Australia-based semiconductor company Morse Micro, developing Wi-Fi HaLow for low-power mid-range IoT solutions, has issued a flurry of announcements at CES in Las Vegas this week (January 9-12), including international certification for a new Quectel-made IoT module, a partnership with Australian Wi-Fi specialist Zetifi to plug rural IoT black spots in the agricultural sector, and another (“strategic”) partnership with US-based networking outfit Edgecore Networks on a new Wi-Fi HaLow router for outdoor IoT applications.
Morse Micro is also presenting a range of IoT applications and partners at CES, targeting various sectors, including smart home, smart building, smart cities, and smart factories and Industry 4.0 settings, as well as a mesh-based network extender for backhaul and rural networks. These include demos of various gateways and access points, including dual-mode Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi HaLow units, plus the Matter smart-home protocol running over Wi-Fi HaLow, and Wi-Fi HaLow applications for machine vision cameras, security cameras, and doorbell cameras.
Michael De Nil, co-founder and chief executive at Morse Micro, commented: “Wi-Fi HaLow… extends beyond the limited reach of legacy Wi-Fi, while providing throughputs no other long-range wireless technology can match. Momentum is building… with the Wi-Fi Alliance taking major steps to promote [its] benefits for IoT. Our partners have incorporated our complete Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity solution to develop IoT products for a host of consumer and enterprise applications that are driving the mass market adoption of Wi-Fi HaLow technology.”
Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) uses sub-GHz spectrum frequencies in global ISM bands, between 850 MHz and 950 MHz. These offer advantages over the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, where Wi-Fi traditionally plays, insofar as the spectrum is less congested and lower frequency, improving reliability, propagation, and coverage. As a consequence, the HaLow version makes Wi-Fi viable effectively for lower-power wider-area IoT cases. Fans of the technology – Morse Micro, for starters – claim it offers a 10-times advance in terms of range, compared with conventional Wi-Fi.
The marketing also suggests a 100-times advance in terms of coverage area, and 1,000-times advance in terms of coverage volumes. Morse Micro states: “The rapid growth of the IoT has forced a rethinking of Wi-Fi, revealing technological gaps in range and power efficiency and what role Wi-Fi should play in an all-encompassing connected world… Wi-Fi HaLow… solves these challenges for Wi-Fi connectivity in IoT applications. It claims its MM6108 silicon, now sampling, is the “fastest, smallest, lowest-power, and longest-range” Wi-Fi HaLow chip in the market.
The FGH100M module from Chinese IoT maker Quectel Wireless, based on the MM6108 system on chip (SoC), has now received CE certification in Europe and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification in the US. A statement proclaimed: “The certification represents a crucial step in expanding the market reach of Wi-Fi HaLow technology… This industry-first achievement not only underscores Wi-Fi HaLow technology’s readiness for the global market, but also solidifies the protocol’s position as a leading communications standard.”
Quectel and Morse Micro started working together last March. Morse Micro said European CE certification demonstrates the standard’s “global acceptance”. Norbert Muhrer, president at Quectel Wireless Solutions, said: “Wi-Fi HaLow technology represents the future of global connectivity, and receiving both the CE mark and FCC certification is a testament to the reliability, safety, and interoperability of Wi-Fi HaLow modules. Our collaboration with Morse Micro has been crucial in achieving this milestone and other industry certifications.”
Meanwhile, the deal with Zetifi will take “farm-wide Wi-Fi… to a whole new level”, said Morse Micro. Zetifi provides last-mile connectivity for “vehicles, machinery and farms”, with a focus on “long-range Wi-Fi coverage extension products”. They stated: “[This] collaboration leverages the long-range capabilities of Wi-Fi HaLow to give more farmers than ever before the ability to embrace precision agriculture and remote monitoring and prepare for the introduction of connectivity-dependent autonomous machinery.”
Zetifi offers two core products: a long-range Wi-Fi small cell called ZetiCell and a vehicle-mounted roaming Wi-Fi hotspot called ZetiRover. The latter can be moved between vehicles and features integrated antennas and dual modems for backhaul to multiple cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Its multi-carrier functionality provides redundancy and extra coverage options in remote areas. It also enables a Wi-Fi link back to a private ZetiCell, enabling the ZetiRover to repeat Wi-Fi from a cellular or satellite connection up to three kilometers away.
A statement explained: “While the ZetiRover currently uses 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to create the vital link between the ZetiCell and ZetiRover, this link, while adequate, can easily be disrupted by natural obstacles such as trees or hilly terrain. Next-generation ZetiRover and ZetiCell products will incorporate Morse Micro’s long-range, sub-GHz Wi-Fi HaLow technology for direct connections to HaLow-enabled cameras and sensors, and to create more penetrative mesh connections between Zetifi devices.”
Dan Winson, chief executive and founder at Zetifi, remarked: “IoT is revolutionizing farming, and now Wi-Fi HaLow – the first version of Wi-Fi optimized for the IoT – is helping Zetifi deliver on the promise of smart, connected farming technology. Our collaboration with Morse Micro is a defining moment in Zetifi’s mission to bring digital advancements to modern farming through remote-area connectivity.”
Finally, Morse Micro’s work with Edgecore Networks has resulted in a Wi-Fi HaLow router, the Edgecore EAP112, which also offers support for Wi-Fi 6 and Matter, alongside 4G LTE, BLE, Zigbee, and Thread. “The EAP112 is uniquely positioned to connect thousands of IoT devices through a single device, marking a significant advancement in IoT connectivity,” the pair said. The router uses the MM6108 module. It is designed for challenging terrains and climates, in a temperature range of -30°C to 50°C; it is IP65-rated for water and dust resistance.
TengTai Hsu, vice president of Edgecore Networks, said: “The EAP112 represents a pivotal moment in harnessing the extensive potential of IoT connectivity, bringing significant advantages to our clientele in both commercial and consumer segments… We have initiated proof-of-concept collaborations with selected regional customers. Our long-established partner, BeMap, is gearing up to kick off the sales and marketing of the EAP112 in Japan. Concurrently, Edgecore Wi-Fi is preparing to open pre-orders for the EAP112 to the global market later this year.”
