Morse Micro brings Wi-Fi HaLow to CES

Startup Morse Micro, a fabless Wi-Fi HaLow silicon vendor, along with its partners, showcased several new Wi-Fi HaLow-enabled devices at CES 2024. These include a wireless home security camera with AI, edge AI security cameras, routers for long-range IoT and remote-area connectivity solutions. Morse Micro is an EE Times Silicon 100 startup to watch.

Wi-Fi HaLow technology is the first Wi-Fi standard that is specifically tailored for IoT applications. The Wi-Fi HaLow 802.11ah standard, operating in the sub-GHz frequency band, delivers a combination of benefits, including lower power consumption, high data rate, extended range, higher throughput and advanced security. It also offers lower deployment costs and interoperability.

Morse Micro, in collaboration with its partners, will demonstrate Wi-Fi HaLow technology breakthroughs across a range of IoT applications at CES. Here are few of the latest new products adopting Wi-Fi Halow.

AI-enabled smart home security camera

Abode Systems, a DIY smart home security solution provider, with its partners Morse Micro and Xailient, a provider of edge AI for computer vision, unveiled the Abode Edge Camera at CES.  Touted as the industry’s first Wi-Fi HaLow ultra-long-range, battery-powered smart home security camera with AI-at-the-edge capabilities, the Abode Edge Camera offers a transmission range of over 1.5 miles and best-in-class battery performance. With a 6,000 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the camera can deliver battery life performance of up to one year on a single charge.

In addition, an integrated PIR motion sensor, together with AI detection, using AI models and algorithms from Xailient, alerts the camera to “meaningful” activity and recording of critical events. When motion is not detected, the camera automatically goes into sleep mode to save battery life.

This “plug-and-protect” security camera is reported to provide the optimal view of properties, by addressing the limitations of typical home security cameras with fixed field of views, facing away from the home, and connectivity issues if the camera is placed too far away.

By integrating Morse Micro’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow system on chip (SoC), the security camera leverages the benefits of Wi-Fi HaLow to deliver 10× the range, 100× the coverage area and 1000× the volume of traditional Wi-Fi technologies, Morse Micro said.

The Abode Edge Camera integrates with any existing Abode home security system or can be deployed as a standalone solution. It will launch later in the first quarter of 2024. Single and unlimited video plans with AI-enabled Smart Detect are available.

Edge AI security cameras

Morse Micro and ViewSEC Co., Ltd., a provider of surveillance technology, announced a partnership to deliver a new series of security cameras with edge AI capabilities. The ViewSEC camera series includes outdoor bullet cameras, outdoor dome cameras and indoor Wi-Fi cameras, all with long-range Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity, ultra-low-power battery life, edge AI capabilities and IP66 weatherproofing.

Thanks to Morse Micro’s Wi-Fi HaLow SoC solution, the ViewSEC’s cameras also provide extended range and coverage and high stability and high-quality video streaming, even in remote environments, which are prone to interference. The ultra-low power in combination with high-definition video over greater distances, compared to traditional Wi-Fi, makes them suited for expansive residential and commercial properties as well as remote locations. The security cameras will be available in the first quarter of 2024.

Wi-Fi HaLow router 

Morse Micro also announced a strategic partnership with Edgecore Networks to deliver a new Wi-Fi HaLow platform. The companies unveiled the dual-function Edgecore EAP112 Wi-Fi HaLow router and Matter gateway with high-speed Wi-Fi 6 for long-range IoT connectivity in outdoor and other environments. The new router integrates Morse Micro’s MM6108 Wi-Fi HaLow module, and features 4G LTE support, delivering IoT wireless connectivity over a longer range and wider coverage.

Using 4G LTE for Internet access, the router provides Wi-Fi 6 services, while the Wi-Fi HaLow capability is specifically designed for long-range IoT applications. The router also features BLE, Zigbee and Thread to meet a variety of IoT applications.

The Edgecore EAP112 can be used in a variety of environments and applications, including challenging terrains or climates. It is IP65-rated for water and dust resistance, operates over a temperature range of -30°C to 50°C and offers several mounting options including wall, ceiling and pole mount.

Edge Networks has started proof of concept (POC) collaborations with selected regional customers. Pre-ordering will be available later in the year.

Wi-Fi HaLow module

Morse Micro and Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. announced that the Quectel FGH100M Wi-Fi HaLow module, based on Morse Micro’s MM6108 Wi-Fi HaLow SoC, has received CE certification for Europe and FCC certification for the United States. The CE and FCC certification of the module “represents a crucial step in expanding the market reach of Wi-Fi HaLow technology and enabling its deployment in a wide range of Wi-Fi HaLow and IoT applications across multiple geographic regions,” Morse Micro said.

Quectel introduced the wireless module at Embedded World earlier this year. The module operates in the 850 – 950 MHz bands with 1/2/4/8 MHz channel width. It features 21-dBm maximum output power and 32.5 Mbits/s maximum transmission rate. Designed for extended range and low power consumption, it can be used in a range of IoT applications, including smart homes and industrial automation.

The FGH100M meets Wi-Fi requirements for authentication and encryption including WPA3 and AES for OTA traffic. It also supports SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 encryption algorithms to better protect transmission data and offers a range of interfaces including UART, SPI, I2C, SDIO 2., and PWM. It also has incorporated security practices like generating SBOMs and VEX files as well as performing firmware binary analysis into the entire software development lifecycle, said the company.

A range of antennas for the FGH100M LoRa module are available, including the YCIS001AA, YCIS002AA, YCIS003AA, YFNP017WWA, YPCS002BA, YMCP003AA, YEIN002AA, YECN028AA and YECW000N1A.

Remote-area connectivity

Morse Micro is partnering with  Zetifi to provide a remote-area connectivity solution for smart IoT farming thanks to Wi-Fi HaLow’s technology that extends the range of Zetifi’s connectivity solutions for farmers and rural communities. Zetifi’s solutions will leverage Morse Micro’s MM6108 SoC that supports 1-, 2-, 4- and 8-MHz bandwidth and can deliver tens of Mbits/s throughput to support streaming HD video.

By combining Morse Micro’s Wi-Fi HaLow technology and Zetifi’s farm-wide Wi-Fi connectivity technologies with ZetiCell, a long-range Wi-Fi small cell installed on farmhouses or machinery sheds, and ZetiRover, a vehicle-mounted roaming Wi-Fi hotspot used on off-farm passenger vehicles or farm machinery, the long-range capabilities will allow farmers to leverage precision agriculture, remote monitoring and connectivity-dependent autonomous machinery.

“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,” Morse Micro said. “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.”

Morse Micro will showcase several demos at CES 2024, Suite LIDO: 3001B in the Venetian. In addition to the newly launched products, other demos include a smart doorbell camera, portable mobile devices with Wi-Fi HaLow-enabled cameras or sensors and Matter protocol running over Wi-Fi HaLow for smart home networks.