The Weightless Special Interest Group have recently published the much anticipated Weightless-P spec, an open low-power WAN (LPWAN) designed for exchanging data between base stations and several thousand (typically IoT) devices. The radio network uses a cellular infrastructure similar to a mobile phone network to provide continuous coverage. It is designed specifically to meet the needs of IoT devices, providing a fully acknowledged 2-way wireless link with adaptive data rates up to 100kbps and scalable cellular-inspired network technology to deliver higher capacity than existing LPWAN technologies.

According to the Weightless SIG the new standard delivers the best compromise for the widest range of IoT applications. Weightless-P offers low complexity, long battery life, world-class reliability, long range and robust security in an open standard technology. The standard provides bi-directional communications between a battery-powered device and base station over distances up to 2km in a typical urban environment.

To get your hands on a copy of the spec you will need to sign up as a member of the Weightless SIG and participate in the interoperability certification process that the SIG is developing. There are no license fees or other restrictions on design and production of Weightless-P devices.