Wireless mesh solution for building automation

By offering a gateway to the cloud, it facilitates the development of new cloud-based building automation solutions. Produal Proxima combines the u-blox NINA B1 module and LumenRadio's embedded operating system, MiraOS.

Produal Proxima builds on wireless mesh sensors that communicate over LumenRadio’s MiraOS, capable of robustly connecting hundreds of wireless nodes; sensors, actuators, gateways. The self-healing network is designed to continue to perform when individual nodes fail, and can easily be adapted when building layouts change. Multi-hop technology ensures that signals are transmitted across the entire network, guaranteeing coverage regardless of a building’s architecture. 

LumenRadio’s patented Cognitive Coexistence technology ensures that communication is carried out on the least crowded and most optimal frequencies at any given time, increasing the reliability of the solution. FOTA (firmware-over-the-air) updates via the u-blox NINA-B1 module ensure that all nodes in the network always run the latest firmware, future-proofing and securing the entire solution. 

The fact that LumenRadio’s flexible MiraOS can be adapted to any radio hardware on any frequency band gave Produal the flexibility to choose hardware optimised to their application. Produal opted to use the u-blox NINA module for wireless communication, convinced by its high performance, cost-efficiency, and small footprint. It is a stand-alone Bluetooth low energy module with a powerful Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller unit. Thanks to the module’s power performance, the wireless nodes have a battery life of over eight years, limiting maintenance to a minimum. 

“Produal’s offering is a perfect example of how our NINA module family enables size and power-optimisation and highly reliable wireless-mesh based solutions with hassle-free firmware-over-the-air updates,” said Stefan Berggren, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Short Range Radio Product Centre at u-blox.

Peter Lindkvist, Sales Director at LumenRadio, explained: “Building automation is a no-nonsense business – things have to work. That’s where our ultra-reliable mesh comes into play, efficiently connecting devices in the hundreds and thousands throughout buildings. We give Produal the performance they need today, while future-proofing their offer for whatever tomorrow will bring.”

Francesco Fausti, Director, Product Management and Export Sales at Produal, added: “Wireless functionality is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing trends everywhere. With the new wireless Proxima platform, Produal creates reliability for wireless building automation thanks to this future-proof and secure solution. Dedicated wireless applications can be built, commissioned and updated easily.”