Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range 800 SDK 7.22.1 GA Release Notes

Overview

The Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range 800 SDK is designed to meet the demands of the future smart home, where increasing needs for more sensors and battery-operated devices require both long range and low power. Context-aware environments are the next evolution in the smart home market, and they require technologies that have been optimized specifically for these applications.

100% Interoperable: Every product in the Z-Wave ecosystem works with every other product, regardless of type, brand, manufacturer or version. No other smart home/IoT protocol can make this claim.

Best-In-Class Security: Z-Wave's Security 2 (S2) framework provides end-to-end encryption and the most advanced security for smart home devices and controllers. Homes with S2 Z-Wave devices are virtually un-hackable.

SmartStart Easy Installation: SmartStart radically simplifies the installation of smart devices by using QR code scans for uniform, trouble-free setup. Devices and systems can be pre-configured dramatically easing deployments.

Backwards-Compatible: Z-Wave certification mandates backward-compatibility. The first Z-Wave devices on the market, more than ten years old, still perform as intended in networks with the latest Z-Wave technologies.

For more information about the certification status of Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range 800 SDK v7.22.1.0 GA, see section 10 Product Life Cycle and Certification.

These release notes cover SDK version(s):

• 7.22.1 GA released July 24, 2024
• 7.22.0 GA released June 5, 2024

Compatibility and Use Notices

For more information about security updates and notices, see the Security chapter of the Platform Release notes installed with this SDK or on the Silicon Labs Release Notes page. Silicon Labs also strongly recommends that you subscribe to Security Advisories for up-to-date information. For instructions, or if you are new to the Z-Wave 800 SDK, see section 9 Using This Release.

Compatible Compilers: GCC (The GNU Compiler Collection) version 12.2.1, provided with Simplicity Studio.

1 Supported Radio Boards

This section describes the radio boards supported by the certified and pre-certified applications for the 800 Series, respectively.

Table 1-1. Supported Radio Boards

The applications in the above table need a radio board in combination with BRD4002A – Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard (WSTK) and BRD8029A – Buttons and LEDs Expansion Board. Notice that BRD4002A is compatible with the old BRD4001A mainboard that is going to be deprecated. The Serial APIs in the above table only need a radio board and a BRD4002A – Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard (WSTK). Refer to INS14278: How to Use Certified Apps and INS14816: How to Use Pre-Certified Apps, for details.

ZW-LR indicates that the radio board supports both Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range. 14/20 dBm indicates the transmit power of the radio board. Secure Vault is an industry-leading suite of state-of-the-art security features that address escalating Internet of Things (IoT) threats.

Table 1-2. Radio Boards versus OPNs.

The table above shows the Radio Boards and OPN relation. This table can be used to clarify the compatibility of the prebuilt binaries offered in the Simplicity SDK. The prebuilt binaries are built targeting boards and not OPNs. More OPNs are available than the ones listed above. For those OPNs the prebuilt binaries will not work. The desired application must be built targeting the specific OPN instead.

2 SDK Changes

Simplicity SDK is an embedded software development platform for building IoT products based on our Series 2 and Series 3 wireless and MCU devices. It integrates wireless protocol stacks, middleware, peripheral drivers, a bootloader, and application examples – a solid framework for building power-optimized and secure IoT devices.

The Simplicity SDK offers powerful features such as ultra-low power consumption, strong network reliability, support for a large number of nodes, and abstraction of complex requirements like multiprotocol and pre-certification. Additionally, Silicon Labs provides over-the-air (OTA) software and security updates to remotely update devices, minimize maintenance costs, and enhance the end-user product experience.

Simplicity SDK is a follow-on from our popular Gecko SDK, which will continue to be available providing long-term support for our Series 0 and Series 1 devices. For additional information on the Series 0 and Series 1 devices please reference: Series 0 and Series 1 EFM32/EZR32/EFR32 device (silabs.com).

3 Z-Wave Protocol

Be aware that 800 products based on SDK v7.17.x do not support upgrade of Secure Element firmware over the air (OTA). However, a migration path exists to upgrade both main bootloader and Secure Element firmware to enable support of this feature. See INS14895: Instruction for How to Use Tiny App regarding the upgrade path. The 800-based SDK v7.18.x supports upgrade of Secure Element firmware over the air (OTA).

