technologies,” he said.