CSR and Avi-on Labs Add Simple, Seamless Whole-Home Control to GE Branded Lighting
CSRmesh™ IoT Protocol Soon to be Found in Retail Stores for Smart Lighting and Home Automation
Light Fair International 2015 kicked off today. As part of the proceedings, CSR announced that it has worked with Avi-on Labs to provide Bluetooth® Smart mesh connectivity in a new GE branded line of smart lighting from Jasco Products. These lighting and home control products, which are expected to appear in major retail stores this year, use CSR’s Bluetooth® Smart solution – CSRmesh™. The CSRmesh™ protocol allows an almost unlimited number of Bluetooth Smart enabled devices to be easily networked together and controlled directly from a “smart” switch or dimmer, smartphone or tablet.
This might indicate a bit of a change in direction for both GE and Jasco Products, both who have previously relied mostly on the Z-Wave wireless protocol. Certainly, CSRmesh™ offers a much simpler setup that will control a greater number of devices across multiple, “nested” networks. And because more devices already have Bluetooth built into them, a Bluetooth mesh network won’t necessarily require a centralized hub to control it all.
Gateway = Single Point of Failure
- Delayed, disjointed dimming
- Dumb devices fail when gateway/router fails
- Gateway or panel required to operate a single light bulb or device
Avi-on Distributed Architecture
- Eliminates single point of failure
- Mesh smart devices operate with/without phone
- Virtually unlimited programming distances
- Optional Wi-Fi bridge enables remote access
- Secures & expands CSRmesh™
- Real-time dimming performance equal to wires
Jasco Products chose Avi-on Labs’ Powered by Avi-on turnkey lighting and home control platform, which uses CSRmesh combined with CSR’s Bluetooth Smart silicon. Avi-on’s complete residential and commercial lighting solution includes plug and play firmware, iOS and Android mobile applications, a secure cloud service, and a pre-certified module based on the CSR1010™ chipset, which together allows manufacturers to get to market quickly. The platform enables a number of features including real-time dimming, one-touch setup, grouping, schedules, timers and multi-user controls all from an easy to use mobile app.
“CSRmesh has the potential to disrupt the smart lighting market by eliminating the complex setup, pairing, and use of an access device, such as a router, needed with other connectivity solutions available today,” said Cameron Trice, CEO of Jasco Products. “By combining CSRmesh with Avi-on Labs’ software and support we are able to offer a lighting product line that offers an unrivalled user experience and secure connectivity to customers through our major retail partners. Working with CSR and Avi-on allowed us to get to market fast to meet growing consumer demand for these types of smart devices.”
The GE branded Jasco Products range will include “smart” switches, dimmers, an outdoor timer and a smart plug which will give consumers on/off control of virtually any standard home device or appliance.
“CSRmesh is transforming the smart lighting and home automation markets by offering the blend of security, performance and ease of use that is needed to drive broad consumer adoption,” says Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President, Business Group at CSR. “We are seeing interest from a wide variety of lighting and home control device manufacturers and it is exciting to see some of the first CSRmesh home automation enabled products making their way to the shelves. Avi-on’s platform supports multiple lighting products as well as home and commercial automation devices. We are pleased to be working with them to further expand the CSRmesh ecosystem.”
“The ability to replace wires with software will transform the lighting and construction industries worldwide,” said Eric Miller, CEO of Avi-on. “Avi-on has delivered a cost-effective, simple, scalable and proven controls platform based on CSRmesh, and we are excited to move forward in partnership with CSR to provide Jasco Products and other manufacturers with a complete package for wireless lighting.”
Both CSR and Avi-on Labs will be exhibiting at LightFair International in New York City from May 5 – 7. Visitors can see CSRmesh at CSR’s booth #4079 and Avi-on will feature Powered by Avi-on in booth #3126. At the same time, Jasco Products will present its line of GE branded lighting controls powered by Avi-on and CSRmesh at the National Hardware Show in booth #4515 in Las Vegas.