The 8 kB reduction of the Z-Wave protocol NVM3 file system has an impact when making OTA firmware update on 800-based applications deployed on version 7.17.2 and earlier. To make an OTA firmware update from 7.17.2 to 7.18.1/2 requires that 7.18.1/2 is modified to keep the same NVM3 protocol size as 7.17.2. This can be configured by the define NVM3_DEFAULT_NVM_SIZE when building 7.18.1/2.

Note that due to the introduction of Secure Key Storage on the 800 series, having externally supplied key pairs is no longer supported. To ensure that security is not compromised, keys are generated internally on first boot and the private key kept only in secure storage. The public key and the QR code can be read out in production.

3.1 New Items

Added in release 7.22.1 GA

• Adding additional information on the reset reason in the FUNC_ID_SERIAL_API_STARTED payload.

3.2 Improvements

Improved in release 7.22.0 GA

3.3 Fixed Issues

Fixed in release 7.22.1 GA

Fixed in release 7.22.0 GA

3.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

Issues in bold were added since the previous release. If you have missed a release, recent release notes are available on Silicon Labs Release Notes page.

3.5 Deprecated Items

As of the 7.22.0 stack release, the 700 platform is not supported by the Simplicity SDK. The 700 platform will be maintained through the 7.21.x release stream.

3.6 Removed Items

Removed in release 7.22.0 GA

None.

4 Z-Wave Plus V2 Application Framework

4.1 New Items

Added User Credential Command Class beta implementation. Please note that more updates are expected in this command class specification in the upcoming 2024A Z-Wave specification, and this early implementation does not implement all of these changes. The command class will be adjusted to the 2024A specs in the future patch releases.

New variant of the Door Lock Key Pad sample application is added: "Door Lock Key Pad with U3C Beta", which supports the User Credential Command Class.

CLI support is added for the sample apps. In case of FL and NL applications, the CLI is disabled by default because it prevents the apps from entering sleep mode. The instructions to enable the CLI for these sleeping apps can be found in the apps' readme files.

4.2 Improvements

For a detailed description of application development using the Z-Wave Plus V2 Framework, refer to INS14259: Z-Wave Plus V2 Application Framework GSDK.

A porting guide is also available for customers who want to migrate to the 800 platform. The guide contains a detailed example of how to port a non-component/700-based Switch On/Off App (7.16.3) to a component/800-based Switch On/Off App (7.17.0). See APL14836: Application Note for Porting Z-Wave Appl. SW from 700 to 800 hardware.

4.3 Fixed Issues

Fixed in release 7.22.1 GA

Fixed in release 7.22.0 GA

4.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

Issues in bold were added since the previous release. If you have missed a release, recent release notes are available on the Silicon Labs Release Notes page

4.5 Deprecated Items

The known issue with the 1080416 ID has been deprecated by the removal of the Assert component.

4.6 Removed Items

Removed in release 7.22.0 GA

None.

5 Sample Applications

The Door Lock Key Pad, Power Strip, Sensor PIR and Wall Controller applications on 7.22.0 SDK version have been officially certified based on the approved 2023B Z-Wave Specification test suite. The 7.22.0 Sensor PIR sample application contains a CTT issue; the workaround is described for the 1322043 issue.

The sample apps based on 7.22.1 SDK version have been self-certified by Silicon Labs based on the approved 2023B Z-Wave Specification test suite without any issues.

In 7.21.1 SDK the Serial API End Device demo firmware is added for BRD2603A and BRD2705A boards.

5.1 Door Lock Key Pad

5.1.1 New Items

None.

5.1.2 Improvements

None.

5.1.3 Fixed Issues

5.1.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

5.1.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.1.6 Removed Items

None.

5.2 Door Lock Key Pad with U3C Beta

This is a new variant of the Door Lock Key Pad sample application which supports the User Credential Command Class, and is a Beta version. Because it has not been self-certified yet, the application contains known issues and will be adjusted according to changes expected in the 2024A Z-Wave specification.

5.2.1 New Items

None.

5.2.2 Improvements

None.

5.2.3 Fixed Issues

5.2.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

5.2.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.2.6 Removed Items

None.

5.3 Power Strip

5.3.1 New Items

None.

5.3.2 Improvements

None.

5.3.3 Fixed Issues

5.3.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

5.3.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.3.6 Removed Items

None.

5.4 Sensor PIR

5.4.1 New Items

None.

5.4.2 Improvements

None.

