Page 18 - DECT Today - Issue 3 - May 2015

INSIDER VIEWPOINT
DECT Today spoke to Jochen Kilian, Chair of the ULE Alliance Technical Working Group and VP, Core Technology, DSP Group
Tell us a little more of the background thinking behind the creation of the HAN-FUN protocol
JK: We were a little later to market than technologies such as ZigBee and we thought that we should set the barrier as low as
possible for somebody that wants to start working with ULE. The idea is to have an end to end standard that defines all of the functionality, not just the transport layer. We created the standard in such a way that everyone can use it for free. You can obtain a copy from the ULE Alliance website. We had a similar idea for implementing and funding an open source development of the HAN-FUN application layer. The main reason for this was that we wanted to ensure interoperability. This can fail if the standard is not well enough defined, and then if people interpret the standard in different ways. We tackled this by reducing the number of implementations – creating a common, open-source implementation.
What sort of response have you had so far?
JK: It’s quite positive. We have a number of device developers who have taken the open- source implementation and it is also within some of the devices that are within the certification test bed. Overall, response in the public domain is still quite low, so we
need to further promote HAN-FUN. One way we are doing this is to host it at GitHub (Ed. – see link in main story), which is currently the most popular platform for hosting open-source software, and we also provide it under quite open licensing terms. You can have it under a GPLv2 license if you are really into open source projects, and we also provide a commercial-friendly license (Apache 2.0) which allows you to distribute it in source but also in binary format, meaning that you don’t need to provide the source code if you are producing commercial products based on HAN-FUN.
And were there any other priorities?
JK: The smooth running of a certification programme was very important to us, and I would say that this is a target that has already been achieved.
And what about the future of ULE and the HAN-FUN protocol?
JK: Wide awareness will go hand-in-hand with the success of the ULE technology. I am in charge of business development and I do see a lot of movement at the moment. We will soon see many new products, and many operators moving to ULE. Operator support will really boost familiarity and awareness of ULE and the open source code from the ULE Alliance, from students up to global manufacturers
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ULE ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES HAN-FUN OPEN SOURCE PROTOCOL AND PARTNERSHIP WITH BITHIUM
ULE Alliance announces HAN-FUN Open Source Protocol and partnership with Bithium
The ULE Alliance, the non-profit organization of leading companies that promotes the worldwide allocation and market adoption of the ULE (Ultra Low Energy) wireless technology has announced the release of the open source HAN-FUN protocol and its partnership with Bithium, a technology company focused on wireless system and equipment development and consultancy services especially focused in the DECT technology. Bithium will provide the protocol specification management and is appointed as the open source project code maintainer.
The HAN-FUN (Home Area Network Functional) protocol, an integral part of the ULE technology provides application level interoperability between devices from different vendors. It has actually grown out of the need to provide inter-operable control over ubiquitous applications within Home Area Networks.
Bithium has assisted the ULE Alliance in the development of the HAN-FUN protocol as well as its common implementation, and it is now open to inputs and contributions from the community as an open source project. The “ULE Alliance hanfun” project is available in GitHub is available at GitHub using this link.
António Muchaxo, Managing Director of Bithium told DECT Today, “We want to thank the ULE Alliance for the positive co-operation we have and for designating Bithium as the partner in HAN-FUN design as well as consulting in the evolution of standard and code maintenance. We believe ULE will be enabling innovative mass market affordable systems in the near future. That matches our vision and focus, to turn innovative customer's ideas into reality thus contributing to a life of Wireless Freedom.”
And on behalf of the ULE Alliance, Business Development Director Avi Barel added, “We are pleased to partner with Bithium and appreciate in particular the cooperation in the process of creating the HAN-FUN protocol. ULE underpins the technological advantages for IoT and extends a high degree of interoperability, inherited from the reliable and worldwide-adopted DECT technology. Thus we rely on Bithium’s proven experience and broad portfolio.”
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