5.4.3 Fixed Issues

5.4.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

5.4.4.1 Known Issues in release 7.22.0 GA

Fix for the 1322043 known issue:

In the file app.c in function zaf_event_distributor_app_event_manager CC_Basic_Set_tx and CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit functions are called in the wrong order. Also, CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit is called with wrong parameters in app.c. This can cause a missing notification in case of PIR event simulation. It can be fixed in three steps.

Step 1. Change the CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit function input parameters to the following in zaf_event_distributor_app_event_manager function:
(void) CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit(0, NOTIFICATION_EVENT_HOME_SECURITY_MOTION_DETECTION_UNKNOWN_LOCATION, &supportedEvents, 0, NULL, false);

Step 2. Reverse the order of calling CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit and CC_Basic_Set_tx functions in CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit

Step 3. In the function ZCB_EventJobsTimer change the input parameters of the CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit function as follows
(void) CC_Notification_TriggerAndTransmit(0, NOTIFICATION_EVENT_HOME_SECURITY_NO_EVENT, &supportedEvents, 0, NULL, false);

5.4.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.4.6 Removed Items

None.

5.5 Switch On/Off

5.5.1 New Items

None.

5.5.2 Improvements

None.

5.5.3 Fixed Issues

None.

5.5.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

5.5.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.5.6 Removed Items

None.

5.6 Wall Controller

5.6.1 New Items

None.

5.6.2 Improvements

None.

5.6.3 Fixed Issues

None.

5.6.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

5.6.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.6.6 Removed Items

None.

5.7 Multilevel Sensor

This application is not certifiable due to missing features for passing the certification tests.

5.7.1 New Items

None.

5.7.2 Improvements

None.

5.7.3 Fixed Issues

None.

5.7.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

5.7.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.7.6 Removed Items

None.

5.8 LED Bulb

5.8.1 New Items

None.

5.8.2 Improvements

None.

5.8.3 Fixed Issues

None.

5.8.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

5.8.5 Deprecated Items

None.

5.8.6 Removed Items

None.

6 Serial API Applications

Beginning with version 7.16, when backing up and restoring a Serial API end node via the FUNC_ID_NVM_BACKUP_RESTORE, the Serial API end node will automatically upgrade the protocol non-volatile memory (NVM) to the latest version. Any backup made of a 7.16 or later Serial API end node can be restored to its original version or to a later version of the Serial API end node without any manual upgrade of the protocol NVM being necessary.

The serial interface is unchanged in version 8.

As of SDK version 7.18.x, Serial API end node is available as source code as well as binary. This opens the possibility for building customized versions of Serial API end node with different pin configuration or additional hardware utilization. A use case might be to use SPI instead of UART for serial communication.

No application using Serial API End Device is available in the Simplicity SDK.

6.1 Serial API Controller

6.1.1 New Items

None.

6.1.2 Improvements

None.

6.1.3 Fixed Issues

None.

6.1.4 Known Issues in the Current Release

None.

6.1.5 Deprecated Items

None.

6.1.6 Removed Items

None.

7 Important Changes

Starting in version 7.19, API-breaking changes have been documented in "Important_changes.md" available in the Simplicity SDK. Check it for a detailed description of changes introduced in the latest release.

HTML documentation has been added to the Simplicity SDK and can be found on https://docs.silabs.com/z-wave/7.22.1/zwave-api/ and in Simplicity Studio, Documentation section, under "Z-Wave zipped doxygen documentation". Location of this document is <SDK>/protocol/z-wave/docs_public/z-wave-html-docs.zip.

8 Open Source Software

Z-Wave is using FreeRTOS as the underlying OS, and it is based on FreeRTOS Kernel V10.4.3.

9 Using This Release

This release contains the following:

• Z-Wave Plus V2 Application Framework
• Z-Wave Certified Applications for a broad range of smart home applications
• Z-Wave Protocol and Serial API Applications

If you are a first-time user, Z-Wave documentation is installed with the SDK. See INS14280: Z-Wave Getting Started for End Devices, INS14278: How to Use Certified Apps in Z-Wave, and INS14281: Z-Wave Getting Started for Controller Devices for instructions.

This SDK depends on a Simplicity SDK Platform. The Simplicity SDK Platform code provides functionality that supports protocol plugins and APIs in the form of drivers and other lower layer features that interact directly with Silicon Labs chips and modules. Gecko Platform components include EMLIB, EMDRV, RAIL Library, NVM3, PSA, and mbedTLS. Gecko Platform release notes are available through Simplicity Studio's Launcher Perspective.

9.1 Installation and Use

Order a Z-Wave Wireless Starter kit. The kit offers the easiest and fastest way to start evaluation and development of your own Z-Wave mesh application. It provides a single world-wide development kit for both end devices and gateways with multiple radio boards, with which developers can create a mesh network and evaluate the Z-Wave module.

The Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range 800 SDK is provided as part of the Simplicity SDK, the suite of Silicon Labs SDKs. To quickly get started with the Simplicity SDK, install Simplicity Studio 5, which will set up your development environment and walk you through Simplicity SDK installation. Simplicity Studio 5 includes everything needed for IoT product development with Silicon Labs devices, including a resource and project launcher, software configuration tools, full IDE with GNU toolchain, and analysis tools. Installation instructions are provided in the online Simplicity Studio 5 User's Guide.

Alternatively, Simplicity SDK may be installed manually by downloading or cloning the latest from GitHub. See https://github.com/SiliconLabs/simplicity_sdk for more information.

Simplicity Studio installs the SDK by default in:

• (Windows): C:\Users\<NAME>\SimplicityStudio\SDKs\simplicity_sdk
• (MacOS): /Users/<NAME>/SimplicityStudio/SDKs/simplicity_sdk

To implement a specific application, Silicon Labs recommends starting with one of the existing self-certified apps with the desired Role Type.

9.2 Security Information

Secure Vault Integration

This version of the stack is using secure vault interface for key management of asymmetric keys (ECC Curve 25519) and Symmetric keys (AES).

Security Advisories

To subscribe to Security Advisories, log in to the Silicon Labs customer portal, then select Account Home. Click HOME to go to the portal home page and then click the Manage Notifications tile. Make sure that 'Software/Security Advisory Notices & Product Change Notices (PCNs)' is checked, and that you are subscribed at minimum for your platform and protocol. Click Save to save any changes.

9.3 Support

Development Kit customers are eligible for training and technical support. See support resources and contact Silicon Laboratories support at https://www.silabs.com/support.

10 Product Life Cycle and Certification

Silicon Labs will add new features based on market requirements and continuously improve the Z-Wave Protocol to position the Z-Wave Ecosystem. The Z-Wave Protocol Life Cycle is a process to provide rapid innovation, new features and robust matured protocol release to Z-Wave Partners. The Z-Wave Protocol Life Cycle defines the maturation process of Z-Wave Protocol generations and consist of three phases divided in five Life Cycle stages. A change in the Z-Wave SDK utilized for a specific device does require recertification; however, the type of certification required, the amount of testing needed, and the associated fees depend on the scope of the change. Refer to Z-Wave Alliance home page https://z-wavealliance.org/ for details.

Table 10-1. Z-Wave SDK Release History

Simplicity Studio Overview

Simplicity Studio offers one-click access to MCU and wireless tools, documentation, software, source code libraries & more. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux!

• IoT Portfolio: www.silabs.com/IoT
• SW/HW: www.silabs.com/simplicity
• Quality: www.silabs.com/quality
• Support & Community: www.silabs.com/community

Disclaimer

Silicon Labs intends to provide customers with the latest, accurate, and in-depth documentation of all peripherals and modules available for system and software implementers using or intending to use the Silicon Labs products. Characterization data, available modules and peripherals, memory sizes and memory addresses refer to each specific device, and "Typical" parameters provided can and do vary in different applications. Application examples described herein are for illustrative purposes only. Silicon Labs reserves the right to make changes without further notice to the product information, specifications, and descriptions herein, and does not give warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the included information. Without prior notification, Silicon Labs may update product firmware during the manufacturing process for security or reliability reasons. Such changes will not alter the specifications or the performance of the product. Silicon Labs shall have no liability for the consequences of use of the information supplied in this document. This document does not imply or expressly grant any license to design or fabricate any integrated circuits. The products are not designed or authorized to be used within any FDA Class III devices, applications for which FDA premarket approval is required or Life Support Systems without the specific written consent of Silicon Labs. A "Life Support System" is any product or system intended to support or sustain life and/or health, which, if it fails, can be reasonably expected to result in significant personal injury or death. Silicon Labs products are not designed or authorized for military applications. Silicon Labs products shall under no circumstances be used in weapons of mass destruction including (but not limited to) nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or missiles capable of delivering such weapons. Silicon Labs disclaims all express and implied warranties and shall not be responsible or liable for any injuries or damages related to use of a Silicon Labs product in such unauthorized applications.

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